Partly Cloudy

March 9, 2009
Teenagers pine for, revel in and recover from early loves and relationships in Soto's (Mercy on These Teenage Chimps
) collection of nearly 80 poems, divided into two sections: “A Girl's Tears, Her Songs” and “A Boy's Body, His Words.” From those in love, there are moments of joy—“Love, I like how your hair is shaggy,/ That your sweater, when wet, smells of dog./ And that you itch when I'm around” as well as poignant humor: “I checked my e-mail and my cell phone/ A hundred times a day./ You were a fake. I was the one who helped/ You in math. You didn't learn anything!” says a girl in “For the Love of Dogs.” Certain poems take a more despairing tone, as in “An Act of Kindness,” in which a boy muses, “The world is cruel. People have knives,/ And even their teeth look like knives.” Ultimately, the effect is akin to experiencing all the seasons in one day, as the simplicity of the unrhymed verse thinly veils the undercurrent of complex emotions at play. Ages 12–up.

March 1, 2009
Gr 6-9-Soto skillfully captures the voice and emotions of young teens in love. The free verse poems are grouped together in two sections: "A Girl's Tears, Her Songs" and "A Boy's Body, His Words." There are selections about first kisses ("I haven't been kissed, /But I'm waiting"), young love ("We were young, not yet fourteen./What chance could our love have/In a world so rough?"), jealousy ("You narrowed your eyes at me, /Flashed red coals from deep inside you"), and rejection ("When she said no, /I took my loneliness to the river"). In "Danger" a boy says, "If I knew you were in trouble, /I would take a shovel and shovel my way/To your house, six blocks away, /And risk live wires hissing like snakes./Love, I know, can be hazardous to my health." Since many of the narrators are 13 or 14 years old, these short, accessible poems will appeal to middle schoolers, especially. A great addition to poetry collections.Ann Nored, Wilson Central High School, Lebanon, TN

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