Lynda recommends "Shakespeare Makes the Playoffs" (Juv. Fiction)

The second in a possible series, Shakespeare Makes the Playoffs is kids' poetry at its best. Ron Koertge writes in such a way so as to both educate his audience on different types of poems (I never heard of a pantoum and a sestina was only vaguely familiar but I loved the explanations by example), and also to provide just a good read about an adolescent boy making his way through some tough emotions.

This is the continuation of a "poetry story" about Kevin Boland, who in 8th grade, developed mono and had to take a few months off from his favorite pastime, baseball. So he picked up one of his father's books about poetry and gave it whirl. And a whirl it is as he experiments with different styles of poetry and all sorts of emotions over his girlfriend, a new girl friend, the death of his mother, his father's new girl friend and even the fact that he is a poetry-writing baseball player. There is warmth and humor in his struggle to make sense of the people around him and his fluctuating feelings.

Poetry is a style of writing that few people take seriously, especially in novel form. But Ron Koertge has shattered that belief with both Shakespeare Bats Cleanup and Shakespeare Makes the Playoffs. These books can show (as referenced in the titles) how Shakespeare could tell a story in rhyme, making the telling a true art form. And like Shakespeare, I believe these books, and especially Shakespeare Makes the Playoffs deserve a prominent place in every middle school library as well as on every teenager's bookshelf.

Lynda