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A review by msjoanna
Cast Away: Poems for Our Time by Naomi Shihab Nye
3.0
I chose this book because I have a fond memory of working with this author as an artist-in-residence at my elementary school. She even published one of my poems from that workshop in a collection of children's poetry that she edited. I found her lovely and great with children and I've always loved the fact that I was encouraged to write poetry in elementary school.
There were a few poems in this collection that really worked and managed to be both linguistically beautiful or interesting while also delivering an emotional punch. There were many that had an interesting moment or image. And there were some that didn't really move me at all.
Overall, I think this is pitched at younger readers and should be accessible to middle school and high school readers. There's strong overall messages that people aren't trash, children should be loved, that we have lives that are too busy and too full of stuff, and that we should be better at making sure that we are good caretakers of the planet.
There were a few poems in this collection that really worked and managed to be both linguistically beautiful or interesting while also delivering an emotional punch. There were many that had an interesting moment or image. And there were some that didn't really move me at all.
Overall, I think this is pitched at younger readers and should be accessible to middle school and high school readers. There's strong overall messages that people aren't trash, children should be loved, that we have lives that are too busy and too full of stuff, and that we should be better at making sure that we are good caretakers of the planet.