Truth & Lies

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

The poems Patrice Vecchione collects in Truth and Lies: An Anthology of Poems function as piercing testimonies to the difficulties in foraging a path to truth, both seeking it and adhering to it. Perhaps Lucille Clifton's "Why Some People Be Mad At Me Sometimes" gets to the heart of the collection best: "they ask me to remember/ but they want me to remember/ their memories/ and I keep on remembering/ mine." In "True Stories," Margaret Atwood cautions against asking others for the truth while William Blake's "The Poison Tree" spells out the cost of keeping truth to oneself; Naomi Shihab Nye's chilling "Our Principal" lends new weight to the adage "practice what you preach." (Jan.) Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.

VOYA

This superior anthology of more than sixty poems for teens meets the needs of both assignments and pleasure reading. An introduction opens the themes of truth and lies, showing how poetry speaks to both. The poems attack and ponder all sides of honesty. Ranging from just a few lines to multiple pages, the selections span more than three hundred years and offer a variety to sample. From a three-line traditional song of the Crow people to a sonnet by Shakespeare, the poems never drift from the theme nor seem like extraneous padding. Each is on target both with the presentation of the theme and with the intended audience. This collection also surpasses older anthologies by including many cultural viewpoints on the subject. Contributions by Navajo poet Torlino, Janet Wong, Naomi Shihab Nye, and Octavio Pat mesh beautifully with work by Rudyard Kipling, Emily Dickinson, Ezra Pound, and Gertrude Stein. This balanced collection will allow many teens to find a gem for themselves inside. Biographical notes about the contributors are included along with suggested reading both by and about each poet. Teachers will find this collection useful for classroom reading, as the themes presented are ripe for discussion and debate. Purchase this highly recommended title for high school and public library collections. VOYA CODES: 5Q 3P S (Hard to imagine it being any better written; Will appeal with pushing; Senior High, defined as grades 10 to 12). 2001, Henry Holt, 138p, Index, Source Notes, Further Reading, Ages 16 to 18. Reviewer: Hillary Theyer VOYA, February 2001 (Vol. 23, No.6)

School Library Journal

Gr 7-10-The more than 70 narrative, mostly free-verse poems in this collection delicately, yet resolutely, explore truth and lies and the multiple shades of gray in between. Can truth and lies be bedfellows? Are they necessarily opposites? Vecchione has gathered the work of poets from William Shakespeare to Naomi Shihab Nye to support, dispute, or explain that thesis. She leaves very few stones unturned. She uses Philip Levine's "The Simple Truth" to open her anthology because it begins "-Some things/you know all your life. They are so simple and true/-they must stand for themselves-." Deceit in love, abuse of authority, holding one's tongue, and adults lying to youth are among the many topics touched upon. From the late 18th century, William Blake's "A Poison Tree" is an honest and biting look at the poison of lies. Emily Dickinson's fine lines were written in the 19th century: "Tell all the Truth but tell it slant-/Success in Circuit lies/-The Truth must dazzle gradually/Or every man be blind-." Rodney Jones's more contemporary lines ring strong: "We listen for and hear until/Some misery draws us back/To what it really was they/Obviously meant not to say-." Many cultures are represented as well, including works by Polish, Russian, Irish, Indian, and Spanish poets. This quietly moving and intimate anthology tugs at the truth behind lies, and the lies behind truths.-Sharon Korbeck, Waupaca Area Public Library, WI Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.