What My Girlfriend Doesn’t Know

Sones, Sonya. 2007. WHAT MY GIRLFRIEND DOESN’T KNOW. New York: Simon & Schuster, Inc. ISBN 978-0-689-87602-8

Fourteen-year-old Robin Murphy is a teenager in a love – for the first time. He’s been the brunt of jokes since the middle of fourth grade, and now Sophie, his girlfriend, is the target. As a freshman in high school, Robin has been specially selected to take art classes at Harvard being accepted by friends he’s never had. Will Robin and Sophie’s relationship survive? Will the Harvard students find out Robin is still in high school?

In this romantic story of rising above the odds, Sones captures the yearnings  and emotions of an awkward adolescent boy in this poetic first person narrative. “Robin emerges as an appealingly flawed character whose desires – for love, for acceptance, for sex – will be instantly recognized by readers (2007).” Well-placed lines and occasional changes in font size emphasize moments and feelings in Robin’s life. Although mostly written in free verse, Sones uses a variety of other poetic forms like list, shape, and even, a dictionary entry of his name – a slang term that means “loser.” Concrete shape poems assist the reader in understanding the meaning like in the poem “I Do Not Have a One Track Mind” the only words are “Yeah, right,” but they are in the shape of a girl’s breasts or in the poem “Is My Nose Growing?” which is shaped like Pinnochio’s when he has lied. Vivid word imagery help readers grasp the degree of emotion such as in the phrases, “feeling about as powerless as a dead battery” or “big black in-your-face letters.” Because of its fast pace and all too familiar high school topics – sex, relationships, bullying, and not fitting in, What My Girlfriend Doesn’t Know will be a hit with relunctant readers and artistic students who need a place to belong.

If you haven’t read they other novel in verse about Robin and Sophie,What My Mother Doesn’t Know, it’s a must read! Sophie’s voice is heard in this novel as she tells about her life. Comparing and contrasting the two novels can show how the same events can be seen from different perspectives depending on the person’s point of view. “Many teens will see themselves, and they’ll cheer when Sophie and Robin thwart the bullies and reclaim their social standing (Engberg, 2007). Bullying, social standings in high school and the desire to be accepted would be good discussion topic in correlation with this book.

Recognized by Booklist as one of 2007’s Top 10 Youth Romances, What My Girlfriend Doesn’t Know was also one of YALSA’s Quick Picks for Relunctant Young Adult Readers in 2008. It was also considered a 2008 Best Children’s Books of the Year by the Bank Street College of Education and recognized as a Pure Poetry Pick on 2007 by Voice of Youth Advocates.

References

2007. “WHAT MY GIRLFRIEND DOESN’T KNOW.” Kirkus Reviews 75, no. 10:509. Academic Search Complete, EBSCOhost (accessed December 3, 2011).

Engberg, Gillian. 2007. “What My Girlfriend Doesn’t Know.” Booklist 103, no.15:49. Academic Search Complete, EBSCOhost (accessed December 3, 2011).

Heart to Heart: New Poems Inspired by Twentieth-Century American Art

Greenberg, Jan, editor. 2001. HEART TO HEART: NEW POEMS INSPIRED BY TWENTIETH-CENTURY AMERICAN ART. New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc. ISBN 0-8109-4386-7

In this anthology Heart to Heart: New Poems Inspired by Twentieth-Century American Art, readers view a compilation of art with poetic interpretations much like going to an art museum with an docent illuminating each pieces qualities. Each poem uniquely accompanies the work of art. As Lois Parker-Hennion in VOYA so aptly put it, “This delightful book… celebrates the connections between poet and artist and between reader and viewer.” Editor Jan Greenberg grouped these poems and art according to the poet’s response to the poem – to tell a story, add voice to the piece of art, share a poet’s impressionistic description if the artwork, or explores the artist’s form, light or space in their work through poetic form. Overall, forty-three poetic works are incorporated in this fine collection; including those from Kristine O’Connell George, Tony Johnston, and Jane Yolen, as well as, artistic pieces from Grandma Moses and Georgia O’Keefe. These art pieces of the 1900s represent a variety of media and range from folk art to modern pop art. Readers will enjoy a variety of poetic forms that enrich each art piece – shape, pantoum, diamante, sonnets, rhymed verses, and free verse. The poems are filled with vivid imagery bringing life to both the poems and art. In “Dream Horses” by Nancy Willard, she describes the horses as, “one carries me home, the other shadows her on the slippery trail shifting and shaking….” Or where Janine Pommy Vega uses a metaphor to describe Georgia O’Keefe’s Poppy beginning with “In the carmine extravagance the skirts of a Spanish dancer swirl flamenco rhythms….” In some of the poems, text is creatively arranged expressing more than just the words themselves. “An innovative book to integrate art history and creative writing (Follos, 2004).”  

Included are a brief introduction by editor Jan Greenberg sharing her love of art as a child and the explanation of each section. Concluding the volume, biographical notes on the authors and artists, photograph credits, and an index listing artists, poets, poetry titles, and  the titles of the artwork are included. 

Readers of all ages will enjoy this anthology reading it again and again. Teachers can use this great book as a springboard for their own classroom anthologies pairing student’s poems with other famous artwork. Even using some of these same art pieces can encourage students to express their own interpretation of the work. 

Awarded the Michael L. Printz Award in 2002, Heart to Heart: New Poems Inspired by

Twentieth-Century American Art has also been included on state and professional journal book lists. Some of which are the 2001 ALA’s Booklist Editors’ Choice: Books for Youth, The 2002 ALSC Notable Children’s Books list, 2001 School Library Journal Best Books list, YALSA’s 2002 Best Books for Young Adults list, and the 2001 Capitol Choices. 

References

Follis, Alison. 2004. “Heart to Heart: New Poems Inspired by Twentieth-Century American Art (Book).” School Library Journal 50, no. 11:66. Academic Search Complete, EBSCOhost(accessed December 1, 2011).

Parker-Hennion, Lois. 2001. “Heart to Heart: New Poems Inspired by Twentieth-Century American Art (Book Review).” VOYA, No. 3:24.