Make Lemonade

LS 5623 Book Review
Poetry, Drama, Film & Response

Bibliography
Wolff, Virginia Euwer. 1993. MAKE LEMONADE. New York : Henry Holt and Company, Inc. ISBN 0805022287.

Plot Summary
LaVaughn wants to move out of her neighborhood and go to college. When LaVaughn applies for a babysitting job she does not realize at first that her employer, Jolly, is a teenager like herself. Jolly has two babies and needs someone to babysit so she can go to work. Things get complicated when Jolly loses her job but, she still needs LaVaughn's help.

Critical Analysis

This verse novel is perfect for all reluctant readers. The author, Wolff, uses words with such clear imagery that she does not need a large amount of words to get her point across. For example, "Here's how it is at Jolly's house: The plates are pasted together with noodles, and these rooms smell like last week's garbage and there isn't a place I can put my book to study for school except places where something else already is." With all the specific examples the reader can fill in other details without having to read about them.

Wolff carefully avoids cultural stereotypes and pop trends in her description of the setting of this book. The girls clearly live in a poor area in modern times but Wolff has given a certain dateless quality to the setting that keeps this book from being dated. Booklist agrees, "Rooted not in a particular culture, but in a community of poverty, the story offers a penetrating view of the conditions that foster our ignorance, destroy our self-esteem, and challenge our strength."

One of the strengths of this book is it's allusion to the saying, "When life gives you lemons, make lemonade." The saying is never stated however and, this lets the reader in on the fun. The turning point in the novel is alluding to this saying when Jolly says, "They always say, 'You should have known you was getting a lemon'." During this turning point Jolly is relating a story of how an old woman got cheated out of her orange and was given a lemon instead. The characterization of the two main characters is so clear that you can feel the anger vibrating off Jolly as she relates the story of the woman who got cheated; at the same time the reader can empathize with LaVaughn and feel proud of Jolly for realizing she is being cheated just like the old woman.

Awards
Golden Kite Award for Fiction

ALA Best Books for Young Adults

ALA Notable Book for Children

ALA Recommended Book for Reluctant Readers

Parent's Choice Award Winner

Side by Side

LS 5623 Book Review
Poetry, Drama, Film & Response

Bibliography
Greenberg, Jan, ed. 2008. SIDE BY SIDE. New York : Harry N. Abrams, Inc. ISBN 9780810994713.

Plot Summary
The editor of this book explains this best, "My quest began with an idea - to share with readers in the United States the rich tradition of ekphrasis, poetry inspired by art, written by poets from all over the world." And so this book was born, a book of poetry and the art that inspired it - side by side.

Critical Analysis
This book of art and poetry allows the art connoisseur in all of us revel in the enormity of offerings presented to the reader. There is a variety of art available for viewing: ceramic and painted wooden figurines, gouache on paper, oil on canvas, painting on porcelain disc, mural on five panels, white clay embellished with corn husks and deer skins, photograph on paper, bronze statue, and much more. The styles of the art are as varied as the forms, the art runs the gamut from seemingly simplistic to the delicately intricate. The poems are as varied as the art that inspired them. Booklist says, "And the moving, often startling poems invite readers to savor the words and then look closely at each image."

For readers who are not as familiar with poetry this book may be a good starting point. Each poem is paired with piece of art that inspired the poem, giving the reader something concrete to relate to. For readers who are more comfortable with poetry the pictures give an added layer of feeling to explore. School Library Journal says, "This sophisticated book is ideal for literature, art, and foreign-language curricula. It creates cultural bridges and celebrates the genius of inspired translation."

There is oodles of background knowledge available to the reader who is interested in knowing more. Each poem that has been translated into English has the original version accompanying the poem and the art. Also the back of the book has biographies of poets and translators, biographies of the artists, and a fun visual - a map showing where each poet, translator and artist lives or lived. The map gives a visual of how this book has poets and artists from all over the world.

A Wreath for Emmett Till

LS 5623 Book Review
Poetry, Drama, Film & Response

Bibliography
Nelson, Marilyn. Lardy, Phillip illustrator. 2005. A WREATH FOR EMMETT TILL. Boston : Houghton Mifflin, Co. ISBN 9780618397525.

Plot Summary
Fifteen sonnets are written to honor Emmett Till, a young boy who was lynched in Money, Mississippi in 1955.

Critical Analysis
Nelson describes her sonnets at the beginning of the book as, "a heroic crown of sonnets is a series of interlinked sonnets, in which the last one is made up of the first lines of the preceding fourteen." The technical aspects of the poem are astonishing. Each last line is the first line of the next sonnet, sometimes with slight alterations, and each first line of the fourteen sonnets create a cohesive, meaningful fifteenth sonnet. Nelson writes, "I wrote this poem with my heart in my mouth and tears in my eyes, breathless with anticipation and surprise." The effect on the readers is quite similar.

Like all good thought provoking poetry the words in this poem are each chosen carefully by the author to convey specific feelings. Consider the following quote, "The memory of monsters ... That bleak thought tears through the patchwork drapery of dreams." This line all at once conveys a sense of idyllic times that are tinged with sorrow but, it also allows for individual perceptions to fill in the details. Booklist says, "Closing notes offer context to the sophisticated allusions to literature and history, but the raw power of many lines needs no translation."

The illustrator's pictures add to the feeling and depth of the sonnets. Lardy's use of space and color add to the feelings invoked by the poetry. Just viewing the pictures on their own without the text invokes a depth of feeling and when coupled with the the text makes the depth of emotion impossible to ignore.

Nelson also makes the poetry extremely accessible to readers by prefacing the poem with why she wrote the wreath of sonnets and little background on Emmett Till for anyone unfamiliar with who Emmett is. The sonnets are followed by a more in depth history of Emmett Till and Sonnet Notes. For anyone who is interested, the sonnet notes give a little background of where the author got her ideas and allusions she makes in the sonnets. By having the sonnet notes at the end, readers who do not want to know the technical aspects of the poem, can skip this section. The artist also has a section at the end of the sonnets where he relates some of his thinking behind the illustrations. School Library Journal says, "This underpinning information makes this a full experience, eminently teachable from several aspects, including historical and literary."


Awards
Michael L. Printz Honor Book
Coretta Scott King Honor Book