Leave This Song Behind: Teen Poetry at Its Best

Gr 7 Up—In this noteworthy anthology, teenage poets explore age-old themes of love and loss, creativity, and self-awareness. Many of the entries are brief, but memorable wordplay and imagery can be found here, such as in Ariel Miller's "Clothesline": "Summer/Sighing across the silky surface of/The twisting sundress…." Some are witty and lighthearted; others are darkly introspective. Eden Hartley's "Prometheus" celebrates the bond between two sisters, using summertime imagery: "we held the sparklers/against the dark sky/writing in flame/the things we could never say/before dusk." Eda Tse's poem "chinese politics (over dim sum)" shows how well-chosen responses in a conversation between adults (overheard by the speaker of the poem) reveal an undercurrent of tension: "i am a me waiting for/the conversation to commence in/slow one-upping 'have you heard that my daughter got into Yale?'/(suck on that)." The 91 poems are arranged in seven sections, though readers may find themselves flipping to the "Poets' Notes" appendix to learn more about the poets and their rationale for writing. Culled from verses submitted to Teen Ink magazine over the last five years, these pieces reflect a rich diversity. Readers will find much that resonates and inspires in these poems.