SPINNING THROUGH THE UNIVERSE

“You have to really look at things,” Naomi says, and that’s what each fifth-grader does in this look at life from many points of view. Frost uses 22 poetic forms to give voice to the students in Mrs. Williams’s class. A missing cat, a stolen bike, an abusive father, a mother with cancer, bullying, learning difficulties, a new baby, the death of a father, cheating, Little League—this is the constellation of concerns as teacher and students are, as Mrs. Williams says, “spinning through the universe together.” Appropriate, original imagery and understated, natural voices make these poems sensitive and insightful. Since the students sometimes sound older than fifth-graders, the collection will appeal to readers and teachers in middle school and high school. The notes on how the form in each poem works are of particular value to teachers eager to guide students in their own poetry writing. (Fiction. 10+)