The Pain Tree - Softcover

Once they discovered zines, Mark Todd and Esther Pearl Watson never stopped making them. They’ve had illustrations in Rolling Stone and Entertainment Weekly and on CD covers and MTV; they’ve written and illustrated picture books; their paintings appear in art galleries—and still they keep making zines (and lots of friends while they’re at it). They live and work in southern California.

Grade 7 Up-An accessible and visually appealing collection of poetry culled from teen Web sites and magazines. Throughout the 25 selections, the young people address a wide range of emotions while coping with the trials of growing up, sometimes under less than ideal circumstances. The poetry is timely and timeless, but uneven in quality. Some selections are well-written expressions of adolescent experience and frustration, while others show less inspiration and are not as convincing in their imagery. The accompanying paintings, both colorful and creative, are abstract rather than exact representations of the narratives associated with them. While some selections are suitable for reading aloud, the majority are introspective accounts of personal experiences.-Karen Patricia Smith, Queens College Graduate School of Library and Information Studies, Flushing, NY
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