More Than FriendsAges: 11–14 Grades: 6–9 Pages: 64 List Price: 16.95 Cover: Hardcover Published: 10/1/2008 ISBN: 1-59078-587-8 ISBN-13: 978-1-59078-587-4 |
From the first furtive looks across the classroom, to the blossom of new romance, to the final flameout, teenage love is loaded with awkwardness, uncertainty, dreams, conflict, and pure bliss. Acclaimed poets Sara Holbrook and Allan Wolf combine their considerable talents to explore these feelings and struggles by creating the voices of a girl and boy in the throes of affection. As they experience the giddiness of love, the poems’ two characters must also face obstacles (parents) and distractions (friends) and learn to respect each other’s interests and needs. Can this relationship survive? In sonnets, tankas, villanelles, and other poetic forms, Holbrook and Wolf examine the efforts of two young teenagers who dare to be more than friends. Reviews"The simple language expresses strong feelings in a variety of poetic forms, including sonnet, villanelle, free verse, and tanka (the forms are explained in notes at the back). ... Small black-and-white photos never get in the way of the words, which tell the edgy truth of romance in all its joy and confusion: “It isn’t you; it’s US I sometimes hate." "For teachers looking for ways to get high-school students to read and relate to poetry and learn its forms this is a top choice. The teen voices are honest and will ring true for any teen who's ever had a crush, been mortified by his or her parents or broken off a relationship with the classic "it's not you, it's me." (Poetry. 11-15)" "These deliciously readable poems, accessible and compact, bring to light recognizable feelings and use a variety of forms, including sonnets, free verse, lue bat, villanelle, tanka, and terza rima. ... [T]eachers and readers alike will savor this innovative approach to an everpopular topic." |
