Genre 3: Poetry

This Is Just To Say

Sidman, Joyce. 2007. This Is Just To Say: Poems of Apology and Forgiveness. Ill. by Pamela Zagarenski. Boston: Houghton Mifflin. ISBN 9780618616800.

Plot Summary
When Mrs. Merz asks her 6th grade class to write apology poems, they enjoyed the assignment so much they decided to put them together in a book. One of her students suggests a second part to their book. He suggests they actually send their apology poems to the people they were apologizing to. Their poems are based on William Carlos Williams poem by the same name. The poems range from a girl who snuck into the kitchen to eat brownies with out permission to a little girl asking her daddy to please move back home. The responses are found at the back of the book in a separate section. When a recipient chose not to respond, classmates stepped in and wrote a response.

Critical Analysis
With This Is Just To Say, Joyce Sidman gives us an enjoyable and touching book of poetry. Her poems of apology, along with responses, is at times humorous and at times moving and profound. We see forgiveness extended to some kids, while others were not forgiven. Sidman's book was a Texas Bluebonnet nominee in 2008. Parents may find themselves concerned over some of the language Sidman chose to use. In one poem a father says to his son, "Christ, forget about the window", while in another, a sister proclaims, "I'm still really pissed off at you." I found myself highly disappointed to learn at the end of the book that this was a fictional class.
Pamela Zagarenski's artwork captures the emotions of each poem using sketches created with a variety of media, collage, and computer graphics. Zagarenski's drawings bring to mind authentic sketches you might find in the journal of any typical teenager.


Review Excerpts
School Library Journal starred review: "This is an important book both for its creativity and for its wisdom."

Kirkus Review: "Packed with the intensity of everyday pain and sorrow, kids and adults exchange the words that convey grief, delight, love and acceptance of themselves and others."

Library Media Connection: "Lessons about accepting responsibility, seeking forgiveness, and righting wrongs are all part of the fabric of this book. Each school library could benefit from adding this wonderful book of poems to its collection."

Connections
Students could compare different poems within Sidman's book, This is Just To Say: Poems of Apology and Forgiveness, with each other to determine how each author made sure his new poem sounded so much like the original poem and how each author made sure his new poem has unique qualities from the original.
Students could write their own poems of apology and ask for responses.

Related Books
Other books written by Joyce Sidman:
The World According to Dog: Poems and Teen Voices
Song of the Water Boatman
Butterfly Eyes and Other Secrets of the Meadow
Meow Ruff: A Story in Concrete Poetry
Just Us Two: Poems/Animal Dads
Like the Air: Poems

Book cover art from www.librarything.com