Poetry – Page 142 – Cannonball Read 17

Two Alphabet books to try out

A is for Awesome!: 23 Iconic Women Who Changed the World by Eva Chen

An ABC of Flowers by Jutta Hilpuesch

May 31, 2019 by BlackRaven Leave a Comment

A is for Awesome!: 23 Iconic Women Who Changed the World would have been almost a perfect alphabet/history book and been a five rating if the age-old dilemma of X Y Z had not come up. Instead of people being here (Y could have been Yoko Ono, though I admit I am having a little trouble finding X and Z, but considering Beyoncé is represented, Eva Chen could have had Xuxa or Zoë Kravitz), instead words that have the letters and mentions how “wonderful” you the […]

What the world needs now is love, sweet love

Love by Stacy McAnulty

May 30, 2019 by BlackRaven Leave a Comment

Love is a sweet story about what Love is. It is a fancy dinner (dog food that has a flower in it for a puppy with a broken leg); it is fancy greeting cards (that are made by hand with crayons). And it is not done in a preachy manner. The images and sentiment just are there. You see different races, genders, religions, dynamics and forms of dress. You see people who look different, but all share their love of Love. If I have any […]

The story of the Undefeated

The Undefeated by Kwame Alexander

May 29, 2019 by BlackRaven Leave a Comment

There is nothing exactly like the frustrations a reader/me experiences when they/me are/is trying to write the review of a book that is freaking (only I am not saying freaking) awesome and they/me cannot put that into words since the book says it best. The Undefeated by Kwame Alexander is a poetic look at the history of blacks in this country. Covering people from those we know such as Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., to people we might know like poet Phillis Wheatley and musicians […]

War is Now.

Konrad Wollenrod by Adam Mickiewicz

May 24, 2019 by vel veeter Leave a Comment

So. I don’t know what to say about this one, and as a consequence, will not be rating it. This is an epic narrative poem written in the 1820s, discussing and commemoraing Polish independence and apparently also functions as an allegory. So not only am I ill-equipped to say much about it, I don’t “get it” outside of the story itself. So here’s what I will say. I read this because one of my students this year is a gung-ho second generation Polish immigrant. He […]

When you’re lucky and you find one bad a$$ writer!

Dreams from Many Rivers: A Hispanic History of the United States Told in Poems by Margarita Engle

May 21, 2019 by BlackRaven Leave a Comment

Dreams from Many Rivers: A Hispanic History of the United States Told in Poems created by Margarita Engle are romantic in places and always serious with her pride in her heritage. And while history tends to “lump” Spanish, Mexican, Cuban, Native and other “Hispanic peoples” into one group, Engle shows how each one is separate, how each interacted with the others how Moctezuma’s great-granddaughter could also be Cortez’s great-granddaughter. The mix of historical and fiction characters is a nice touch. Each poem shows how history […]

A multi-voiced anthology of original texts, translations and responses

Migrant Shores: Irish, Moroccan and Galician Poetry by Manuela Palacios

May 10, 2019 by BlackRaven Leave a Comment

Migrant Shores: Irish, Moroccan and Galician Poetry edited by Manuela Palacios was a choice for a local poetry reading group. I was looking for something to expand my poetry reading, I gave it a try. What came out of the reading was several months of trying to figure out what was happening and what the meanings of everything was. Most poems you can feel and hear the theme of immigration, emigration and migration. Some of the people had to leave homes due to wars and […]

Zirza on A Gothic Classic for a ReasonIt's one of those wish-you-could-read-it-again-for-the-first-time books. I loved it.
Emmalita on “It came to something when you found yourself hoping that the footsteps you heard were ghosts.”I loved the ending! I don’t think it’s been out long enough to talk about why though.
Dixie on Track Her Down by Melinda LeighI am just starting Track Her Down and I have read them all in order till now and thought I...
Roland of Gilead on How can you give us the gift of a crazy character named Rando Thoughtful and then just as suddenly take that gift away? We need to talk, Uncle Stevie.I came across this randomly years after it was written because I was searching "Random Thoughtful. But I have the...
Emmalita on “Only you, Em, would refer to heartbreak as a distraction. I think I would have a more sympathetic response if I asked to marry a bookcase.”Oh my goodness, Gallifrey was beautiful. I’m sure her mittens were gloriously murdery.

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