HALF-CASTE

An ebullient yet harmonious cache of assorted poems by a Guyanese performance poet who has made Great Britain his home since 1977. Adolescent readers will appreciate verse that is playful and energetic yet may address the joy of language (“Poetry Jump Up”) as well as serious topics of bullying (“The Hunt Boy”), racial identity (“Half-Caste), racism (“The Giant with a Taste for Mongrel Blood”) and politics (“The Ozone Liar”). Agard’s poetry toys with readers by offering poems without punctuation and with invented spelling; yet, he offers verse on the topic of grammar (“Punctuating the Silence”), the stuff of which can make any punctuation lesson nearly joyful. Teachers will find this book a calming and positive voice in a classroom and will come to think of the collection as a paradise of teaching opportunities. (Poetry. 12+)