The Horn Book Guide

LITERATURE

Lauer, Brett Fletcher, Editor

Please Excuse This Poem: 100 New Poets for the Next Generation

289 pp. | Viking | March, 2015 | Trade ISBN 978-0-670-01479-8 $16.99

(2) YA One hundred contemporary poems meander through topics and styles and, for the most part, ignore conventions of form. The best of these poems pack punches with raw handling of timely issues, such as Patricia Lockwood's uncomfortably humorous "Rape Joke." What will appeal to teens most about this anthology, and what holds it together, is its gritty, unapologetic sensibility. "About the poets" section appended.

Reviewer: Katrina Hedeen | Horn Book Magazine Issue: March, 2015