Marilyn Nelson

FIRST holla to POC on the cover. Especially because it's a MIDDLE GRADES book man. And I tell you what, teaching at a school where the minority are the white kids, it means a lot to my kids to see POC on the books that I bring in. AND it's especially thumbs up in my book because THIS ONE isn't about gangs.*

Pemba is in high school. She's groovin' in the city, learning her step moves and listening to hip-hop when her mom decides that they need to move to someplace a bit more wholesome. Like a show more small town in CT where she swears she's got to be the only black person. Well, except for this goofy old man named Abraham.

As soon as she enters her new house though she begins to have this weird unexplainable moments of blackouts and headaches intermingled with what she concludes are odd daydreams. Finally the frequency of them leads her to confide in Abraham and together they unravel a mystery, and murder, and a an untold slavery story.

I LOVED this little book and read it in one quick setting. It's the perfect read for a kid who wants to get into a spooky spirit for Halloween. In fact, it didn't make it a day on my desk before one of my students picked it up. For any of you Read-A-Thoners who want to find a quick read, I would recommend this one for sure.

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* My students dig the gang books, mind you, but COME ON!!! Every black or Hispanic person is not in a gang. show less

Only Marilyn Nelson can take one of the most hideous events of the 20th century and make of it something glorious: An intricate cycle of 15 sonnets—an Heroic Crown, in which the last sonnet is made up of the first lines of the previous 14. As she considers the lynching of Emmett Till, she uses the traditional “language of flowers,” plaiting rosemary for remembrance, heliotrope for justice, daisies for innocence through her wreath. Individual poems speak in the voices of a witnessing show more tree and of Mamie Till Mobley, and broaden the mourning to include all victims of violence. It’s a towering achievement, one whose power and anger and love will make breath catch in the throat and bring tears to the eyes. Children’s book newcomer Lardy’s illustrations are bold and powerful, appropriately choosing disturbing imagery over depictions that are more realistic. The poem is followed by a brief account of Till’s lynching, glosses on the individual poems and an essay from the artist explaining his choices of imagery. The latter two are rather unfortunate additions, as the words, purified in the crucible of the form, speak eloquently enough on their own. (Poetry. 12+)

-Kirkus Review show less

I don’t know if Nelson invented the format but for me it was a revelation.

Arranged chronologically as signposts in Carver's life, nevertheless each of Nelson's poems stands alone. The opening verses, for example, relay the musings of a mercenary hunting a missing woman, Mary, and Mary’s infant son. The mercenary finds the boy, but not Mary, and is rewarded. That boy is Carver, and the mercenary’s tale of triumph and reward serves as Carver’s “origin story”. (We never hear from show more the mercenary again.) Nelson builds up a picture of Carver from many such poems: singular, isolated, viewed over distance. Carver is revealed to be amiable, curious, generous, and accomplished, but always a person apart.

Nelson in her verse observes Carver's personal qualities, evoking images and tones, avoiding Biblical inventory of ancestral history, Homeric tallies of the dead and their deeds. Seemingly recognizing that most readers will be almost wholly unfamiliar with Carver's biography, however, she appends relevant documentary detail in occasional footnotes: bulleted almanac entries with the necessary detail for a fuller appreciation of a given poem. Not all poems need them; in one instance, a photograph explains an obscure reference. It was not wholly clear to me, in that first poem, what tale the mercenary was telling, or the significance of his hiring, until the poem’s footnote was read, but the story was in the poem, not the footnote.

Typically Nelson's poems assume the perspective of someone not among Carver’s intimates. In this way the poems mimic the position of the book’s readers: outside looking in on a life, telling a story from what little can be known without having participated. There are several exceptions: perhaps three (of almost 60 poems). One is narrated by Carver, "My beloved friend", reading as though we've opened a letter intended for someone else. Another appears to quote from a different letter, then proceeds to observe the letterwriter without comment. "Last Talk with Jim Hardwick" is subtitled “a found poem”; whether wholly invented or taken from a diary, however, is unclear.

I opened this book knowing no more than I learned in primary school: Carver was a black scientist who found countless uses for the humble peanut. Having read it, somehow I know Carver as a person brimming over with talent and insight, a man of science and of spiritual visions, all of this tempered by his gentle demeanor. I am all the better for meeting him. show less

How I Discovered Poetry by Marilyn Nelson is a delightful book of poetry that offers a glimpse into 1950s America through the life of Nelson and her family. Nelson's poetry tells a story that engaged me, made me think, and touched my heart so much I often found myself looking forward to my nightly poetry reading, thinking about the poems throughout the day, and reading more than my allotted number of poems per day. Nelson pulls words together into poetry that weaves world events, American show more society, interracial relations, and family together with finesse and honesty. How I Discovered Poetry is as much about discovering life as it is about discovering poetry. show less