A Poem of Her Own: Voices of American Women Yesterday and Today - Hardcover

Catherine Clinton is a highly respected historian and editor. In 1998, her anthology of poetry by black writers won the Bank Street Poetry Prize and was an ALA Best Book for Young Adults. She lives in Connecticut. Stephen Alcorn has illustrated many books for young people, including two acclaimed poetry anthologies and biographies of Langston Hughes, Abraham Lincoln, and Frederick Douglass. His award-winning work is featured in many art collections. He lives in New York.

Grade 5-10-Starting with Anne Bradstreet and Phillis Wheatley, moving through trendsetters such as Marianne Moore and Gertrude Stein, and concluding with Sandra Cisneros, Lucille Clifton, and Naomi Shihab Nye, the 25 poets and poems here are a well-selected representation of the diversity of women's voices in American poetry. Not every selection will have the same appeal to young readers; many of the older poems seem to be included to point out women's contributions to our heritage, such as Julia Ward Howe's "The Battle-Hymn of the Republic" and Emma Lazarus's "The New Colossus." The contemporary offerings seem to be selected with an eye toward the poet's ethnic heritage or for some treatment of the subject of womanhood. The result is perhaps a more useful than engaging set of poems; but Alcorn's appealing, light-filled, mural-like paintings, and the generous layout and design will entice readers to browse. Biographical profiles of each poet at the end of the volume and Clinton's introduction sketching out the historical context of the selections help to make this collection comparable to Clinton and Alcorn's I, Too, Sing America (Houghton, 1998). An excellent choice for an introduction to the subject.
Nina Lindsay, Oakland Public Library, CA
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