Poetry Friday

No, I'm not an official host, but it always makes me feel like maybe I am organized when I read a book that fits one of the established days. Nonfiction Monday, Waiting on Wednesday-- I really admire people who can organize their post like that; I'm not one of them. See the official weekly round up at Larasalas.


Sidman, Joyce. Dark Emperor and Other Poems of the Night. (Newbery Honor Book for 2011)
This was interesting in that it had information on the creatures in the poems on the side, and the illustrations were nice. It was so short, though, and the poems were... meh. I am so picky about poetry, and like so little of it. I do think Helen Frost is great, and Timothy Steele, but that's about it.


Wild Rose Reader liked this one, and it also got some Cybils love. Obviously, I'm just missing something.


Stanley, Diane. Saving Sky.
Sky's family lives "off the grid", so some of the kids at her school think she's a little weird. No internet, no television, AND they grow a lot of their own food. This comes in handy now, though, since the US is involved in a war. Oil refineries are being blown up, so fuel supplies dwindle. To make matters worse, the government starts to round up everyone of Middle Eastern descent and put them in relocation camps! One of Sky's classmates, Kareem, is almost taken, but Sky's mother calls Sky at school, and the two of them manage to get Kareem taken to their remote farm, where he is hidden for several months before being captured by federal agents. The last chapter of the book is a harrowing essay that Kareen wrote for a contest on "Why My Country Is Great" in which he details all of the problems his father and mother had in coming to the US, which they hoped to be better than their own country.

Strengths: This might be speculative fiction, but everything Stanley writes could be true. That's what makes this so scary.

Weaknesses: I would have liked more explanation of the reasons for the war instead of so much discussion of Sky's quirky life style. This also has a slightly preachy tone.