In 1966, Stephen Dunning, Edward Luders, and Hugh Smith published a milestone anthology of contemporary poetry for young people, Reflections on a Gift of Watermelon Pickle.
It was edgy and accessible and teens loved it immediately. It set the
stage for more teen-friendly design and selection in poetry for young
readers. Contemporary Connections
For more teen-friendly, accessible, and even edgy poetry for young people, look for these selections.
1. Aguado, Bill, comp. 2003. Paint Me Like I Am: Teen Poems from WritersCorps. New York: HarperTeen.2. Franco, Betsy, ed. 2008. Falling Hard: Teenagers on Love. Cambridge, MA: Candlewick.
3. Holbrook, Sara & Wolf, Allan. 2008. More Than Friends; Poems from Him and Her. Boyds Mills Press.
4. Lyne, Sandford. Ed. 2004. Soft Hay Will Catch You: Poems by Young People. New York: Simon & Schuster.
5. Mecum, Ryan. 2008. Zombie Haiku. How Books.
6. Mora, Pat. 2010. Dizzy in Your Eyes. Knopf.
7. Nye, Naomi Shihab. Ed. 2000. Salting the Ocean: 100 Poems by Young Poets. New York: Greenwillow.
8. Shakur, Tupac. 1999. A Rose Grew From Concrete. New York: Simon & Schuster.
9. Tom, Karen, and Kiki. 2001. Angst! Teen Verses from the Edge. New York: Workman Publishing.
10. WritersCorps. 2008. Tell the World. New York: HarperCollins.
Posting by Sylvia M. Vardell © 2013. All rights reserved.
Image credits: vintagescholastics.wordpress.com;mikechasar.blogspot.com
I still use the 'watermelon pickle' book. A newer edition came out a few years ago, with additional poems. It's still popular with students! Thanks for the other titles, too!
ReplyDeleteYou're welcome. Thanks for stopping by, Linda, and for your ongoing support!
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ReplyDeleteThank you, Sylvia, for this blast from the past. I LOVE "watermelon pickle" and bought it at a school book fair when I was a young teen. I used it as a teacher, and it still has a place of honor on my book shelf--a little faded, with some ink marks and rips--all the more loved.
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