Favorite Poetry Collections
Time you Let Me In, 25 Poets Under 25, selected by Naomi Shihab Nye. There are actually 26 diverse young poets featured in this collection-Naomi admits she was never good with math in her “notes on the contributors” page. She also loved them all too much to omit any of them.
Where We Are What We See, Poems, Stories, Essays, and Art From The Best Young Writers and Artists in America, a PUSH Anthology. The teenage experience expressed by the winners of the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards. Recommended for older teens.
Red Hot Salsa, Bilingual Poems on Being Young and Latino in the United States, edited by Lori Marie Carlson with an introduction by Oscar Hijuelos. This collection of 37 bilingual poems shares the pride, celebration, struggles and realities of Latino high school students. Translations between both English and Spanish work together to celebrate the uniqueness of each language. This book could benefit the classroom study of immigration and immigration rights.
I Just Hope It's Lethal: Poems of Sadness, Madness, and Joy, edited by Liz Rosenberg and Deena November. This book is a wildly diverse collection of works by famous poets, such as Emily Dickinson, Sylvia Plath and Rumi, as well as contemporary artists such as Naomi Shihab Nye. Contributions of young emerging writers also bring insightful freshness to the collection. The poetry reflects the emotional struggles and sometimes depression experienced during the teenage and early adult years.