Customer Reviews

Just People & Paper/Pen/Poem: A Young Writer's Way to Begin

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Kathi Appelt's book of poetry is my favorite book to use with intermediate and high school readers. After twelve years in the classroom, no book comes close to the success I have experienced with Just People.

The book is organized into two sections -- one containing transcendent free-verse poems focusing on the adolescent experience, and the second an exploration of Appelt's own writing process with specific invitations to respond to each poem.

The title poem "Just People" stuns my students. They visualize the story so easily thanks to Appelt's imagery that they share Marsha Cates' loss when her boyfriend is killed by a drunk driver. "Emergence" captures every teen's desire for breaking out and venturing into the unknown of adulthood. Appelt focuses on the simple image of a young person sitting in a parked car in the driving rain, yet the yearning is universal. "Javier" is a poem of rebirth. A young boy waits outside a library in the early morning cold. A compassionate school librarian breaks the rules and lets him in early. His life is transformed through the warmth of books.

I've had the opportunity to present with Kathi Appelt and have her speak to my students. She is a writer of uncommon grace who can take young readers on emotional roller-coaster rides. I love this book!