Customer Reviews

Class Dismissed! High School Poems by Mel Glenn

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Class Dismissed! is easily the best book of poetry I have ever read. It is full of emotion;sadness, relief, fear, and hapiness. It shows how overwhelmed high-schoolers of today are, and the problems they deal with everyday. It brings topics that are often hidden into the light, and discusses them in a blunt and descriptive manner.It is brutally honest, and truly a whorthwhile read.Every parent and teen should read this book.

This book has been very inspirational for my students - my high school students love hearing these stories aloud and reading some on their own. It inspired us to create a poetry portfolio of original works that they shared with the school during a poetry slam. I've used the poems with all different grades.

The poems focus on the angst of teenage years. Some contain "inappropriate" language or topics (sex, thoughts of death), but mostly, it's the perfect outlet for Glenn's students, just as this type of poetry is an outlet for my students. The language is modern and natural, rather than the "stuffy" figurative language, confining rhyme scheme, and overwrought emotion of more traditional poetry. Though it won't replace other forms of poetry, it's a great resource. I highly recommend the book to other teachers to use in the HS English classroom.