The President Looks Like Me & Other Poems

Gr 5–8—Medina taps into the hopes, dreams, and lives of young people of color through 44 poems divided into 6 sections. Wide-ranging in their variety and styles, these selections are specifically multicultural and distinctly urban in setting. The poems range from the everyday "Ode to Potato Chips" to the profound "Haiku for Three Voices" to the raw "At the Bottom of His Father's Secret Drawer," about a gun that makes its way to school. The pages are unadorned except for the addition of a cover fragment at the opening of each section. This is poetry meant to be read aloud. The author includes a discussion of the different forms he's chosen, definitions of vocabulary used, and notes about historical and musical figures who appear in the verses. Readers who enjoyed his Love to Langston (Lee & Low, 2002) will appreciate this collection. For tweens and young teens who are looking for poetry with real voices and relatable experiences, Medina's down-to-earth tone and urban flavor might just hit home. A great offering for reading aloud and sharing with others, this collection may inspire young poets to put their own pens to paper in response.—Stephanie Whelan, New York Public Library