CLASS DISMISSED II [Hardcover]

Mel Glenn (Author), Michael Bernstein (Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 27, 1986

Another seventy poems about the emotional lives of contemporary high school students.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 7 Up As in Class Dismissed (Houghton, 1982), the subjects of these poems are fictional adolescents based on actual students. The 70 poems are fresh and crisp; they cut to the bone of adolescent life. The book is in perfect balance, with Glenn's honest poetry set in clear print with a clean layout and Bernstein's striking photographic portraits of teenagers. Whether presenting "Ian Sinclair's" view of the future ("That fallout makes for nuclear winter /and winter kills") or "Hayes Iverson's" flush of sports ("The ball is up /Universe waits") or "Min Than's" relocation to America ("I write letters to my father /Telling him of my progress /I have not heard from him in over one year /I hope he is alive"), each poem makes its subject live. From homework to relationships to proms to graduation to life beyondthe class may have been dismissed at the end of the book, but the poems remain firmly in readers' minds and hearts. Kathleen D. Whalin, Public Library of Columbus and Franklin County, Reynoldsburg, Ohio
Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 96 pages
• Publisher: Clarion Books (October 27, 1986)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0899194435
• ISBN-13: 978-0899194431
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 6 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,080,309 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Life from the Teenage Perspective, January 23, 2002

By 

"jallew" (Hazlehurst, GA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: CLASS DISMISSED II (Hardcover)

Mel Glenn has written with humor, pathos, and gripping imagery about the realities, the dreams, the ups, and the downs of being a teenager. From girls who get up the courage to make the first move that is ignored to guys who wonder what went wrong, romantic distresses and exhilirating successes are discussed in words straight from a teen's throbbing heart.

Glenn presents a multicultural viewpoint of surviving the teenage years. Miguel turns his life around one year after graduating from high school, and the reader cheers him on. Brandon, one year after high school, is still a loser, and the reader recognizes Brandon's lack of motivation. Isabel is fighting poverty and personal demons, but when she begins to dance onstage . . . oh, how she leaps above the pain of her life! Veronica's father is in the service, and she complains about the schools in seven states and compares her life to the red lines on the Rand McNally atlas. Barry humorously describes failing his road test again and wonders how he will travel. Dana finds out that there are no "express lanes to happiness" and thinks that perhaps returning to school would be more productive than his K-Mart job. Self-centered Dorothy wonders why her friend leaves, Robert wonders who's going to college--him or his parents, Paul means no disrespect but wonders if his teacher has any books that deal with real life . . . The poems touch on every aspect of what it is to be human, alive, young, reaching, hoping, dreaming, achieving, losing, and trying again.

As a language arts teacher, I use these poems as journal prompts to springboard my students into writing, and these poems touch my students in ways classical poetry does not. My students see themselves in these poems and are always eager to discuss the teens represented in these pages as if they are real people. I highly recommend this book to language arts teachers, teenagers, or those who would like to remember what it was like to be a teen.