Writerscorps. Tell the world.

WRITERSCORPS. Tell the world. Bill Aguado, ed. Harper Collins. 126p. c2008. 978-0-06-134504-3. $7.99. JS*

In "A Collage," 16-year-old Indiana Pehlivanova states, "The little mute girl was looking for her / Voice, in a drop of water." That search might well describe the poems contained in Tell the World, the second collection of adolescent poetry presented by WritersCorps, or serve as a metaphor for WritersCorps itself as this national alliance of writers attempts to give voice to the teens of San Francisco, Washington, DC and the Bronx.

There is an energy and honesty that characterizes these gathered pieces, treating often typical concerns of the age, like love that "fades and fades like / Chalk washing slowly off the / Sidewalk when it's raining." And there is strength in an evident idealistic confrontation with a quixotic world beyond the individual, "This is the year everybody gets paid bread, / and minimum wage doubles. / This is the year Bush brings the troops home / and feels the pain he causes others." Yet the overriding motifs seem to be of homelands left behind, "India, why didn't you tell me / to stay in your arms?" and the quest for identity, "I come from / a long line / of people who / divided the men / from the women." The appeal of this collection lies in its raw integrity rather than its poetic polish. It gives voice to a disenfranchised segment of our population in a way that will communicate clearly and effectively in the classroom: a niche market to be sure, but an important one. Jim Beschta, Barr, MA

J--Recommended for junior high school students. The contents are of particular interest to young adolescents and their teachers.

S--Recommended for senior high school students.

*--The asterisk highlights exceptional books.