Poetry Review #1

Grandits, John. 2007. BLUE LIPSTICK: CONCRETE POEMS. New York: Clarion. ISBN 13:978-0-618-56860-4

PLOT SUMMARY

Grandits has created a visual collection of concrete poems based on the life of a high school teenage girl named, Jessie. It’s a sequel to his first concrete poetry book about Jessie’s younger brother, Robert. In this book, Jessie is amusing, full of sarcasm and ready to oppose just about anything that eats and breathes. The honest thoughts and opinions that Jessie reveals of her family members as well as those found inside the school wall parameters will literally take you on a wild goose chase trying to keep up with this busy girl and all of her own personal opinions of everything.

CRITICAL ANALYSIS

The rhythm in the majority of these poems is free verse. Depending on the layout and design of the poem’s shape, and the demeanor of the poem factors whether short lines or long couplets are used. When Grandits uses short lines, they seem to contain a lot of whit. The longer lines in his poems see to be when the main character is endlessly releasing all of the thoughts going on in her head.

The contemporary poetry in this collection does not lend itself to rhyme, however, the poems ease forward in a natural way. Identifying a pattern of specific sounds used individually or even throughout the poem is not really noticeable. There is one concrete poem in the book that is a knock-off of completing a forced school assignment of writing haiku poetry around a theme. The 5-7-5 syllable pattern in this three line poem is about the only sound quality aspect I can locate.

The language spoken in each of these poems comes from the main character, Jessie. She is full of surprising choices and uses an array of literary techniques such as figurative language, similes, metaphors, and lots of sarcasm if that counts! Since most of the poems are written in some kind of shape format, it’s not hard to use imagery since it’s in your face.

The emotion behind the collection of poems written in this book is mostly for fun and entertainment. Jessie gets highly annoyed and disgusted with people around her all of the time which is what drives the charisma behind each of these poems.

This book will best be appreciated by teenagers, but could also be entertaining in a “flash back” sort of way for anyone already holding a high school diploma. Readers will find these poems to be visually appealing.

The balance and variety of poems offered in this collection are quite unique and interesting to look at and read. Each poem is literally a piece of art. It is not necessarily a quick read because you will turn the book at multiple angles to figure out how to read and follow the text along. It could be considered a lot of work just to read a poem from this book, but entertainment is included in the effort.

Each poem is graphically designed with its words, printed in various fonts and sizes to actually create the poem’s picture. Some poems have verses that are arranged and read traditionally from left to right, but most are written to make the shape or outline of something. For example, the poem, “All My Important Thinking Gets Done in the Shower,” was creatively displayed with a picture of a showerhead and then each of the multiple streams of water flowing out of the head are the written verses to this poem. Hues of black and blue are the only colors that adorn this book, thus its name Blue Lipstick.

Information about John Grandits can be found on the inside of the back cover. Since this book is a sequel to Technically, It’s Not My Fault, a highlight and review of this book is also included. There is not a table of contents or index indicating page numbers for the thirty-four poems in this book. All of the titles for each of the poems are written on the back cover, with the exception of page numbers.

Your eyes must see it to believe it to get the full artistic feel and touch that went into the creation of Blue Lipstick.

REVIEW EXCERPT(S)

Best Children’s Books of the Year, 2008; Bank Street College of Education

Children’s Choices, 2008; International Reading Association

Notable Children’s Books, 2008; American Library Association

Pure Poetry, 2007; Voice of Youth Advocates

School Library Journal Best Books, 2007

YALSA Quick Picks for Reluctant Young Adult Readers, 2008; American Library Association

Lee Bennett Hopkins Poetry Award, 2008; Honor Book

Kirkus Review: “Although Jessie's progress through the year is far from smooth, she learns a few things about friends, boyfriends and cheerleaders. Necessarily lacking the startling originality of its predecessor, this is nevertheless a playfully worthy companion. “

School Library Journal: “This irreverent, witty collection should resonate with a wide audience.”

CONNECTIONS

*Read Grandits’ first book of concrete poetry, Technically, It’s Not My Fault that features Jessie’s younger brother, Robert, and compare the siblings

*Observe the creativeness involved with designing a concrete poem. Randomly give students a poem that has been written traditionally and ask them to re-invent the same poem by coming up with a “concrete” style design.

*Students could also write original poetry in concrete form

*Writing from Jessie’s point of view, tell how she would feel about school cafeteria food