My Own True Name: New and Selected Poems for Young Adults, 1984-1999 (Pinata Books for Young Adults)

More than sixty poems, some with Spanish translations, include such titles as The Young Sor Juana, Graduation Morning, Border Town 1938, Legal Alien, Abuelita Magic, and In the Blood.

Grade 9 Up-Mora has selected poems from her adult collections and added some new ones. She speaks of her own experience as a Latina in the Southwest, and of the experiences of those people whose lives have touched her own. Using the metaphor of a cactus, she has grouped the selections into three sections: "Blooms" (of loves and joys), "Thorns" (of hardships and sorrows), and "Roots" (of family, wisdom, home, and strength). She has chosen poems with themes that are accessible to, yet challenging for teens, a few of which appear in both English and Spanish. Occasional footnotes explain historical references or Spanish phrases. The introduction encourages young writers, as do the poems themselves. This anthology speaks to a young adult audience, and it should find many readers.
Nina Lindsay, Oakland Public Library, CA
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Interlaced with Mexican phrases and cultural symbols, these powerful selections, representing more than 15 years of work, address bicultural life and the meaning of family. Mora speaks very much from an adult perspective, but her poems are about universal experiences--the pleasures of eating pizza and mango, and the cultural significance of both; the wrenching experience of witnessing poverty. Mixed in are personal poems that ask the vital question, "Where am I from?" more directly. Mora answers in poems that reach back through her own experiences with motherhood (specifically mothering teenagers) and across generations to the landscape of her ancestors. The rich, symbolic imagery, raw emotion, and honesty will appeal to mature teens, and young writers will find inspiration in the warm introduction addressed to "Dear Fellow Writer," and its challenge to "Listen to your inside self, your private voice . . . explore the wonder of being alive." Gillian Engberg