Poetry for Teens: Diverse Voices

These beautiful poems reflect both the Middle East and the Arab-American experience. Nye is a renowned poet for young people, and this collection revolves around her heritage.

"These simple, free-verse selections skillfully capture that which is commonplace and transforms it into something mesmerizing and lovely. A first date, the embarrassment of belching root beer out of one's nose, the joy and the intricacies of the proper way to eat Mexican food, and a lost dog are just a few of the topics that Soto addresses. The 31 poems are delightful in themselves, but the poet also adds the brief reminiscence of the event or feeling that prompted him to write each one." — School Library Journal

Wong writes poems of realization and identity. Whether the words are about customs or careers, they provide a sense of who the author has become because of her pride in her blood-lines.

In this memoir written in verse, prose, and imagery, Eric Gansworth tells his story, the story of his family — of Onondaga among Tuscaroras — of Native folks everywhere. From the horrible legacy of the government boarding schools, to a boy watching his siblings leave and return and leave again, to a young man fighting to be an artist who balances multiple worlds.

This short "chapbook" is a collection of folkloric poems centered on the historical, mythological, gendered, and geographic experiences of a first generation American woman — from the border in the Dominican Republic, to the bustling streets of New York City.

This collection of poems explores the bicultural and bilingual identity that many young Latinos in the U.S. strive to define as they move between worlds, languages, and customs. The poems reflect many emotions, including pride and confusion, as the poets move from ESL class and a street fair to the church and the "all American" side of the tracks. Oscar Hijuelos provides a thoughtful, moving introduction to the collection. This book contains some explicit content.

This collection of poetry for young adults celebrates the intensity of the teen years, particularly in matters of the heart. Mora creatively combines English and Spanish in ways that will resonate with bilingual readers. The collection features a wide variety of poetic forms and includes brief descriptions of the forms to guide student writers.

During an era characterized by both hijabi fashion models and enduring post-9/11 stereotypes, ten Muslim American teenagers came together to explore what it means to be young and Muslim in America today. These teens represent the tremendous diversity within the American Muslim community, and their book, like them, contains multitudes. Bilal writes about being a Muslim musician. Imaan imagines a dystopian Underground. Samaa creates her own cartoon Kabob Squad. Ayah responds to online hate.

Product Description: Juan Felipe Herrera writes in both Spanish and English about the joy and laughter and sometimes the confusion of growing up in an upside-down, jumbled-up world-between two cultures, two homes. Skillfully crafted, joyful, and fun, the poems are paired with whimsical black and white drawings by Karen Barbour.

"Mora has selected poems from her adult collections and added some new ones. She speaks of her own experience as a Latina in the Southwest, and of the experiences of those people whose lives have touched her own. Using the metaphor of a cactus, she has grouped the selections into three sections: 'Blooms' (of loves and joys), 'Thorns' (of hardships and sorrows), and 'Roots' (of family, wisdom, home, and strength)." — School Library Journal

Product Description: The fleeting emotions of teenagers, as changeable as the weather, ring true in these emotionally resonant poems. Narrators, both boys and girls, of various ethnicities fall in love for the first time, pine over crushes, and brood over broken hearts. Tender, lighthearted, and surprising, this collection will capture teens, tweens, and anyone who remembers what it's like to be a young person in love.

A collection of poems from an array of seasoned poets and young Latino authors describing their experiences in the United States. These poems depict the reality and hardships some young Latinos have experienced in their search for identity, as well as the joy of family gatherings surrounded by food, customs, and culture. Introduction by Oscar Hijuelos.

Writer, activist, trolley car conductor, dancer, mother, and humanitarian Maya Angelou's life was marked by transformation and perseverance. In this comprehensive picture-book biography geared towards older readers, Bethany Hegedus lyrically traces Maya's life from her early days in Stamps, Arkansas through her work as a freedom fighter to her triumphant rise as a poet of the people.

The title of David Bowles' first book of original poetry references the artistic technique of creating by combining in a mosaic the shards of previous, broken works. The volume explores the idea of psychological growth as a sort of bursting-apart and reintegration of the ego, examining the illusions and deceptions that humans can free themselves from if they are willing to undo their personas in order to expand their selves.

Product Description: This groundbreaking bilingual anthology, carefully designed for middle readers, is a mosaic of voices demonstrating the energy, creativity, and diversity of the fastest-growing minority group in America. Wáchale! (Spanglish for "watch out!") includes folk tales, stories, and poems in both English and Spanish, and brief autobiographical essays by both well-established and emerging writers representing all shades of Latinos.