Nature Poems to See By art by Julian Peters - ADVISABLE

Nature Poems to See By art by Julian Peters, 141 pages. GRAPHIC NOVEL, POETRY. Plough Publishing, 2026. $30.

Language: G (0 swears, 0 “f”); Mature Content: PG (kissing and partial nudity); Violence: PG (corpses, blood and gore, death, and mentions of guns and murder)

BUYING ADVISORY: MS, HS - ADVISABLE

AUDIENCE APPEAL: SOME

From Dickinson, Frost, and Shakespeare to lesser known poets, Peters brings words and stanzas to life with his illustrations. The collection of poems is grouped by season, inviting readers to see and feel the ups, downs, and arounds of life.

Peters’s creative pictures are individualized for each poem—not only in size and in positive versus negative illustrations, but even in medium and style. No two poems are the same or evoke the same images, and Peters assists readers in celebrating their similarities and differences.

Reviewer: Carolina Johnson

Limelight: Curtain up on Poetry Comics! by Renee M. LaTulippe and Chuck Gonzales - OPTIONAL

Limelight: Curtain up on Poetry Comics! by Renee M. LaTulippe, illustrated by Chuck Gonzales, 138 pages. GRAPHIC NOVEL Charlesbridge/Imagine, 2025. $19 

Language: G (0 swears); Mature Content: G; Violence: G 

BUYING ADVISORY: EL, MS - OPTIONAL 

APPEALS TO: SOME 

Poems set to comics, these poems cover the theater world. Beginning with the theater's welcome and going through aspects of theater, many of the poems are told from aspects in the theater, like the curtain, the script, or the seat in the auditorium. 

It's an interesting premise, and the different points of view, as well as the poetry, could be used as a jumping off tool for teaching those elements in the classroom. The poems are included without the graphic art interpretations at the back of the book. Students could try and make graphic art out of their own poems and this could make a fun class assignment. If not used as a teaching tool, it would only appeal to readers who love poetry about theater. Many races are depicted in the graphic art. 

Michelle in the Middle

The Heartbeat of the Universe by Emily Hockaday - OPTIONAL

The Heartbeat of the Universe by Emily Hockaday, 110 pages. POETRY. Interstellar Flight Press, 2024. $18.

Language: PG (1 swear, 0 “f”); Mature Content: PG; Violence: PG

BUYING ADVISORY: HS - OPTIONAL

AUDIENCE APPEAL: LOW

Hockaday believes that poetry is not limited by reality or literalness, and the poems in this collection illustrate her belief. With facts and emotions meeting over topics of identity, love, discrimination, hope, family, time, and more, there is a poem for everyone.

I loved the meeting point between science and creativity that these poets embrace, though overall only a couple of the poems spoke to me. The concept was enjoyable. The mature content rating is for mentions of alcohol and sexual harassment. The violence rating is for mentions of assault.

Reviewer: Carolina Herdegen 

Alma Presses Play by Tina Cane - HIGH

Alma Presses Play by Tina Cane, 319 pages. POETRY.  Make Me A World (Random House), 2021. $18.

Language: R (21 swears, 3 “f”); Mature Content: PG13; Violence: PG

BUYING ADVISORY: MS - OPTIONAL

AUDIENCE APPEAL: HIGH

Typical school days, typical time at home, and typical hang outs with her friends are starting to get complicated. Alma (13yo) doesn’t know what to do with new feelings for a boy or what to do about her parents arguing or how to stop her friend from moving away. She makes lists, listens to music, and writes letters that will never be responded to as she tries to make everything simple again.

The entire book is written in poems, and I was struck by how much you can learn about a person with only snippets of their thoughts and of the major events going on in their lives. Alma’s struggles and disjointed thoughts are relatable as she deals with loss and confusion—loss of different kinds of relationships and confusion regarding several different topics. Beauty is in how her thoughts on the different topics start to overlap. Some endings are final, but others allow for the opportunity of a new beginning.

The characters are a wide variety of ethnicities. Josh is part of the LGBTQIA community. The mature content rating is for mentions of alcohol, drug use, innuendo, partial nudity, and mentions of condoms, prostitutes, rape, and sex. The violence rating is for mild assault and mentions of guns and death.

Reviewer: Carolina Herdegen

Recognize! by Wade Hudson and Cheryl Willis Hudson - ADVISABLE

Recognize!: An Anthology Honoring and Amplifying Black Life by Wade Hudson and Cheryl Willis Hudson, 145 pages. SHORT STORIES. POETRY. NONFICTION. Crown Books, 2021. $17.

Language: G (0 swears, 0 “f”); Mature Content: PG; Violence: PG

BUYING ADVISORY: EL, MS - ADVISABLE

AUDIENCE APPEAL: AVERAGE

With 33 collaborators, this anthology reaches out to readers through nearly every possible format. Artwork, poems, essays, short stories, letters, comics, historical texts, and even an interview all work together to emphasize our wholeness as people.

Each contribution in this collection is an exclamation point to the phrase “Black Lives Matter.” Readers struggle with the authors as they try to put into words their feelings and experiences, as we learn to recognize what the issue is and how to address it. Because, in the end, we are each of worth and are never less than all of who we are. The mature content rating is for mentions of drugs and alcohol. The violence rating is for mentions of threats, assault, guns, shootings, and murder.

Reviewer: Carolina Herdegen

 

The Gravity of Existence by Christina Sng - OPTIONAL

The Gravity of Existence by Christina Sng, 94 pages. POETRY. Interstellar Flight Press, 2022. $15.

Language: G (0 swears, 0 “f”); Mature Content: G; Violence: PG

BUYING ADVISORY: MS, HS - OPTIONAL

AUDIENCE APPEAL: LOW

Sng organizes her poems into a few sections, including childhood tales, ghost stories, and the end. These short poems invite readers to think about ideas differently.

The majority of the poems were choppy and didn’t make sense to me. There were a few based off of fairy tale themes that were fun and some clever lines, but I didn’t understand most of the poems.

The violence rating is for use of the words “murder” and “kill order.”

Reviewer: Carolina Herdegen

The Oracles of Our Stars by Serge Elie Seropian - OPTIONAL

The Oracles of Our Stars by Serge Elie Seropian, 124 pages. POETRY. Serge Elie Seropian, 2020. $17.

Language: G (0 swears, 0 “f”); Mature Content: PG; Violence: G

BUYING ADVISORY: HS - OPTIONAL

AUDIENCE APPEAL: AVERAGE

Seropian’s collection focuses on themes of love, the universe, yourself, and worship. None of these poems are titled. Instead, the book itself reads like one long poem, flowing and evolving over the pages.

The flow worked amazingly well for the first two-thirds of the book. Towards the end, the poems got longer and less poetic, more like sermons than emotions to connect with. I am still adding a couple of poems to my personal favorites, even if the entire book didn’t have my attention.

The mature content rating is for mention of alcohol.

Reviewer: Carolina Herdegen

And We Rise: the Civil Rights Movement in Poems by Erica Martin - ADVISABLE

And We Rise: the Civil Rights Movement in Poems by Erica Martin, 124 pages. Viking (Penguin), 2022. $18. 9780593352526

Language: G (1 swears, 0 ‘f’); Mature Content: G; Violence: PG-13 (racial slurs, burnt body, historically accurate racial violence, blood, deaths)

BUYING ADVISORY: MS – ADVISABLE, HS - ESSENTIAL

AUDIENCE APPEAL: AVERAGE

From 1877 to 1968, Martin follows the Civil Rights Movement in poetry.

When I first started reading, I felt a little cheated – that each event covered was only allowed a few words. But as I immersed myself, each poem became a stripped down, stark, aching look at the person, the event, the moment – more powerful because blunt words accorded it. I would love ELA teachers to adopt this as a master text and use each poem for different groups of students to explore the subjects in even more depth - to spur research and writing. 

Cindy Mitchell, Library Teacher, MLS 

Out Of This World by Sally M. Walker and Mathew Trueman - ADVISABLE

 Out Of This World by Sally M. Walker, illustrated by Matthew Trueman. PICTURE BOOK/NON FICTION. Candlewick Press, 2022. $19. 9781536203561

BUYING ADVISORY: EL (K-3), EL, MS - ADVISABLE

AUDIENCE APPEAL: AVERAGE

Galileo ponders space. The Hubble telescope photographs deep space. A minuscule speck grows into the universe. Galaxies, nebulas, planets and flaming stars are born. Space fuels our curiosity. Astronauts land on the moon and scientists search for life on Mars. There are many wonders in the heavens such as comets, shooting stars, and eclipses.

Out Of This World is a delightful sensory experience. It is a wonderful union of art and science. The illustrations are fascinating and luminously beautiful. The Haiku's are fun and instructive adding another layer of beauty to the book. The illustrations will speak to a younger audience while the haikus are enjoyable to an older audience.

PGPowers 

Me (Moth) by Amber Mcbride - OPTIONAL

Me (Moth) by Amber Mcbride, 243 pages. Feiwel and Friends, 2021. $16

Language: G (0 swears, 0 ‘f’); Mature Content: PG-13 (car accident, death, grief); Violence: PG-13(abuse, slavery mentioned)

BUYING ADVISORY: MS, HS – OPTIONAL

AUDIENCE APPEAL: AVERAGE

In this free prose poetry novel, Moth, a 17yo high schooler who's family died in a tragic accident, struggles with survivors guilt and just trying make it through life. Ever since her mom, dad and brother passed away in the accident her past passions for dancing were snuffed out and her demons she battles everyday grow stronger. Until one day she meets Sani, a Navajo born young man who has struggles of his own. His parents got a divorce, and his current step father is extremely abusive. Seeking refuge and clarity this unlikely pair take a road trip across America to find answers to their past.

I can appreciate McBride's writing style and she uses a lot of metaphors that I can admire. But all in all as a novel- this didn't really cut it for me. The free verse didn't make a whole lot of sense- and everything the characters said was questionable dialogue that made me confused. Sometimes the lines were just cheesy and didn't have any meaning to them. This also took me a while to fully get into and feel compelled to continue the story.

Kenzie Hoehne, Reviewer 

A Poem is a Firefly by Charles Ghigna and Michelle Hazelwood Hyde - ESSENTIAL

 A Poem is a Firefly by Charles Ghigna, illustrated by Michelle Hazelwood Hyde. PICTURE BOOK. Schiffer Kids (Schiffer Publishing Ltd), 2018. $17. 9780764361081 

BUYING ADVISORY: EL (K-3), EL, MS, HS – ESSENTIAL

AUDIENCE APPEAL: HIGH 

Join a host of woodland creatures as they explore what makes a poem. Each creature offers up what they see a poem is, although, in the end, the reader comes to understand that a poem can be all these things and more. 

This short and sweet picture book is chock full of metaphors of what poems are as a bear walks in the woods. I loved it. It simultaneously charmed me and made me think about the nature of poetry. It would be a great text to use in a high school ELA class when talking about poetry, and obviously with younger grades as well. 

BookswithBeddes 

This Poem is a Nest by Irene Latham - OPTIONAL

This Poem is a Nest by Irene Latham, 99 pages. POETRY. Wordsong (Boyds Mills & Kane), 2020. $18.

Content: G

BUYING ADVISORY: EL, MS - OPTIONAL

AUDIENCE APPEAL: AVERAGE

Latham’s poem “Nest” has four parts. But within that poem, she "found" 161 other poems hiding and waiting to be found. “Nest” is about more than twigs -- it’s also about bedtime, the color indigo, being confused, Pluto losing its status as a planet, and more!

The found poems inside of Latham’s original poem are short and don’t always make a lot of sense, but I loved seeing how she played with the words. In the introduction and after the last poem is shared, Latham gives readers tips on making their own found poems. She has inspired me to try it myself.

Reviewer: Carolina Herdegen

When the Stars Wrote Back by Trista Mateer - OPTIONAL

When the Stars Wrote Back by Trista Mateer, 187 pages. POETRY. Random House, 2020. $15.

Language: PG (6 swears, 0 “f”); Mature Content: PG13; Violence: PG13

BUYING ADVISORY: HS - OPTIONAL

AUDIENCE APPEAL: AVERAGE

Mateer creates poems from words in common and uncommon poetry form as well as through word art. The focus of these poems are on love for self and not needing a partner. Wanting and having a partner is great too, but know that you are happy with yourself as you are.

In these words combined with the simple and beautiful illustrations, self love for the narrator grows until you come to realize that you are worthy of your own love, too. The simplistic style of the entire collection invites readers to put themselves into the emotions and words expressed. I was surprised when a couple of these poems helped heal pieces of heartbreak I thought I had resolved. The mature content rating is for drug and alcohol use, mention of rape, and sexual assault. The violence rating is for mention of suicide.

Reviewer: Carolina Herdegen

Dreams From Many Rivers by Margarita Engle - ADVISABLE

Dreams From Many Rivers: A Hispanic History of the United States Told in Poems by Margarita Engle, art by Beatriz Gutierrez Hernandez, 198 pages. POETRY  Henry Holt (MacMillan), 2019. $19.

Content: G. 

BUYING ADVISORY: MS - ADVISABLE 

AUDIENCE APPEAL: AVERAGE 

Beginning in Puerto Rico in 1491, Engle uses many different voices - some historical, to show the relationship between history and the people who experienced it. The conquering of the indigenous, trading the islands as though they weren't independent countries, treating people who have lived in the US for generations like unwanted immigrants, splitting up families based on where they were born. 

American History from the view of a marginalized community is an important topic - it's all about perspective. In school I only learned one story, it's time we heard about the others - the ones they don't teach about. Engle's short poetic voices are poignant, full of expression and heartfelt. I was reading about people rather than events. Well researched, includes an author's note with some source material. I'll certainly be featuring this title during Hispanic Heritage Month.

Lisa Librarian

Nineteen by Makenzie Campbell - OPTIONAL

Nineteen by Makenzie Campbell, 192 pages. POETRY. Central Avenue Publishing (Central Avenue Marketing), 2020. $15.

Language: PG (1 swear, 0 “f”); Mature Content: PG; Violence: PG

BUYING ADVISORY: HS - OPTIONAL

AUDIENCE APPEAL: AVERAGE

Campbell opens herself to be vulnerable about love lost and a journey of self-empowerment as she shares her stream of consciousness thoughts with readers. The words feel like poetry because of the emotion fused into them, but the free verse is untraditional and seems more like a memoir.

As I read, Campbell’s words felt calming and comforting to read, and she evoked self-reflection. While not all of her experiences are happy, Campbell is able to create an atmosphere of empathy and encouragement for readers.

Reviewer: Carolina Herdegen

The Superlative A. Lincoln: Poems About Our 16th President by Eileen R. Meyer - ADVISABLE

The Superlative A. Lincoln: Poems About Our 16th President by Eileen R. Meyer, illustrated by Dave Szalay. NONFICTION POETRY/PICTURE BOOK. Charlesbridge, 2019. $18. 9781580899376.

BUYING ADVISORY: EL, MS - ADVISABLE

AUDIENCE APPEAL: AVERAGE

Abraham Lincoln is a towering figure in American history. In this illustrated book of poems, Meyer introduces various stories about Lincoln and highlights aspects of his character. Each poem comes with a small note, as well, offering more historical information. The key focus on superlatives is a nice touch to tie in with a language curriculum. There is a nice timeline, author's note and bibliography in the back.

This was a difficult book to characterize but a fun and quick book to read. Its not fully a biography, but you get a lot of good info in each poem and note. This would be a great book for teachers to utilize in combining history and language arts lessons (the best way to teach them both!). I think fans of American History will also enjoy it simply for what it is.

Reviewer: TC

Sincerely by F. S. Yousaf - OPTIONAL

Sincerely by F. S. Yousaf, 160 pages. POETRY. Central Avenue Publishing, 2020. $15.

Language: PG (2 swears, 0 “f”); Mature Content: G; Violence: G

BUYING ADVISORY: HS - OPTIONAL

AUDIENCE APPEAL: AVERAGE

Yousaf bears his soul in prose written for the woman he would ask to marry him. Contained within the covers of this book are several short poems about love and belonging sprinkled with sketches that are amateur but shine with sincerity.

I enjoyed these poems, but I think I liked them more because of the context Yousaf gives his readers in the long dedication at the beginning. As Yousaf expresses his love for the woman he is asking to marry him, I read them as poems about hope -- hope for the cute-and-romantic-but-also-durable kind of love that seems idealistic and impossible to find most of the time.

Reviewer: Carolina Herdegen

Dictionary for a Better World by Irene Latham and Charles Waters - ADVISABLE

Dictionary for a Better World by Irene Latham and CharlesWaters, 109 pages. POETRY. Carolrhoda Books, 2020. $20.

Language: G (0 swears, 0 “f”); Mature Content: G; Violence: G

BUYING ADVISORY: MS - ADVISABLE

AUDIENCE APPEAL: AVERAGE

Latham and Waters offer 50 poems, each with a quote and an anecdote, based on principles and characteristics that will improve our world when applied. Individuals have to change before the world as a whole can become better.

My favorite parts of this book are the parts that are not advertised as part of the poem collection: each poem comes with a new literary device or poem style to learn and an invitation for the reader to start applying the introduced principle. Latham and Waters teach by example through their poems and anecdotes and then give readers another example of how to start emulating the characteristics now -- today! While this isn’t the type of book one typically sits down to read cover to cover, even flipping through a few pages has the potential to change a reader’s perspective of the world.

Reviewer: Carolina Herdegen

Captive by Madeline Dyer - AVISABLE

Captive by Madeline Dyer, 45 pages. POETRY. Ineja Press, 2020. $6.

Language: G (0 swears, 0 “f”); Mature Content: PG; Violence: PG

BUYING ADVISORY: HS - ADVISABLE

AUDIENCE APPEAL: AVERAGE

Dyer writes poems as someone who struggles with mental disorders. The battle inside oneself, against oneself, is not one that is easily or openly understood by others. Through beautifully crafted metaphors and imagery, Dyer conveys unwanted feelings and illogical thoughts in ways that readers can understand.

I have not gone through the same difficulties as Dyer, but I have gone through some mental hardships as well. Poetry depends upon readers feeling and understanding what is expressed through the words written. Some of Dyer’s poems were relatable to me and my difficult experiences, but I did not relate to all of them, nor do I think that these poems will speak to everyone. However, Dyer has written these poems in such a way that I still felt like I could understand her struggles and desire to find hope when they were different from my own experiences. If you do not read this book to know that you are not alone, read this collection of poems to better understand those who struggle with mental disorders.

Reviewer: Carolina Herdegen

Poems to See By written by Julian Peters - ADVISABLE

Poems to See By: A Comic Artist Interprets Great Poetry by JulianPeters, 160 pages. POETRY GRAPHIC NOVEL. Plough Publishing House, 2020. $24. 9780874863185

Language: PG (1 swear, 0 “f”); Mature Content: PG; Violence: PG

BUYING ADVISORY: MS - OPTIONAL, HS - ADVISABLE

AUDIENCE APPEAL: HIGH

Peters takes 24 classic poems and breathes new life into them by illustrating each work in a comic-strip format. The poems cover a variety of topics, but all of them invite the reader to look at the world and themselves differently.

I was captivated from the very first poem, excited to see what amazing things Peters would continue to do with the poems he had chosen. By using illustrations to help readers visualize the poems, readers gain new perspectives to consider. My favorite thing about this book is that each unique poem also gets a unique illustration; Peters uses all different art styles throughout the book, and the variety only made me more excited to see what would come next.

Reviewer: Carolina Herdegen