Reviewed by Lauren Ashley for TeensReadToo.com

HOW TO (UN)CAGE A GIRL is a short collection of poetry for and about girls. Told in three parts, these poems deal with many facets of life that women must deal with, from being a teen to becoming an adult. This is a book about life: the ups and downs, the pressure, the joys, the pain. This tiny book includes it all.

I enjoyed the book very much, and found the modern approach to poetry to be interesting and refreshing. It was a bit hard to understand at parts, but definitely enjoyable overall.

One of my favorite entries in this collection was one titled Media Queenz, which addresses all the singers and actresses that girls tend to idolize. I think the following line from this poem explains it best:

"where were our pradas? our pouts?
our captivating glances?
only later we would grow up
and realize that these women were just women"

This is a perfect novel for any girl who ever felt unworthy or like they didn't fit in. We are all our own people, and this book celebrates that.

With the holidays approaching, this small book would make a great stocking stuffer, as well! ( )

I can "hear" this book as I read it... it's lyrical and soothing and brings a comfort to me. I went through difficult teenage years, at the time feeling like an outcast, different from my peers, that no one understood me. I wrote dark (and bad) poetry, cut myself, played mind games with the boys. I thought I was crazy and needed to be put away, the guilt and horror of it all haunting me as time passed. But over the years I came across more and more stories of how almost all girls went through the same situations and emotional roller-coasters that I did. This is one of those books that helped me see that I was (am) not alone in the world.

If ever a book of poetry could settle into your body and nestle itself in between your lungs, this is it. This book just makes you nod your head in agreement, maybe whispering out loud "...yes". Francesca just really understands how to put being a woman down onto paper and make it read like a melody that gets stuck in your mouth for days and days. This book is a must read if you are a woman or more of a girl, young lady, female whatever. This book is very powerful and beautiful, so do yourself a favor and read it. ( )

This poetry lives in the adolescent, in that its focus remains for the most part superficial. Since this book of poetry is directed toward a young adult audience, this is not a bad thing.

Many of the poems center on body image, fashion, popularity, finding self, boys, and the like. They revel in the insecurities of the teenager. If I had read this when I was in high school, I would have been amazed, thinking, This is me. She knows. I would have believed.

Even the language itself remains very on the surface. The breaking of the lines often seems arbitrary, and the descriptions tend to be repetitive (the first things to be noticed are the shade of the eyes or the color of the hair).

There is no punctuation throughout the book, except the odd question mark. Sometimes it helped the poem, allowing the thoughts to run into one another, the way they actually do in our minds, undeliniated. Other times this was a hindrance, causing confusion in the lack.

Block brings in mythology and fairy tales to help bring these poems depth and life. And every once in a while, she breaks away into something sublime, and I find myself wanting to linger over a line. I reread it, savoring it on my tongue. And there are those few poems where I have to pause and be still for a minute after finishing, because I just need to be there for a moment before I go back to read the poem again. ( )

Block's collection of poetry almost reads like a narrative, opening the floodgates of adolescence with 120 pages of verse. Her style is confessional, raw, and at times racy, but ultimately her work is refreshing. It's not the pinnacle of the poetic tradition, and it's certainly gimmicky, but considering the audience, the gimmicks make the work more accessible for non-connoisseurs. How to Uncage a Girl is an enjoyable read, and current teenage girls will certainly find this tome a treat, as it was written just for them. ( )