Poetry

Poems from Homeroom: A Writer's Place to Start
By Kathi Appelt
A Booklist Top Ten Youth Poetry Selection

This book is more than just a book of poems. It is a classroom resource and an outlet for its readers who aspire to write or to simply put down their thoughts and feelings on paper.

Appelt writes that we all yearn, or long for something. It may be success, romance, or even to disappear. Each of the 26 poems contained within the cover of Homeroom explores a different longing. In Part I are the poems. "What He Knew," about a boy loveing a girl from afar - loving her enough to erase the lude remarks on a bathroom wall. "The Fat Girl," that tells a tale of a girl who has felt invisible since the fifth grade and who only wishes to be seen.

Kathi Appelt delivers her poems in a variety of ways: Free verse, rhyme, acrostic, sestina... Each is as unique as the characters and experiences it details. Yet, they are all similar in that the readers see themselves in the poems. Anyone who reads this collection will find at least one character achingly familiar.

Perhaps the greatest part about this book is found in Part II. In this section Kathi explains where each individual poem stemmed from. One of the hardest parts about teaching poetry is to get students to grasp the meaning behind the abstract quality of the poem. Here we find that the source of every poem is explained. Each poem, with the exception of Homeroom is based on a person, real or imagined, that has had a presence in Applet's life. Additionally, each poem is accompanied by a couple of prompts to inspire writers. Students will enjoy the explanation behind the poetry and perhaps the opportunity for their own life to imitate art. Teachers will embrace a resource that aids them in drawing a connection between poetry and the lives of their students.

I thought this was a great book. I typically don't read much poetry (aside from Shel Silverstein, whom I adore). This collection was both entertaining and intriguing. I found myself reading the book in one sitting, and relishing the opportunity to take a peek into the author's mind. I would definitely recommend this for both pleasure reading and as a resource for teaching poetry.

I found this book in a junior high library. I would say that it would be appropriate for 8th grade as well as mature 7th graders. The characters in the story were clearly in high school, and some of the themes were most appropriate for that age as well. I wouldn't go so far as to say that it was inappropriate for middle school. It's just important to know your audience. Overall, it was a very enjoyable read.

Book Talk Hook:

I think for my book talk I would read a couple of lines from a few of the poems and ask my students if any recognized themselves or someone they know in what they had heard.

From "The Fat Girl"

She thinks someday she shed
this skin she wears in layers
and float away
down a river
on a cloud


From "The Driver's License"

'Cause the way her mother mad it sound,
if she didnt' have on clean underwear and had a wreck?
The ambulance driver might take a look and say,
"Sorry, her underwear's too dirty. Let's leaver her here in the ditch."


From "A Circle of Light: A Poem in Five Acts"

A large heat yearns larger
like the tide for the moon its mate
calls to her, moans in its longing,
reaches out in whispered dreams
and sleepless nights
howls into its pillow, sodden.