A collection of young poets, chosen and introduced by Naomi Shihab Nye (one of my favorite poets). A few writers stand out, and I hope to see how they mature and grow, namely Catherine Bates and Emma Shaw Crane. ( )

This compilation of poems is heartfelt, sad, and truthful. With a mixture of different poems under the age of 25, we find that many are pertaining to tales of our youth. The meaning behind growing up, the darkness and evil within the world, the beauty of our world around us, and even questioning a higher power. Our lives from an early age are full of questions and learning to understand; some stories are more tragic than others with references to abuse and discrimination, but all of these things happen in the real world.

I would rate this book a 4.5 stars for readers 12-13 and up. It deals with a lot of issues and events that our children see in life and are ingenuous ways of exploring another person's mind. This was an assigned reading for my Adolescent Literature course, but I enjoyed reading the various poems. Many of them brought back feelings and questions that I had when I was younger. ( )

I'd recommend this book to my friends because most of them really enjoy poetry. This book is full of really great poems and I was able to connect to them. 3Q3P The cover art is okay and I'd recommend this book to middle school and high school students. I chose to read this book because the cover was a little appealing and I enjoy reading poetry in collections from a bunch of people like this. BeccaC

I really liked this collection of poetry. There were a wide variety of different types of poems, which was very appealing. If a teen didn't like one poem, they could flip a few pages to read a new poet, which is very appealing. The poems were easy to understand and could immediately grab the reader, which has an immense appeal for teens who might be turned off to poems by reading them in school. For the great variety of poems true to a great diversity of experiences that are well-written and appealing, I give this collection of poetry a 4Q and a 4P.

A good introduction to young adult poetry that take a variety of forms. I generally enjoyed at least one poem of the four per author, my favorite being "Indexer in Love". ( )