More Than Friends

November 1, 2008
Gr 7 Up-Through a series of "he" and "she" poems, Holbrook and Wolf detail the range of emotions when a childhood friendship become a teenage romance. The relationship goes from shy uncertainty to blissful togetherness, dark rejection, and, finally, a return to friendship. Most of the poems are complementary and conversational, such as the excellent opening selections: "What to Do When She Looks at You?" and "What to Do When He Looks at You?" These deliciously readable poems, accessible and compact, bring to light recognizable feelings and use a variety of forms, including sonnets, free verse, luc bat, villanelle, tanka, and terza rima. An appendix briefly explains each form and refers to famous poems written in these styles. The book's appeal is limited somewhat by an unattractive cover and grainy black-and-white photos and graphic artwork, but teachers and readers alike will savor this innovative approach to an ever-popular topic."Marilyn Taniguchi, Beverly Hills Public Library, CA"

Copyright 2008 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

September 15, 2008
In these parallel poems, a boy and a girl describe their progression from friendship to romance. First they are buddies, then they flirt, and the two speakers talk about their attraction, joy, denial, loneliness, and confusion in poems that appear side-by-side on the page. The simple language expresses strong feelings in a variety of poetic forms, including sonnet, villanelle, free verse, and tanka (the forms are explained in notes at the back). The boy and girlkiss and dream on their magic journey together, and there are surprises. They love each other, but they miss their friends, and they grow apart and become stressed, angry, depressed, and lonely. The climax is their angry argument, great for reading aloud. Then, of course, they reflect and apologize. Small black-and-white photos never get in the way of the words, which tell the edgy truth of romance in all its joy and confusion: It isnt you; its US I sometimes hate.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2008, American Library Association.)

January 1, 2009
Poems alternating from male and female perspectives capture the joys, struggles, and loss of teenage love. That first meaningful look, subsequent giddy excitement, passionate disagreements, and eventual breakup are all chronicled using a variety of poetic forms. Teen readers will surely see themselves in these poems, finding reassurance as well as solace. Dramatic black-and-white digital spot art and photographs accompany the pieces.

(Copyright 2009 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)