poetry Archives - Page 137 of 291

Me (Moth)
by Amber McBride (Author)
@ Amazon | Bookshop | IndieBound

Booktalk: Moth has lost her family in an accident. Though she lives with her aunt, she feels alone and uprooted.

Until she meets Sani, a boy who is also searching for his roots. If he knows more about where he comes from, maybe he’ll be able to understand his ongoing depression. And if Moth can help him feel grounded, then perhaps she too will discover the history she carries in her bones.

Moth and Sani take a road trip that has them chasing ghosts and searching for ancestors.

Snippet:
Maybe moving forward in this car
will help fill in Sani’s emptiness.

Sani adjusts the rearview mirror.
We are leaving the First World,
the world of darkness (Ni’hodilhil)
where the Diné start their journey to the present.

A 2021 Cybils Poetry nominee

Rez Dogs
by Joseph Bruchac (Author)
@ Amazon | Bookshop | IndieBound

Booktalk: Malian loves spending time with her grandparents at their home on a Wabanaki reservation. She’s there for a visit when, suddenly, all travel shuts down. There’s a new virus making people sick, and Malian will have to stay with her grandparents for the duration.

Everyone is worried about the pandemic, but Malian knows how to keep her family and community safe: She protects her grandparents, and they protect her. She doesn’t go outside to play with friends, she helps her grandparents use video chat, and she listens to and learns from their stories. And when Malsum, one of the dogs living on the rez, shows up at their door, Malian’s family knows that he’ll protect them too.

Snippet:
Grampa Roy smiled.
“Yup, our rez dogs
are not like them
you see in the cities.
You’ll never see
our good friend here
being walked around
on some fancy leash.

A 2021 Cybils Poetry nominee