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Listened to this full-cast audiobook on the way up to Ft. Wayne this morning. The poems are a joy to listen to and the book contains a wide variety, from heart-breaking to laugh-out-loud funny. I think the poems beg to be read aloud, so listening to them on audiobook is a great way to experience the book.
The full-cast audiobook adds a lot to this, I think. It's a great collection of characters in Harlem in the 30s, some with funny stories, others tragic, others just observing. I think it would be a great classroom accompaniment to a lesson about the Harlem Renaissance, or a unit about storytelling through poetry, maybe.
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Aug 23, 2015
Lacey Louwagie
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100-book-challenge-2015,
poetry
I don't read a lot of poetry and I always feel a little bit out of my element reviewing it. I listened to this audiobook right after X: A Novel because I thought they might lend context to one another. Walter Dean Myers captures diverse and authentic voices in this collection, from a gossiping hairdresser to a teenager girl yearning for male attention under her mother's disapproving gaze. Even though I generally don't like audio versions of poetry books, in this book, like October Mourning: A So
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This was a musical, beautiful work of poetry, perfect for the audio format. It is like a literary Humans of Harlem, with so many voices speaking out clearly. The author does a good job giving them all a voice, and the little bit of information and explanation at the end of the piece is appreciated too. I enjoyed spending an hour strolling the neighborhood and meeting its residents and learning more about the way of life there. Worth the read (or listen) if you have the chance.
What a great group of poems, written in lots of different voices and tones, believable as if from different people. Photos from early twentieth century match the style.
Excellent curriculum connection.
