Poetry_This is Just to Say by Pamela Zagarenski

1. BIBLIOGRAPHY
Sidman, Joyce. 2007. THIS IS JUST TO SAY: POEMS OF APOLOGY AND FORGIVENESS. Ill. by Pamela Zagarenski. Boston: Houghton Mifflin. ISBN 139780618616800.

2. PLOT SUMMARY
Mrs. Merz, a sixth grade teacher at Florence Scribner School, has her students write poems of apology to people they have offended. The lesson becomes two-fold when the individuals receiving the written apologies are asked to respond to their offender.

3. CRITICAL ANALYSIS
Cleverly done! The young authors of this anthology explored many elements of poetry. They used rhymes, haikus, and vignettes to confess love, stealing, disrespect, and mourning to name a few. Some poems were light and airy, while others ventured into the dark crevices of one heart; Jewel’s poem to her father, “Next Time,” is an example of this:
“You went away and left me. It’s not the first time. The first time, you left because I cried too much….The second time, it was because I messed up in school….You see, I’m keeping track. What did I do this time?” (25)
The response to this was heart-wrenching because Jewel, the author, rather than her father, responds to herself. The words within the confessional poem and the response poem have emotions that create sound. The words of the confessional poem give the effects of remorse, loneliness and confusion. The response poem gives the reader a sense of genuine forgiveness, family, and possibly some clarity. Zagarenski’s illustrations depict youth and unequivocally match the text.

4. REVIEW EXCERPTS
*Review in School of Library Journal: “Sidman’s ear is keen, capturing many voices. Her skil as a poet accessible to young people is unmatched. Zagarenski’s delicately outlines collage drawings and paintings are created on mixed backgrounds—notebook paper, paper bags, newspaper, graph paper, school supplies. This is an important book both for its creativity and for its wisdom.”
*Starred reviewed in Publishers Weekly: “Sidman…explains, via an introduction from one of the book's sixth-grade characters, that the poems contained in this often humorous and touching anthology were inspired by the title poem of apology, which was penned by William Carlos Williams. The student in Mrs. Merz's class who introduces the book explains that some of the students received answers to their "sorry" poems. One pair of poems shares a spread and addresses a dodge ball exchange…. But for most entries, unfortunately, in order to read the call-and-response in succession, readers must awkwardly flip from the first half of the book ("Apologies") to the second ("Responses"). Yet the poems successfully navigate the complicated terrain for those who seek forgiveness…. Zagarenski's (Mites to Mastodons) inventive mixed-media illustrations brim with items found in a classroom: a dictionary entry on "apology," for instance, becomes part of a student's clothing, and white hole reinforcements resemble a character's stolen doughnuts. But the book's odd organization seems a missed opportunity to tie the well-wrought, corresponding poems together and reinforce the complex relationships between the characters. Ages 9-12.”

5. CONNECTIONS
*A model book for providing students with examples of poems that evolved from students’ personal experiences.
*This book can serve as a daily Read Aloud and can extend into a daily warm-up writing activity: Teachers share a poem day and students record whatever thoughts or memories come to mind in their “Seed Book.” The “Seed Book” will serve as the catalyst for developing the initial thoughts into a poem or a narrative.