Description

---

From the creators of the New York Times bestseller Poetry Speaks to Children, comes this inspirational anthology book of poems for middle grade readers.

Poetry Speaks Who I Am is filled with more than 100 remarkable poems for teen boys and girls, making it the perfect addition to any classroom. With poems about who teens are and who they are becoming, they'll find poems that make them laugh, that make them angry, or poems that speak directly to them.

Poetry can be life altering. It can be gritty and difficult. It can be hilarious or heart-breaking. And it's meant to be experienced, so we've included a CD on which you'll hear 44 poems, 39 of which are original recordings—you'll only find them here. You'll hear poets both classic and contemporary, well-known and refreshingly new, including:

• Dana Gioia expresses the hunger of a "Vampire's Serenade"
• Elizabeth Alexander waits for that second kiss in "Zodiac"
• Langston Hughes flings his arms wide in "Dream Variations"
• Marilyn Nelson reads to her class in "How I Discovered Poetry"
• Paul Muldoon's poem "Sideman," brought loudly to life by the band Rackett
• And 39 more!

Poetry Speaks Who I Am is dynamic, accessible, challenging, classic, edgy, and ultimately...not quite perfect. Just like you.

About the Author

---

Elise Paschen is the editor of Poetry Speaks to Children and co-editor of Poetry Speaks, both New York Times bestsellers. She is the author of several acclaimed poetry collections of her own, including Bestiary and Infidelities, winner of the Nicholas Roerich Poetry Prize. Former Executive Director of the Poetry Society of America, she is the co-founder of Poetry in Motion, a nationwide program that places poetry in subways and buses, and co-editor of Poetry in Motion and Poetry in Motion from Coast to Coast.

Series Editor Dominique Raccah is founder, president, and publisher of Sourcebooks, a leading independent publisher outside of Chicago. Today Sourcebooks is the world’s leading publisher of poetry in book-and-audio form, and also publishes nonfiction and fiction. Raccah was the initial visionary of the books Poetry Speaks, Poetry Speaks to Children and Hip Hop Speaks to Children, seeing them as interactive, engaging ways to experience spoken and written poetry.

Praise For…

---

"Teen readers will find much to enjoy in "Poetry Speaks: Who I am…a highly eclectic collection of 100 poems about everything from valentines to being black to mowing the lawn." — Scripps News

"The power of spoken poetry is at the heart of Poetry Speaks. Poetry is a vocal art, an art meant to be read aloud. Listening to a poem read aloud can be a transforming experience. Poetry Speaks not only introduces the finest work from some of the greatest poets who ever lived, it reintroduces the oral tradition of poetry, of poetry performed." — Powells Books

"Poet Elise Paschen is turning her attention to yet another most universal of human experiences: awkward adolescence…[Paschen] can turn this subject into something that we can laugh about now." " — NPR

"Poetry Speaks Who I Am is the perfect book to introduce tweens & teens to Poetry… [Poetry Speaks Who I Am] also features blank pages in the back, where teens can write their own poetry. The book's design also speaks to younger readers -- with the pages created to look like they belong in a teenager's notebook, with scribbles and doodles around the edges…This adds yet another dimension to the experience of poetry, which is sometimes considered a performance art more than anything else." — Portland Examiner

"Elise Paschen: poetry for teens caters to the rebel in each of us… So what if that happens to be written by some fancy-sounding napoetryme such as Percy Shelley or Paul Muldoon? So much the better." — Chicago Tribune

"This volume of verse is aimed at teenagers and is, not surprisingly, full of strong emotion... It's a standout collection, packaged with a CD of the poems read aloud, many by the poets themselves." — The New York Times

"An added bonus to Poetry Speaks Who I Am is that is comes with a CD of 47 poems being read by their authors or others. There’s something hypnotic about listening to poems being read, especially by the author, who knows where she intended emphasis and can add tone." — Reading Local: Portland

"Humorous, biting, tender, angry, confused--the range of moods and voices reflect those of young people themselves as they make and lose friends, fall in love, worry about school, hug (and hurt) parents and try to figure out their place in the world." — Washington Parent

"A sound and rewarding introduction to the joys of poetry." — Publishers Weekly

"Teen readers will find much to enjoy in "Poetry Speaks: Who I am"(Sourcebooks/Jabberwocky, $19.99). Editor Elise Paschen asked poets to send poems either that were important to them as teenagers, or poems they had written themselves about being teenagers. The result is a highly eclectic collection of 100 poems about everything from valentines to being black to mowing the lawn." — The Seattle Times

"These clear and powerful readings add a welcome dimension and will no doubt enhance readers’ enjoyment of the collection. The design of the volume, with its funky typefaces and brightly colored cover, will also appeal to young teens. The final pages provide space for readers to add their own poems—a good idea, because after paging through this eclectic and powerful anthology many will indeed be inspired to take up the pen." — Kirkus Reviews

"The greatest contemporary poets speak to our youth and to us all. This marvelous anthology contains over 100 poems that matter, by such luminaries as Langston Hughes, Robert Frost and Edgar Allan Poe, to the greatest of our own lifetime: Nikki Grimes, Joy Harjo, Richard Wilbur, Jason Shinder, Nancy Willard, N. Scott Momaday and scores more. A rich experiential collection is featured on the included CD with 47 new, recent and archived recordings of the poets and editors reading their work! The look, feel and design of this volume is cool and relevant – just like the poetry. This gem is a gift of a lifetime." — National Parenting Publications Awards" — NAPPA