Blue Lipstick

Blue Lipstick: Concrete Poems
By John Grandits
Clarion Books, 2007. 42 pgs. Young Adult Nonfiction

Fifteen-year-old Jessie voices her teenage concerns about her annoying brother, school, dumb jocks, and more in this unique, hilarious collection of poems. Jessie's strong opinions are 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.


I'm not usually a big fan of poetry, but this book is great! Jessie is funny, sarcastic, and unique. The visual design alone makes the book worth checking out. The poems are shaped like what they are about--a line graph of Jessie's emotional day, a cello and a guitar as Jessie makes friends with a guitar player, etc. It's really a fun book, both in design and in the text.


AE