Rocky Mendoza

Eng.112B 4-6:45

11 November 2006

Professor Warner

Annotated Bibliography

Annotated Bibliography on Young Adult Poetry:

The Path Between the Kid and the Poem

Mention �poetry� to today�s youth and most of them would probably scoff, or even cringe, at the sound of the word. Their minds will probably take them back to a dreadful memory of a long, drudging afternoon in an English class�the instructor writing out full-proof formulas to understanding and interpreting Shakespeare�s Sonnets. Despite the fact that there are numerous youth poetry organizations out there like Brave New Voices or Youth Speaks, most kids would admit that poetry is boring, or as kids would say, �it totally blows.� There are great poetry instructors teaching the art form as it should be; but the young, yawning poetry student has become a clich�.

The purpose of this annotated bibliography is to present a collection of works from the young adult genre that will shine a different light on poetry for kids and encourage them to write poetry themselves. A couple of works from my collection consist of �how to write poetry� books that are appealing to the young audience; however, there�s only so much to offer. I wouldn�t recommend offering kids too many �how to� books because they�re usually too formulaic and too tedious to read. The selected �how to� books, however, are fun, engaging, and appeals to the younger audience.

Other than offering fun �how to� books, a better approach is appeal to the young student�s interests. How often do we see poetry around us? Almost never. People won�t hear about Brave New Voices or Youth Speaks on television, radio, newspaper, or the movies. They won�t even hear about poetry organizations on the Internet unless they Google it and search through a heap of websites. Poetry just isn�t exposed enough for the youth to notice. Kids are, however, completely immersed in poetry�s counterpart: music. Placed side by side, it�s almost impossible to distinguish a poem from a song. The two are the same, yet songs are more appealing to today�s youth. Music is the perfect conduit to poetry. A portion of my collection consists of poetry books written by musicians.

Although music is a good vehicle to inspire kids to write, it is still important that they appreciate poetry for what it is. That�s why kids should be exposed to books on slam poetry to drive their inner pulse. Slam poetry�s fusion of energy, beats, fiery delivery, and artistic word play is the reason why The Spoken Word Revolution is the central focus of this collection. It caters the youth�s love for music and allows them to express their emotions, thoughts, and ideas in verse. Slam poetry is definitely the style of poetry that will keep students awake.

1. Adoff, Arnold. Slow Dance Heart Break Rules. New York: Lothrop, Lee & Shepard Books, 1995.

This book is a collection of contemporary poems from Arnold Adoff that speaks through the voice of young Americans. Just as the inner flap of the books says, �these poems are sparkling explosions of soul that capture the essence of adolescent experience, from hard loving to hard-hearted nose-dive flops.� This book was chosen for the collection because it paints a world seen through the eyes of urban teenager: acne, city rats and roaches, empty streets, invisible ships. Young adults would truly appreciate the rhythmic flow and discombobulated structure of Adoff.

2. Anglesey, Zoe, ed. Listen Up! Spoken Word Poetry. New York: The Ballantine Publishing Group, 1999.

ListenUp! is a collection of spoken word poetry from artists of different backgrounds. This YA book is filled with soulful and up-beat poetry that will compel its young audience to bob their heads as they read and recite works from nine award-winning writers who have rocked audiences worldwide.

3. Ardis, Angela. Inside A Thug�s Heart. New York: Kinsington Publishing Corp., 2004.

Angela Ardis tells her story about a secret love affair she had with one the most renowned rappers of the mainstream culture, Tupac Shakur. What begins as a silly bet between friends becomes passionate dialogue between a heart-broken marketing assistant and an incarcerated rap legend. This book would do well for hip-hop kids aspiring to be poets because it contains numerous poems written by Tupac�mostly love poems. Exposing kids to poetry written by their role model is good way to get their feet wet.

4. Balling, Rich, ed. Revolution on Canvas. California: Ad Astra Books, 2004.

This is collection of poems written by independent label musicians. The back of the book best describes it: �We�ve all heard these musicians� voices before � whether through their song lyrics or their respective instruments � but here, stripped of their supporting soundtrack and taken down to the barest essence of me-against-the world, naked-on-the-slab their words take on a sometimes chilling, always enlightening new dimension.� This book, like Inside A Thug�s Heart, is a way for kids who are deeply driven by music to express themselves through poetry just as these musicians have.

5. Eleveld, Mark, ed. The Spoken Word Revolution. Illinois: Sourcebooks, Inc., 2003.

The Spoken Word Revolution is the centerpiece of this bibliography because it is the most powerful and complete slam poetry book of this collection. Although it focuses mainly on slam poetry, this book contains works of more than 40 slam, hip-hop, performance art, and contemporary poets of today. This book is not labeled as Young Adult Literature, but that doesn�t make it any less pertinent to young adults. Many kids these days listen to hip-hop, or rap. This book discusses the history of the oral tradition and hip-hop�s ties to poetry. Kids will learn that rap and poetry aren�t very different. This book also contains an audio CD to accompany some of the works in the book so the audience can hear the poets� delivery. This book is a complete package.

6. Glazner, Gary Mex, ed. Poetry Slam. San Francisco: Manic D Press, 2000.

Like the previous entry, this book is another collection of poems from various slam poets. The difference between this book and the previous one is that this one is more of a �how to perform� book. Poetry Slam contains informative essays and tips on putting together your own slam, competition strategies, mnemonics, and the top 100 best slam-winning poems. This book would be good for young adults who already know the history and want to take the next step into writing and performance.

7. High, Linda Oatman. Sister Slam and the Poetic Motormouth Road Trip. New York: Bloomsbury, 2004.

In the back cover: �On the way to a slam poetry contest in New Jersey, Sister Slam [Laura Crapper] and her best friend Twig hit a pig with their car, get pulled over by the cops, fight with one of the judges, lose the contest, get into tow more fender benders, fight with each other, and finally land on the front page of a newspaper in New York City.� This is an interesting book because it is the only one I was able to find on slam poetry that wasn�t a non-fiction book. The book is nothing short of true YA literature: non-stop action and informal language. The best thing about the book is that it is written in verse like Karen Hesse�s Witness making it accessible to young adults who want to venture into the world of poetry and read a good story.

8. Janeczko, Paul B., comp. Poetry from A to Z. New York: Simon & Schuster Books, 1994.

This is a fun book on writing poetry. It�s easy to read and the tone of voice is very colloquial, which makes the book personal�as if the author is speaking directly to the reader rather than a wide audience. The teachings of this book are unlike the lessons taught in jr. high or high school. If Shel Silverstein wrote a � how write poetry� book, this one would come close. The most interesting thing about this book is that the author teaches the �curse� poem and the �Clerihew.� These types of poems are written to ridicule or wish hateful things to another person. At first, that seemed like the wrong message to put out, but kids need to learn to express their anger and hatred through art. It�s better that they do so on paper than actually act on it.

9. Ryan, Margret. How to Write a Poem. Connecticut: Franklin Watts, 1996.

From the side flap: How to Write a Poem provides both the novice and the experienced poet with a complete step-by-step approach to composing verse. This book should probably be read after Poetry from A to Z because the language is more sophisticated and the author teaches more advance terms. This is a good book for teens because it literally walks the reader through the process of composing a poet from writing preparation, finding a subject, polishing and proofreading, and finally, going public.

10. Sitomer, Alan Lawerence and Michael Cirelli. Hip Hop Poetry and the Classics. California: Milk Mug Publishing, 2004.

This was taken from the website, www.hiphopintheclass.com, speaking on the book:

Our goal is to make the academic study of poetry accessible relevant, comprehensible and enjoyable to students in our contemporary, multicultural classrooms.

Our methodology is to analyze the poetry of Hip-Hop and compare its motifs, themes, and general poetic devices (such as alliteration, rhyme scheme, figurative language, etc. ..) to the "classic" poems traditionally studied (by writers such as Frost Dickinson, Keats, etc...) in order to teach the core elements of the poetic craft in an appealing, relevant, thorough and accessible manner.

This book, with its lesson plans and exercises, is geared toward the classroom setting. Like the slam poetry books, this book combines kids� musical interests with poetry.

11. Williams, Saul. The Dead Emcee Scrolls: The Lost Teachings of Hip-Hop. New York: Pocketbooks, 2006.

This book is a collection of poems from hip-hop poet, Saul Williams. On the back cover: �In the underground labyrinths of New York City's subway system, beneath the third rail of a long forgotten line, Saul Williams discovered scrolls of aged yellowish-brown paper rolled tightly into a can of spray paint. His quest to decipher this mystical ancient text resulted in a primal understanding of the power hip-hop has to teach us about ourselves and the universe around us.�

Williams tells his story at the beginning of the book about how he wondered the streets writing rhymes, breakdancing, and bombing, or graffiti writing. He talks about how he �paraded as a poet� until he eventually became one. His story and collection of poetry would be very inspirational to teens that are immersed in hip-hop, yet are lost and struggling to find an identity.