Holbrook, Sara and Allan Wolf. 2008. MORE THAN FRIENDS: POEMS FROM HIM AND HER. Honesdale, PA: Boyds Mills Press. ISBN 9781590785874 [Suggested Grade Levels 7 and up]
REVIEW
This poetry book deals with the way love is looked at through a new set of eyes and hearts that have been in love before. This striking, realistic, heart-felt and quick teen romance is presented as a poetic dialogue. Neither writer is identified; yet, the titles help the reader infer from whose perspective the poem is composed. A wide variety of poetry styles are presented in this text including these forms: couplet, tercet, quatrain, refrain, villanelle and luc bat. Finding the author/characters voice in the entries is not difficult and the refreshing look at an honest account of teenage love is rewarding, right down to the sad, but true, break-ups that can and do occur.
Teenagers will find the subjects realistic and in synch with their lives. These contemporary writers, Holbrook and Wolf, did an outstanding job at finding the teen voice in the writing and not dedicating each poem or even actually listing the two protagonists in this multi-style poetry collection.
CONNECTIONS
Teens can focus on the role of voice in poetry and how it is depicted in the writing and the many kinds of poems in this anthology. All of the poems are categorized for the reader’s convenience in the last few pages of the text and help even the romantic reader learn more about the poetry styles that are at play within this book.
RELATED BOOKS
Other poetry books about teen love:
Fletcher, Ralph J. I Am Wings: Poems about Love.
Franco, Betsy. Things I Have to Tell You: Poems And Writing by Teenage Girls.
Franco, Betsy. Comp. Falling Hard: 100 Love Poems by Teenagers.
Soto, Gary. Partly Cloudy; Poems of Love and Longing.
By Kathlene A. Goldin
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