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From Cooperative Children's Book Center (CCBC)

Lifelong litter picker upper Naomi Shihab Nye documents and reflects on the leavings of our existence in keenly observant, probing, unabashed poems. Nye ruminates on the explosion of trash in our world and on related environmental issues, such as plastics in the ocean; on how so much is designed to be thrown away after one use (plastic straws and bottles, post-it notes ...); on the mindset of those who litter, assuming picking up is someone else's job. She also looks at the concept of "trash" through other lenses: the way something found can be a treasure or a surprise or a brief, mysterious glimpse into another life; how people are sometimes viewed as throw-away; and trash talk, including online: "People finding one another across the miles. / And plenty of trash scattered across the air. / You could disappear in there, / get lost so easily, / hours compressing into clicks." (from "Lately the Moon") There is despair, not only because of the trash itself but in references to disregarded lives, especially in today's political climate, but she finds respite in quiet moments ("It's fine not to know how to solve everything / It's still a room to sit in"-from "Pine Cones") and hope in surprise, and in children and teens today: "Nothing a child / ever does / is trash. / It is / practice." ("Nothing") She closes with "Ideas for Writing, Recycling, Reclaiming." (Age 9 and older)

CCBC Choices 2021 © Cooperative Children's Book Center, Univ. of Wisconsin - Madison, 2021. Used with permission.

From Horn Book

March 1, 2020
Current Young People's Poet Laureate Nye finds inspiration in those things we throw away�? as well as in the act of throwing things away and that of picking them up again. It's a surprisingly flexible metaphor for this collection of over eighty free-verse, free-range poems, from the lyrical to the humorous, ecological to political, brief to meandering. In "Not a Bagel, But..." Nye commemorates poet David Ignatow, thanking him for "an image from a poem which can / stay with you your whole life, " and in her relaxed, conversational style, she drops many such images so casually arrived at that they are all the more convincing. "Trees are ferocious. / They might be planning things. / How can we ever again sit calmly in the shade?" The collection is divided into five sections (whose distinctions elude this reviewer), but they don't interfere with the eminent browsability of the volume. Pick up a poem, why don't you? Roger Sutton

(Copyright 2020 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

From School Library Journal

Starred review from January 1, 2020

Gr 5 Up-Young People's Poet Laureate Nye ponders the things we carry and throw away-both literal and metaphorical. The poems cover a large range of topics: discarded food wrappers; animal hoarding; the migrant children who have been seized by the U.S. Border Patrol. Nye contemplates the acts of discarding or leaving, but also finding. Nye writes in her introduction, "Sometimes we have to leave things. You never know what's out there. Selection is involved." This idea is also applicable to the craft of writing and will serve as good advice to young poets. Many of the featured topics are suitable for mature teens or adults. Sometimes the intended audience feels deliberately focused on adults, like in the heartfelt and sparse poem "Nothing." However, the poems could be gently unpacked by younger readers with guidance. Nye provides thematic examples from many perspectives, giving this collection a rich variety and impressive scope. The book itself is organized into five separate "Routes," each with its own spin on the things we discard. VERDICT There is much to discover in Nye's beautiful and timely collection filled with haunting, sensory images. A must-have for all poetry collections.-Shannon O'Connor, Unami Middle School, Chalfont, PA

Copyright 2020 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

From Horn Book

January 1, 2020
Current Young People's Poet �Laureate Nye finds inspiration in those things we throw away--as well as in the act of throwing things away and that of picking them up again. It's a surprisingly flexible metaphor for this collection of over eighty free-verse, free-range poems, from the lyrical to the humorous, ecological to political, brief to meandering. In "Not a Bagel, But..." Nye commemorates poet David Ignatow, thanking him for "an image from a poem which can / stay with you your whole life," and in her relaxed, conversational style, she drops many such images so casually arrived at that they are all the more convincing. "Trees are ferocious. / They might be planning things. / How can we ever again sit calmly in the shade?" The collection is divided into five sections (whose distinctions elude this reviewer), but they don't interfere with the eminent browsability of the volume. Pick up a poem, why don't you?

(Copyright 2020 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

From Booklist

Starred review from December 1, 2019
Grades 3-6 *Starred Review* What is trash? Do we expand the definition to include people we consider less than ourselves? How many of us cast away with little thought of consequences? In these poignant poems, Young People's Poet Laureate Nye challenges readers, no matter their age, to consider their definition of trash and their responses to it. She has become a staunch advocate for cleaning up the world, beginning with the spaces immediately around us. In some respects, her never-before published poems are reminiscent of Shel Silverstein's Sarah Sylvia Cynthia Stout Would Not Take the Garbage Out (Where the Sidewalk Ends, 1974); but she challenges readers to become activists and to gain deeper awareness of their surroundings. With titles like Folded Cardboard in the Street, Owner of 136 Snakes Surrenders Them, Texas, Trash Walk, and Not My Problem, Nye crafts powerful object lessons with every poem. She reminds readers to look at poverty in new ways; to consider the food they toss; and to reflect upon the plastic that has created an island in the Pacific Ocean. The collection features humorous, witty, serious, and even some politically charged poems, all of which will leave readers with a consciousness of the precarious environment. Her poetic polemic on trash is truly a treasure for readers.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2019, American Library Association.)

From Kirkus

Starred review from November 1, 2019
Nye explores what we throw away, literally (she's a litter picker-upper) and metaphorically. In 80-plus poems, Nye writes conversationally, injecting humor, outrage, and reminiscence. Unambiguously championing the environment, she marvels at how casually humans toss trash. "What about these energy bottles pitched by someone / who didn't have energy to find a bin? / Fun Finger Food wrappers dropped by someone / not so fun?" An archaeologist of urban detritus, she ponders her discoveries, championing children throughout. "Blocks around elementary schools / are surprisingly free of litter. / Good custodians?" Nye locates the profound in the mundane: "A single silver star / on a curb by Bonham Elementary / Good work! / Glimmering / like a treasure / stronger at this moment than all 50 / drooping on the flagpole." She mourns the current othering of the homeless and refugees: "A few hundred miles from here / thousands of traumatized kids / huddle in cages / ... / Who can believe this? / Land of the Free!" She keenly knits place into poems: her city, San Antonio; the Ferguson, Missouri, of her childhood; Maui; Hong Kong. She castigates Trump, who "talks uglier than the bully in grade school," and Prince Charles, who dithers ineffectually about plastic waste. She generously praises poets and writers: W.S. Merwin, who drafted poems on junk mail; David Ignatow, for a poetic image that Nye has found compelling since high school; Kevin Henkes, for his book Egg. Nye at her engaging, insightful best. (Poetry. 8-12)

COPYRIGHT(2019) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

From AudioFile Magazine

Listeners won't look at the discarded things around them in the same way after hearing this poetry collection on audio. With a warm voice and a storyteller's cadence, Young People's Poet Laureate Naomi Shihab Nye shares her experiences as a self-appointed trash collector, armed with gardening gloves, tongs, and a bag. Nye's appealing and engaging narration style makes her clever and insightful poems sound like musings at the kitchen table--and calls to action. As Nye examines the things we throw away, meditates on "trash talk," and considers the experiences of refugees, her poems are sure to get listeners of all ages thinking. It's an inspiring collection that rewards repeat listening, and a wonderful tool for the classroom. J.M.D. © AudioFile 2020, Portland, Maine