LS 5663 Module 1: African American Poetry

The Way a Door Closes

Smith, Hope Anita. 2003. THE WAY A DOOR CLOSES. Ill. by Shane W. Evans. New York: Henry Holt and Company. ISBN 978-0-8050-6477-3

Review:

THE WAY A DOOR CLOSES tells the story of thirteen-year-old C.J. and his family through a series of 34 poems. The first eight poems describe a happy, contented African American family. It is with the ninth poem, "Close Your Eyes" that we see the first hint of trouble. C.J.'s family falls on hard times when his father loses his job. In "The Way a Door Closes", C.J. knows his father has left the family, though he tries to keep the faith that his father will someday return. The next nineteen poems reveal the roller coaster of emotions one feels at the loss of a loved one. Finally, with "Prodigal Son", C.J.'s father returns. Since C.J.'s father is introduced to us as a kind, loving husband and father, it is a pleasant experience to end the story with "Astronomy 101" where "He can't find enough words/ to say how sorry he is./ But he keeps on./ Each word rooting him to us/ like a tree/ that's planted by the water and/ he shall not be moved."

Smith's poems are complemented by the illustrations of Shane W. Evans. Evans' illustrations in muted greens, browns, blues, and golds perfectly capture the mood of each poem.


Winner of the Coretta Scott King Award, THE WAY A DOOR CLOSES accurately portrays a loving African American family that journeys through the heartbreak anger, and fear that accompanies a family crisis such as the loss of a job.


Highlighted Poem:


Grandmomma's China Bowl by Hope Anita Smith


Grandmomma's china bowl
sits
with its hands cupped
but open.
Always begging for more.
More mints.
More nuts.
More
of whatever is being offered.
And with each offering
it extends an invitation to 
hands.
Never fearing 
"empty" or 
"gone."


Possible Uses:


Though "Grandmomma's China Bowl" may seem less emotionally packed than other poems in this book, it offers many lessons. 
Teachers could use this poem to begin a lesson on personification.
Teachers could also use this poem to discuss C.J.'s feelings of "empty" and "gone".
I'm sure if students thought about it, they would find objects in their own homes that give them a sense of comfort just as the china bowl does for C.J.
 

LS 5663 Module 1: Hopkins Collection

 America At War

Hopkins, Lee Bennett. 2008. AMERICA AT WAR. Ill. by Stephen Alcorn. New York: Margaret K. McElderry Books. ISBN 978-1-4169-1832-5

Review:

AMERICA AT WAR is a collection of 54 poems. As the introduction tells us, though, this book is not about war, rather it is about the poetry of war. Each poem was selected by Lee Bennett Hopkins for its emotional impact. AMERICA AT WAR is divided into eight sections: The American Revolution, The Civil War, World War I, World War II, Korean War, Vietnam War, Persian Gulf War, and finally, the Iraq War. The book ends with a vocabulary lesson for us all. Poet Ann Wagner shows us how, with carefully chosen, politically correct words, we can detach ourselves from the atrocities of war.

Each section begins with a quote from a poet, philosopher, or military leader and a brief commentary on that particular war. Many different emotions are found in these poems, including a young soldier who longs for his mother to tuck him into bed, a family who sings happy birthday to a photo of a father who is far from home, a sister who misses her brother and prays enemy forces miss him as well, and a father expressing his love for a newborn daughter he has never seen.

Throughout the book, illustrator Stephen Alcorn enhances the poems with his sometimes haunting watercolor artwork in muted colors.

AMERICA AT WAR is a collection of moving, heartfelt poems that provides many different perspectives on the effects of war and the toll it takes on men, women, and children everywhere. It reminds us that our freedom comes at an incredibly high price.

Highlighted Poem:
As I Do Now by Katie McAllister Weaver

We were told to take
only what was too important
to leave behind

Even frantic rantings
of our neighbors fleeing screams
couldn't help us decide.

The relentless threat of Nazis
muddled our every thought --
again,
a night like
KRISTALLNACHT!

We grabbed what we could carry.
Yet, eventually favorite photos,
stacks of books, mounting pile of memories
lined roadsides like gravestones
until all we had left were backpacks of food
and the weight of wishing
we could have brought more.

My small crystal turtle, though,
stashed under my shirt
reminded me how
I never needed it
as much as I do now.


Possible Uses:

Use "As I Do Now" to introduce a unit on The Holocaust.
Have students write a personal narrative describing things they would have wanted to take with them - what is "too important to leave behind".

Class Change!

Below are reviews for LS 5603 Literature for Children and Young Adults. Future posts are reviews for LS 5663 Poetry for Children and Young Adults.