Children's Literature

MULTICULTURAL POETRY

My Own True Name: New and Selected Poems for Young Adults

Mora, Pat. My Own True Name: New and Selected Poems for Young Adults, 1984-1999. Houston, Tex: Piñata Books, 2000.

ISBN: 978-1558852921

In My Own True Name, Pat Mora collected poems she has written through the years.  This book reads like a series of memoirs.  The poems are grouped into three categories, as seen in the Table of Contents: Blooms, Thorns, and Roots.  The first section, Blooms, is a compilation of poems about love and joy.  Mora shares poems about first loves, being noticed, parenting, graduation, and other joyful moments in life.  The poems Mora chose to include in Thorns are painful memories; sadness, loss, and death are all present in this section.  In Roots, the poems focus on wisdom, strength, and family.

The poems in this collection are rhythmic, but they do not rhyme.  This memoir-style, free verse poetry book tells a story of living life in a cross-cultural world.  These are typically specific to Mora’s heritage, but the thoughts and feelings conveyed would be recognized among many cultures.

There are no illustrations, except for the black line drawings that open each section, so the poetry speaks for itself.  Many of these poems were originally written for adults, and, although the title says these are for young adults, teens might have some difficulty understanding the poetry.

One part of this book I found especially useful is Pat Mora’s introduction, Dear Fellow Writer.  In this intro, Mora shares her thoughts on writing, reading, memories, and rejection.  This letter would be great to share with students.

A snippet from:

"Tomas Rivera"

By Pat Mora

Those hands clenched in the dark

at viboras, viboras hissing

     we don’t want you, you people have lice

as the school door slammed

but Tomas learned,

and his hands began to hold books

gently, with affection.  He searched

for stories about his people and finally

gave their words sound, wrote the books

he didn’t have, we didn’t have.

Before reading this poem:

Read aloud the picture book: Tomás and the Library Lady (2000).  This provides students with background knowledge about Tomas.

            Read the poem aloud to students.

            Have students work in pairs to compare the poem to the novel. 

Mora, Pat. Tomás and the Library Lady. Illustrated by Raúl Colón. New York: Dragonfly Books, 2000.