{"product_id":"how-i-discovered-poetry-isbn-9780147510051","title":"How I Discovered Poetry","description":"A powerful and thought-provoking Civil Rights era memoir from one of America’s most celebrated poets.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003eLooking back on her childhood in the 1950s, Newbery Honor winner and National Book Award finalist Marilyn Nelson tells the story of her development as an artist and young woman through fifty eye-opening poems. Readers are given an intimate portrait of her growing self-awareness and artistic inspiration along with a larger view of the world around her: racial tensions, the Cold War era, and the first stirrings of the feminist movement.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003eA first-person account of African-American history, this is a book to study, discuss, and treasure.A 2015 Coretta Scott King Author Honor Book\u003cbr\u003eA 2015 ALA Notable Children's Book\u003cbr\u003eA \u003ci\u003eHorn Book\u003c\/i\u003e Fanfare Book\u003cbr\u003eA \u003ci\u003eBulletin of the Center for Children's Books \u003c\/i\u003eBlue Ribbon Book \u003cbr\u003eNPR's Book Concierge 2014 Great Reads List\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e“An intimate perspective on a tumultuous era and an homage to the power of language.”—\u003ci\u003ePublishers Weekly\u003c\/i\u003e, starred review\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e “Use this bring a vivid personal touch to an exploration of the era, or as a gloriously personal entry in a poetry unit.”—\u003ci\u003eBulletin of the Center for Children’s Books\u003c\/i\u003e, starred review\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e “With sophisticated wordplay and poignantly spare description, this lyric bildungsroman creates as effective a portrait of race relations in 20th-century America as of formative moments in Nelson’s youth.”—\u003ci\u003eKirkus \u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eMarilyn Nelson is a three-time National Book Award Finalist, has won a Newbery Honor, a Printz Honor and several Coretta Scott King Honors, and has received several prestigious poetry awards, including the Poets' Prize and the Robert Frost Medal \"for distinguished lifetime service to American poetry.\" She has recently been a judge of poetry applicants at the National Endowment for the Arts and Yaddo, and has received three honorary doctorates.\u003cb\u003eBlue Footsies\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e(Cleveland, Ohio, 1950)\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eOnce upon a time\u003c\/i\u003e. Upon a time?\u003cbr\u003eSomething got on a time? What is a time?\u003cbr\u003eWhen it got on a time, could it get off?\u003cbr\u003eCould it get on a time two times? Three times?\u003cbr\u003eThree times upon a time . . . Times on a time . . . \u003cbr\u003eThree times on time . . . Or three times on three times . . .\u003cbr\u003eI hear Jennifer's breath. Our room is dark.\u003cbr\u003eMama's voice questions and Daddy's answers,\u003cbr\u003ea sound seesaw through the wall between us.\u003cbr\u003eIf there was, once upon a time, a fire,\u003cbr\u003eand I could only rescue one of them,\u003cbr\u003ewould I save him, or her? Or Jennifer?\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eFour-year-old saves three people from hot flames!\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003eGod bless Mama, Daddy, and Jennifer . . .\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eChurch\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e(Cleveland, Ohio, 1950)\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWhy did Lot have to take his wife and flea\u003cbr\u003efrom the bad city, like that angel said?\u003cbr\u003ePoor Lot: imagine having a pet flea.\u003cbr\u003eI'd keep mine on a dog. But maybe fleas\u003cbr\u003ewere bigger in the olden Bible days.\u003cbr\u003eMaybe a flea was bigger than a dog,\u003cbr\u003emore like a sheep or a goat. Maybe they had\u003cbr\u003eflea farms back then, with herds of giant fleas.\u003cbr\u003eJennifer squirms beside me on the pew,\u003cbr\u003esucking her thumb, nestled against Mama.\u003cbr\u003eMaybe Lot and his wife rode saddled fleas!\u003cbr\u003eOr drove a coach pulled by a team of fleas!\u003cbr\u003eI giggle soundlessly, but Mama swats\u003cbr\u003emy leg, holding a finger to her lips. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eCalled Up\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e(Cleveland, Ohio, 1951)\u003cbr\u003eFolding the letter and laying it down,\u003cbr\u003eDaddy says, \"Well, Baby, I've been called back up.\"\u003cbr\u003eMama pauses, then puts my bowl of beans\u003cbr\u003ein front of me. Jennifer eats and hums\u003cbr\u003eacross from me on two telephone books.\u003cbr\u003eMama says, \"Pray God you won't see combat.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eJennifer, stop singing at the table,\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003eI hiss. Her humming's driving me crazy.\u003cbr\u003eShe looks up from her bowl with dreaming eyes:\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eHuh?\u003c\/i\u003e Mama says, \"My darling, we're going, too.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eStop singing!\u003c\/i\u003e \"I'll take a leave from law school,\"\u003cbr\u003ehe says, \"and you'll take a leave from your job.\"\u003cbr\u003eWe've been called up. Our leaves become feathers. \u003cbr\u003eWith wings we wave good-bye to our cousins.","brand":"Rocky Pond Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46301365436645,"sku":"NP9780147510051","price":10.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1842\/7735\/files\/9780147510051.jpg?v=1767729321","url":"https:\/\/k12savings.com\/products\/how-i-discovered-poetry-isbn-9780147510051","provider":"K12savings","version":"1.0","type":"link"}