From School Library Journal
YA-- A book that's a pleasure to read and one that would be most rewarding to teach. It is a fine combination of graceful diction, colloquial voice, universal themes, and warmth of shared human experience. Echoes of some of the best American story poems enrich the original, contemporary, familiar setting. The language is dense with imagery while being lyrical and readable. Many of the poems would be fine models for young writers; others could serve as thematic comparisons to plays, short stories, and novels, especially those of the modern South. Some are just satisfying to experience. Here, a real person creates real people whom we recognize as ourselves. That is what we expect, but seldom find so consistently in a collection of poetry.
- Margaret C. Hecklinger, R . E . Lee High School, Springfield, VA
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.
- Margaret C. Hecklinger, R . E . Lee High School, Springfield, VA
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Library Journal
McNeill, poet laureate of West Virginia since 1979, published her first chapbook in 1931, and major collections followed in 1939, 1942, 1972, and 1979. Most of her work has long been out of print, and this book is a valiant but unsuccessful attempt at resurrection. The thematic (rather than chronological) arrangement highlights how few structural changes McNeill's writing has embodied over this 60-year period, as well as how limiting her scope is. Focusing on a people (the miners, the hill folk) and the landscape that imprisons them, the poems too often settle for cliched generalities. These rhymed, sing-song stanzas will be of interest mainly as folklore. Despite Anderson's urging for contemporary relevance, the poems feel dated. Writers such as Meridel LeSueur or Wilma Elizabeth McDaniel have weathered the years far better.
- Rochelle Ratner, formerly Poetry Editor, "Soho Weekly News," New York
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.
- Rochelle Ratner, formerly Poetry Editor, "Soho Weekly News," New York
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.
