A humble volume of poems that advocates kindness and exemplifies wisdom.
Hood’s poems play with form as they explore themes of faith, hope, and love in this collection.
In this volume, the poet regards social phenomena—haircuts, gender identity, the contrasts between the past and present-day life, American culture, family, marriage, aging, and mortality—with compassion and acceptance. One of the collection’s more didactic poems, “Talking and Listening,” emphasizes the loss of love between people when communication breaks down, while “Purchased Kisses” upholds the sacredness of small intimacies. Of the more personal poems, “Dreams Before…” expresses loneliness in truth and quietness, while “Despair” uses sweet rhymes to express a bitter emotion. There is a simplicity in the author’s voice that evokes picking up a familiar object, observing it from several angles, then putting it down gently, as in “The Ayers Maple”: “I wonder and notice again / A small stone plaque placed to remind / Succeeding generations that those who were once young / Loved maples, too, And oaks / enough to plant them.” The poems alternate between long and short line lengths, occasionally employing end rhymes that are sometimes a bit contrived but always fun, even when the subject matter has somber undertones, as in “Real”: “When you are lost / You need to stop / To clear your clouded mind / To quiet fears / To ponder doubts / To let them go / To move on with your find…” Even when the form is playful, the speaker always finds a way back to the crux of the poem, and each ending is satisfying, often containing a moral. The poems on gender and sexuality are somewhat reductive; “The Cross Dresser” opens with an onlooker’s presumption: “Clothes are one way / You try to say / Just who you think you are. / You snap a photo with your phone / To twitter near -or far.” The most powerful pieces in the collection are the confessional poems, which are vulnerable and honest, including “And Now That I am Eighty-two” and “Who Are You?”
A humble volume of poems that advocates kindness and exemplifies wisdom.Pub Date: June 12, 2023
ISBN: 9798890300911
Page Count: 72
Publisher: Self
Review Posted Online: Aug. 26, 2024
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
Some of Avant’s mantras are overstated, but her book is magnanimous, inspiring, and relentlessly optimistic.
Memories and life lessons inspired by the author’s mother, who was murdered in 2021.
“Neither my mother nor I knew that her last text to me would be the words ‘Think you’ll be happy,’ ” Avant writes, "but it is fitting that she left me with a mantra for resiliency.” The author, a filmmaker and former U.S. Ambassador to the Bahamas, begins her first book on the night she learned her mother, Jacqueline Avant, had been fatally shot during a home invasion. “One of my first thoughts,” she writes, “was, ‘Oh God, please don’t let me hate this man. Give me the strength not to hate him.’ ” Daughter of Clarence Avant, known as the “Black Godfather” due to his work as a pioneering music executive, the author describes growing up “in a house that had a revolving door of famous people,” from Ella Fitzgerald to Muhammad Ali. “I don’t take for granted anything I have achieved in my life as a Black American woman,” writes Avant. “And I recognize my unique upbringing…..I was taught to honor our past and pay forward our fruits.” The book, which is occasionally repetitive, includes tributes to her mother from figures like Oprah Winfrey and Bill Clinton, but the narrative core is the author’s direct, faith-based, unwaveringly positive messages to readers—e.g., “I don’t want to carry the sadness and anger I have toward the man who did this to my mother…so I’m worshiping God amid the worst storm imaginable”; "Success and feeling good are contagious. I’m all about positive contagious vibrations!” Avant frequently quotes Bible verses, and the bulk of the text reflects the spirit of her daily prayer “that everything is in divine order.” Imploring readers to practice proactive behavior, she writes, “We have to always find the blessing, to be the blessing.”
Some of Avant’s mantras are overstated, but her book is magnanimous, inspiring, and relentlessly optimistic.Pub Date: Oct. 17, 2023
ISBN: 9780063304413
Page Count: 288
Publisher: HarperOne
Review Posted Online: Aug. 17, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2023
Worthwhile reference stuffed with facts and illustrations.
A compendium of charts, time lines, lists and illustrations to accompany study of the Bible.
This visually appealing resource provides a wide array of illustrative and textually concise references, beginning with three sets of charts covering the Bible as a whole, the Old Testament and the New Testament. These charts cover such topics as biblical weights and measures, feasts and holidays and the 12 disciples. Most of the charts use a variety of illustrative techniques to convey lessons and provide visual interest. A worthwhile example is “How We Got the Bible,” which provides a time line of translation history, comparisons of canons among faiths and portraits of important figures in biblical translation, such as Jerome and John Wycliffe. The book then presents a section of maps, followed by diagrams to conceptualize such structures as Noah’s Ark and Solomon’s Temple. Finally, a section on Christianity, cults and other religions describes key aspects of history and doctrine for certain Christian sects and other faith traditions. Overall, the authors take a traditionalist, conservative approach. For instance, they list Moses as the author of the Pentateuch (the first five books of the Hebrew Bible) without making mention of claims to the contrary. When comparing various Christian sects and world religions, the emphasis is on doctrine and orthodox theology. Some chapters, however, may not completely align with the needs of Catholic and Orthodox churches. But the authors’ leanings are muted enough and do not detract from the work’s usefulness. As a resource, it’s well organized, inviting and visually stimulating. Even the most seasoned reader will learn something while browsing.
Worthwhile reference stuffed with facts and illustrations.Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2005
ISBN: 978-1-5963-6022-8
Page Count: -
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 23, 2010
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
© Copyright 2024 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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