Each poem is written to a wonderful meaning. ( )

3Q, 2P
I will start by saying I am generally not a fan of poetry. Very little I have read has connected with me. My taste in poetry generally trends towards something rhyming and witty or dark and narrative-driven.

That being said, I reacted about how I expected to this collection. For the most part I was fairly unaffected. There were a few that I appreciated, either for the full concept or particular phrases. I found most of them to be fairly generic, and none of them really struck a chord with me.

I spent some time wondering how I would recommend this to teens. I probably wouldn't, to be frank, simply because I'm not sure I could be enthusiastic about it. Reviews seem largely positive, praising the book's ability to reach out to anyone, because loss is such a universal topic.

A big problem I had with the collection is that, while the poems were written about losses experienced all through life, including during the teenage years, they were written by adults looking back in reflection or nostalgia. Hindsight is 20/20 as they say, and it's easy to see as loss through the filter of time as bittersweet or formative, whereas when you are experiencing it as a mood-riddled bundle of teenage hormones, things are less clear or easy to compartmentalize into something as succinct as a poem. Perhaps the intention was a collection in the "it gets better" vein, but to me (or at least the teenage me I remember) this might seem more like a somewhat patronizing pat on the head, a "you'll understand when you're older" spiel from an adult who maybe has forgotten what it's like to be younger.

If I were to introduce this to teens I would definitely select the poems that seem most likely to hit home to a younger audience. Any of the poems that show the healing power of time directly. ( )

Q2, P2
" As the eight o'clock bell spills
it's racket into this mild September
it is I, not he, who hesitates
in the clamor towards the open doors
who spots the little ruffian throwing rocks
at the Trash-Master by the swings
Who shyly searches for room 106
where Miss Wynn waits with the name tags."

This is an okay poem compilation, but it's a little boring and I think teens might not want to read poems which have been specifically selected for teens, as it would seem like they were filtered for appropriateness, etc. Also a lot of the poems were about elementary school, or parents letting go of kids as they go off to school, like the poem above, and teens are probably dealing with issues of loss not related to that yet, and maybe instead, family difficulties, changing friends groups, boyfriends/girlfriends, etc. ( )

In this book, Nye compiles poems she has collected and received through the years on the theme of loss. The quality of the poems is a little uneven, but the compelling loss theme holds them together, and the gems among them really do sparkle. The book is aimed at teens, but not dumbed down for them, so it makes a great read for older poetry fans, too. ( )