Review by Brooke Harris – Turning straw into gold is one impossible task. “Rumpelstiltskin, or What’s in a Name?” is a variation, dare I say a revision, of the rather-terrifying Grimms Fairytale. Zara Raab turns the strange story on its…
Browsing: Book Reviews
Review by Jill Kelly Koren – As a poet who left Indiana to teach in Texas, I entered Robin Silbergleid’s Texas Girl (Demeter Press, 231 pages) expecting to find my own story, but to my surprise I found what Harold…
Reviewed by Tessara Dudley – I Carry My Mother is dedicated: For my mother, Florence Newman January 25, 1928 — August 22, 2012 may her memory be a blessing In this collection of poems, Lesléa Newman explores a journey to…
Review by Samantha Duncan – So often, the conversation in the modern era of raising families revolves around excess. From the extensive list of “necessities” for newborns to parenting advice books, to toddler play groups and activity classes, to the…
Reader’s Note by Gail Denham – It took me a powerful long time to go through Lockward’s wonderful book, “The Crafty Poet”… mostly because I had to stop and try many of the exercises. Diane Lockward, who is the author…
Review by Issa M. Lewis – The idea of what a mother should be is often romanticized in popular thought. Images of the perfect mother—ultra-organized, fierce protectors of their children (but never taking it so far as to appear unfeminine)—have…
Review by Tara L. Masih – Even before this young adult book was published as a novel, it won a merit award as a novella from the annual SCBWI’s Magazine Award competition. After publication, it garnered a long list of…
Review by Mindy Kronenberg – The subject of motherhood can be tricky territory for women, in the literary as well as visual arts, where practitioners want their subject matter to transcend the personal realm and “precious” expectations that are sometimes…
Review by Julie Maloney – What moves me about Nancy Gerber’s latest work, Fire and Ice, is how she captures the bearings of the heart. Gerber combines poetry with prose in a seamless marriage of love and hurt. Read it…
Review by Marcene Gandolfo – In Sunday school, when we chose roles for the Easter play, no one wanted to play Judas. Understandably so. Judas Iscariot was the traitor, the villain. Who would want to be Judas? Then we realized,…