Ring in the New, but DON’T Ring Out the Old
As the year draws to a close and a new one begins, I wanted to celebrate a few of the verse novels and poetry anthologies I've enjoyed carrying with me on my slides as I returned, at long last, to presenting keynote addresses and participating on panels and visiting schools in person again this fall - after the necessary damper on travel due to the pandemic.
Wings in the Wild is a 2023 release that I was privileged to read - by young people's poet laureate emeritus, Margarita Engle (who has won so many important awards and honors that listing them would surely take a up a few pages). Like many of her other award-winning books, this novel is written in multiple points of view. We get to meet Soleida, who lives in Cuba at the beginning of the novel. Her parents are artists, who have created a hidden sculpture garden depicting chained birds, to protest the oppression of artists who aren't approved of by the Cuban Government. When a hurricane exposes this illegal art, they are imprisoned and Soleida is forced to flee. She escapes to Central America on her own, where she meets thousands of Cuban refugees who, like her, are stranded in Costa Rica, and hoping to find asylum elsewhere. She also meets Dariel, a Cuban American boy whose music has the uncanny ability to enchant birds and animals. His music also invites her to trust him, and the two discover friendship, which deepens quickly into love. Together, they work to protect the environment and bring attention to incarcerated Cuban artists - hoping that despite their uncertain future, they will be able to remain together.
I must confess that Engle is one of my favorite writers alive today. But let me try to put aside my love for her and recommend this book on objective grounds. Engle weaves in two vitally important and timely themes in this novel: global climate crises which is increasingly not merely affecting but taking the lives of people all over the world, and censorship, which, unfortunately, is a current problem in our nation today, with books for young people coming under attack. I wish WINGS IN THE WILD soaring success, and I thank Engle for the many ways in which she helps me when I, like Dariel, "experience/ a wave / of loneliness / like the vibrating / echoes I feel right after / singing" and for her reminder, when I feel hopeless and sad, that "if reptiles can evolve into birds / then anything is possible" .
Before I move on, I'd also like to celebrate the amazing and incredible successes of two of her 2022 releases: SINGING WITH ELEPHANTS was named one of just eight "top middle grade novels" by the New York Times and RIMA'S REBELLION is a finalist for the Jane Addams Award!
As a person with an invisible disability, I am always interested in protagonists with disabilities, and was intrigued to read IVELIZ EXPLAINS IT ALL by Andrea Betriz Arango and MOONWALKING by Zetta Elliott and Lyn Miller-Lachmann.
Congratulations to Arango for tackling the theme of mental health in her debut novel, and for creating a strong BIPOC female who speaks openly about depression. I hope Iveliz will find a welcoming home on library shelves. I also love Arango's honesty and care for her readers. She lists excellent resources on mental health that are available and appropriate for readers, and, in her author's note, expresses a hope that I second and support, that her her book will inspire them " to be brave and ask for help" when they need it.
Moonwalking, co-authored by two highly acclaimed authors, features alternating points of view: we meet JJ Pankowski and Pierre Velez, who, despite divides of race and class, come together through their shared love for music. This story about the power of friendship and the power of art to overcome differences and empower people features "a loud voice, an electric guitar, and three chords" - and it gets three cheers from me.
A SEED IN THE SUN, a novel in verse by Aida Salazar, which was released to wonderful and starred reviews (including high praise from Horn Book) was one I recommended to many on my travels;
as, of course I also recommended Nikki Grimes's GARVEY IN THE DARK, which I was honored to blurb. You can read more about both books in previous blog posts.
As for upcoming and current poetry anthologies, I'd like to call your attention to CALLING THE MOON: 16 PERIOD STORIES FROM BIPOC AUTHORS. This groundbreaking volume includes short stories in verse as well as prose, and is scheduled for March 28, 2023 release. Full disclosure: a short story by me, entitled SHAKTHI MEANS STRENGTH, is included in this collection, along with work by poets and writers I admire.
I was also thrilled to have poems I wrote included in two wonderful anthologies published by Pomelo Books (edited by Sylvia Vardell and Janet Wong).
The profits from the sale of these two volumes goes to an excellent charitable cause, so if you're thinking of books for holiday gift-giving, I highly recommend THINGS WE WEAR and THINGS TO DO, both of which contain several delightful poems appropriate for young readers, along with excellent poetry writing activities that can be used by elementary school teachers and parents and librarians.
Finally, I'd like to voice a pet peeve. We so often get excited about new releases, new books and new authors - and indeed we should welcome new work into our world. But I think it's also vital to rejoice in re-reading older releases - and incredibly important and absolutely necessary to keep buying and supporting older books. In this spirit, I'd like to end by listing a few old favorites of mine, that I've been re-reading this year - as I try to find the courage to write my own memoir someday. If you haven't read these amazing memoirs written by poets of our time - what are you waiting for? Enjoy them as this year ends, as the new one begins, and for years to come: BROWN GIRL DREAMING by Jacqueline Woodson, HOW I DISCOVERED POETRY by Marilyn Nelson, SHOUT by Laurie Halse Anderson, and ORDINARY HAZARDS by Nikki Grimes.
And look for an interview with Marilyn Nelson next year! I have loved, admired and respected her work for so many years and I am absolutely blown away to think that we will be able to share this with our readers. In addition to her work for older adults, I have read and re-read CARVER: A LIFE IN POEMS and MY SENECA VILLAGE - both of which are exquisite masterpieces created especially for young adults.
Thanks for supporting diverse verse, and wish you a wonderful 2023.
Padma Venkatraman
