Blue Lipstick: Concrete Poems

by John Grandits

Overview

A 15-year-old girl named Jessie voices typical—and not so typical—teenage concerns in this unique, hilarious collection of poems. Her musings about trying out new makeup and hairstyles, playing volleyball and cello, and dealing with her annoying younger brother are never boring or predictable. Who else do you know who designs her own clothes and writes poetry to her cat? Jessie’s a girl with strong opinions, and she isn’t shy about sharing them. Her funny, sarcastic take on high school life is revealed through concrete poetry: words, ideas, type, and design that combine to make pictures and patterns. The poems are inventive, irreverent, irresistible, and full of surprises—just like Jessie—and the playful layout and ingenious graphics extend the wry humor.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780547532127
Publisher:	HarperCollins Publishers
Publication date:	05/21/2007
Sold by:	HARPERCOLLINS
Format:	eBook
Pages:	48
File size:	7 MB
Age Range:	10 - 12 Years

About the Author

John Grandits is a book and magazine designer and the author of Technically, It's Not My Fault and Blue Lipstick, award-winning books of concrete poetry, and the picture books Ten Rules You Absolutely Must Not Break If You Want to Survive the School Bus, which received the Texas Bluebonnet Award, and Seven Rules You Absolutely Must Follow If You Want to Survive the Cafeteria. He and his wife, Joanne, live in Red Bank, New Jersey. Visit him online at johngrandits.com.

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

"This irreverent, witty collection should resonate with a wide audience." School Library Journal, Starred

"After suffering indignities at the pen of ... Robert (TECHNICALLY, IT'S NOT MY FAULT, 2004), big sister Jessie gets her chance." Kirkus Reviews

"A cover that'll grab adolescent girls' attention—and the poetry inside is equally appealing." Horn Book

"Friendly and accessible ... it will undoubtedly inspire a multitude of curricular uses." Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books

Editorial Reviews

Gr 5-9
Grandits crafts his collections with the needs of poetry-phobic readers in mind. It isn't even necessary to crack the book, since the first poem, "Blue Lipstick," is cleverly placed on the front cover, surrounding a reflective mirror. This selection introduces readers to Jessie, who impulsively purchases blue lipstick, but later, regretfully decides to give it "the kiss-off." Jessie is big sister to Robert, who was featured in Grandits's Technically, It's Not My Fault (Clarion, 2004). As he did in that terrific collection, the author uses artful arrangements of text on the page, along with 54 different typefaces, to bring his images and ideas to life. Jessie's a typical ninth grader who spends much of her time squabbling with her brother; doesn't always see eye-to-eye with her parents; and is preoccupied with clothes, makeup, and dealing with bad-hair days. She confides early on that life is simpler when you build a wall around yourself, as "You've got to be careful who you make friends with." Jessie writes poems to her cat, believes in guardian angels, and though she's quick to form strong opinions, she's smart enough to revise them, too. In the end, she's still got her wall, but she realizes "now I've got more company." This irreverent, witty collection should resonate with a wide audience.
—Marilyn TaniguchiCopyright 2006 Reed Business Information.

School Library Journal

After suffering indignities at the pen of little brother Robert (Technically, It's Not My Fault, 2004), big sister Jessie gets her chance. In full adolescent voice, she talks of the disastrous day she dyed her hair blue, the misery of pep rallies, the futility of talking to grownups and the path of a secret. As in the previous volume, the poems are shaped by their subjects, so in "The Bowling Party," the reader gets a bird's-eye view of Jessie's shots-a gutter ball, a fader, a feeble dribble and a strike in the neighboring alley. In "Go Look in the Mirror!" the words appear in reverse against an oval of blue as Jessie contemplates her appearance before going out. "All My Important Thinking Gets Done in the Shower," possibly the best selection, features gentle streams of blue words emerging from a showerhead, each forming a sentence completely unrelated to the one next to it. Although Jessie's progress through the year is far from smooth, she learns a few things about friends, boyfriends and cheerleaders. Necessarily lacking the startling originality of its predecessor, this is nevertheless a playfully worthy companion. (Poetry. 10+)

Kirkus Reviews

"This irreverent, witty collection should resonate with a wide audience." School Library Journal, Starred

"After suffering indignities at the pen of ... Robert (TECHNICALLY, IT'S NOT MY FAULT, 2004), big sister Jessie gets her chance." Kirkus Reviews

"A cover that'll grab adolescent girls' attention—and the poetry inside is equally appealing." Horn Book

"Friendly and accessible ... it will undoubtedly inspire a multitude of curricular uses." Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books —

From the Publisher