Ron Koertge

So this is the fourth poetry book I've read today. I love the month of April when I start my Poetry unit in my classroom. This book may just bet he one that pulls in my reluctant boys. Kevin loves nothing more than playing baseball. Suddenly he is knocked out of playing by a severe case of Mono. He barely has the strength to walk across the room. Not only can he not play baseball, but he can't go to school. When he isn't napping he has started writing poetry. His writer father has given him a notebook. In his father's office he finds a book about writing poetry that he sneaks to his room. He doesn't want anyone to know that he is writing poetry. For him this becomes a way of looking at and dealing with so many things in his life. It is a way of connecting with his thoughts and feelings about losing his mother. So loved this book. I can't wait to read the second one, "Shakespeare Makes the Playoffs".… (more)

There are a few fresh ideas in this---I enjoyed "Bearskin," "The Emperor's New Clothes: An Afterword," "Little Thumb," and "Wolf"---but much of the book's intended edginess seemed a retread of all the typical fractured fairy tale stuff: incest (maybe?), the tedium of ever afters, women who crave danger and abuse, selfish heroes and heroines, etc. I didn't really feel as though I was discovering anything new about the original stories or, for that matter, fairy tales in general. As for the poetry, while it may suit some readers, it didn't really sing in my ears or catch me up in its imagery or wordplay.… (more)