“You called twice a month,/ then your cousin said the gang you ran from/ in San Salvador/ found you in Alexandria. Farewell/” Javier Zamora’s “Second Attempt Crossing.”
In 64 breathtaking poems, writers invite readers to see the refugee, migrant, and immigrant navigating the experience of leaving, fleeing, crossing, arriving, moving, and living here in mainland America. As the editors note in their forward, “[w]riting poetry will help you realize that you are stronger than you thought you were and that within your tenderness is your fortitude.” These poems document that.
High school students and their teachers will find much to explore, discuss, and love from poets familiar (Martin Espada, Ocean Vuong, Gary Soto, Elizabeth Acevedo) and new-to-classrooms (Zamora, Emtithal Mahmoud, Craig Santos Perez, Leila Chatti among others.) Themes of isolation, self-doubt, confusion and dislocation are undoubtedly relatable to many of us, and to students experiencing incarceration and detention. The variety of voices and perspectives that were born in Asia, Africa, Central America, the Caribbean, the Pacific Islands and the Middle East means that there is so much to learn and listen from. To best envision the bridges they wish to build, the educator utilizing this book may be interested to review the brief contributor biographies that are included in the backmatter to learn more about the poets and find both connection points for their readers and experiences and identities not included in their classroom composition. This reviewer-librarian only wishes that there was an audiobook to accompany the print.--Jessica Fenster-Sparber
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