19 Varieties of Gazelle

Finalist for the 2002 National Book Award, this collection of poems creates a new world for the reader to enjoy and explore. This is a collection of poems that allows young readers to understand the perspective of a group of people whom have seen prejudice and discrimination ever since the events that occurred on September 11, 2001. The poems in this collection explore and delve into the lives of people in the Middle East in light of the tragic events, and shows how events that happen on one side of the ocean have a ripple effect on those who live on the other side. Each poem comes from the perspective of a different person, and shows us so much about the world that we ourselves have or will never experience.

## Book Reviews:

**Book Page:** "More serious and reflective are the poems of Naomi Shihab Nye. Her newest volume*19 Varieties of Gazelle: Poems of the Middle East*, is a collection of poems for young people that focuses on one of the world's most troubled areas. Adults may be familiar with Nye's passionate voice from her visits to *A Prairie Home Companion* or her various volumes of poetry. Now young readers can experience her clear, heartfelt words in this slim, accessible volume.

Nye's introduction to the book is a new poem entitled "Flinn, On the Bus." It begins, "Three hours after the buildings fell,/he took a seat beside me./Fresh out of prison, after 24 months,/*you're my first hello!"* Nye goes on to chronicle, in painful, careful free verse, the story of an ex-con who does not yet know of the events of September 11. She ends, "He'd find out/soon enough. Flinn, take it easy./Peace is rough." Most of these poems have been published in other volumes and journals, and most were written well before the events discussed in Nye's introduction. Perhaps that is why they are doubly powerful. Though high school students and adults might best appreciate her verse, this is a powerful, thought-provoking volume for all." - *Lynn Beckwith*

http://bookpage.com/reviews/2354-naomi-shihab-nye-19-varieties-gazelle-poems-middle-east#.Vle45\_mrShc

**Kirkus Review:** "In a collection as rich as the subject, Nye (C*ome With Me*, 2000, etc.) brings together all of her poems about the Middle East, old and new, familiar and unknown. Opening with a poem about a young man just released from prison on the morning of September 11th, she follows with a reflection on what that day has meant for everyone, especially for Arabs and Arab-Americans, who, through Nye, say: “This is not who we are.” She follows with exquisitely nuanced images of fig trees, grandmothers, Palestinian children, the loss of “pleasant pauses,” and “The Man Who Makes Brooms.” Asking “How Long Peace Takes,” Nye writes, “As long as the question—what if I / were you?—has two heads,” and answers a border guard, “We will eat cabbage rolls, rice with sugar and milk, / crisply sizzled eggplant. When the olives come / sailing past / in their little boat, we will line them on our / plates / like punctuation. What do governments have to do / with such pleasure?” Poem after poem will elicit a gasp of surprise, a nod of the head, a pause to reflect. There are no false steps here—only a feeling of sensory overload and a need to take a deep breath and reread or to find someone to share the intensely felt emotion that springs from the lines. In her closing poem, a musing on what one *should*have said, she writes, “Say it / as if words count.” With this gifted writer, they really do."

https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/naomi-shihab-nye/19-varieties-of-gazelle/

## Activities:

Write a poem about how you felt after a sad moment in your life. It can be about how you handled that situation, how you got over it, or how it made you feel. You can talk about your day to day life after that event, or how it may have affected people close to you.

## Other Links:

Author's Letter to Would-Be Terrorists: http:// http://islam.uga.edu/shihabnye.html  http://islam.uga.edu/shihabnye.html

Inspirations of Poetry: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5gDZefjvQ-0