Review
Dizzy in Your Eyes is a wonderful collection of poems by Pat Mora pertaining to one of the most difficult things all teenagers deal with…love. The poems are a reflection of family, love, and life. This collection of poetry is divided in four stages of love; new love, losing love, the healing process of losing love, and falling in love all over again. There are 50 poems in this collection that starts out in free verse.
This book is absolutely wonderful for teenagers to read. They can relate the poems to their own life and maybe some of the poetry will help them overcome some of their feelings about new and exciting love or even about the pain and heartache of losing love. Even as an adult as I read through these poems it brought back memories of my first love, the heartache in high school of loving love and the wonderful love I have now. It sends a great message to teens at the end, no matter how painful things get you will fall in love again and to not give up on love just because it hurts sometimes.
The layout of this book is very much written for teenagers. There are definitions of the type of poem represented to the left of the poem page. There is a huge diversity of poems in this book including tanka, tercet, list poem, dialogue, blank verse, letter poem, and many more. It was nice to have the description of the poem because some of the forms I had never heard about and it was interesting to read about the format before reading the poem. Some of the poems also contain some Spanish words to learn as your reading the poems. There are also many cultural meanings brought up in the poems such as speaking Russian, being Musliam, having a French grandma, and many other cultural add ins.
Each poem is complemented by abstract designs such as circles, lines and rectangles. They are subtle and done in a light gray color so they do not take away from the poem. This is a must read for both teenage boys and girls!
I had so many favorite poems in this book it was extremely hard for me to select just one to share with everyone but I did find one that I could relate to as a teenage girl.
Doubts
What if guys think I can’t kiss because I can think?
What if I ask her out and she laughs?
Why are all the guys I know so short?
Why do girls like those handsome fakes
with fast cars and fat wallets?
Can I eat less and less until I’m transparent and shine?
Why do their eyes squint when we speak Russian?
Do boys really imagine all of us without clothes?
What if no one wants to touch me because I’m too fat?
Why do they start whispering about me when I walk by?
When I dance, why do my feet get stuck, as if must is a foreign language?
Does anyone care about the real me?
Does my breath smell like a fish tank?
Why don’t the like him just because he’s Muslim?
What if the way I kiss is dull, like oatmeal?
Why do adults say, “What do you know about love?”
Why is my dog the only one who really understands me?
How does it feel to be married?
Why do my parents kiss in public?
Not only could I relate to this poem as a teenage girl or even as a girl now, but I liked how you had the guys’ perspective in the poem too. It’s not only the girls who worry about things like this and I know that sometimes I forget that and so many girls. It so easy to think how hard love is for you that you don’t realize what the other sex is going through as well. Teachers and librarians can use this book any many effective ways, especially since Valentine’s Day is quickly approaching. I looked up some different activities and for those of you that are looking for something fun for young adults on love and poetry check this out: http://www.patmora.com/teenideas.htm#act
Classroom/Library Connection
Recommended audience: Grades 7th-12th
Before reading: Before reading this collection of poetry have the kids close their eyes and think about someone they love more than anything in the world. This could be a boyfriend/girlfriend/ family member/ even a pet.
During reading: Select several of the poems from the different stages and read them out loud.
Reread the poem: After they have heard some of the love poems re-read them and encourage the kids to think about their loved one while reading the poems and see if the poems relate to them.
After reading: Have the kids create their own poetry book for someone special. This would make a great Valentine’s Day gift. The book can be a mix or original poetry and already published poetry with appropriate citation given to the author. They can illustrate their book with drawings or photos of the person the poetry book if to, maybe photos of them together. Kids will love doing this as a Valentine’s Day gift, a classic homemade gift that has so much meaning behind it!
Mora, Pat. 2010. Dizzy in Your Eyes: Poems about Love. New York. Alfred A. Knopf. ISBN 978-0-375-84375-4
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