VOYA Ratings: 4Q, 4P

Sometimes silly, sometimes somber; this collection of poetry spans the emotional gamut of topics and scenes having to do with youth and growing up. The poignant and perceptive nature of poetry is well executed by Nye in this work and numerous poems and lines help to capture the fleeting beauty and stark realizations that come with retrospections upon childhood as it moves into adulthood.

Due to the highly personal nature of some of the poems - as poetry is highly personal and connected to the experiences of the author - many may feel like a bit of a hit and a miss to some readers yet there is still a plethora of sweet and bitter moments that will peek through the veil of memory, allowing readers to see within themselves as Nye looks back upon her youth. This book is truly a treasure that grows more beautiful with time. ( )

A good collection of poems by Naomi Shibah Nye about the transition from childhood to adolescence. While geared for girls, many of these poems discuss ideas that are relevant to both genders. I appreciated the poems and their wide variety of topics while still holding the theme together. The small illustrations are a great addition to this compilation. ( )

This is an engaging and relatable book of poetry. The book is ostensibly “for girls,” but I could see many of the poems appealing to both genders. Nye captures and records the tumultuous feelings of early adolescence in a lighthearted but thoughtful way. Some of the poems are humorous, some are poignant, but almost all of them reflect the self-discovery and questioning that I remember feeling at that age. Very enjoyable! ( )

This poetry anthology is meant for girls. It opens with an introduction where the poet describes some of her experiences during adolescence. It inform the poems that follow, which are broken thematically into five sections. Most of the poems talk about life experiences that young girls are familiar with, like school and family. There are a few themes in the book, the most evident probably being self-discovery.

As previously mentioned and as stated on the cover of the book, this is a poetry collection for girls. Many poems would also be relatable for boys, but girls are the primary focus. It would probably be best-suited for tween readers who will most identify with the themes and events in the poems. The poems are all short and the language is lyrical but not too complicated, making it very accessible. The variety in tone is nice, with some poems being more serious and others being funnier. These poems could be used as a writing prompt or a mentor text for students to write about their own experiences. ( )

4Q, 4P (My VOYA ratings)
As is the case with many poetry collections, I found some poems in A Maze Me to be amazing and others to be mediocre. However, the overall quality of the anthology is high, and I ended up rating it a 4Q for its overall lovely writing. The one thing keeping it from a 5Q is its sometimes confusing or esoteric poem style choices—it seems like Nye decided that X amount of certain types of poems should be in the book and some stylistically different or unique poems felt forced.
My favorite thing about the book was its diversity almost every teen or tween girl will find something to relate to in this book, and it easily warrants a 4P based on that fact. I can vividly see myself as a boy-crazy teen girl relating to the poem Eye: "Does he recognize my existence?/ Does he see me gleaming/ in my chair?" I think, for nostalgia's sake, my favorite poems in the book were about having crushes--they really seemed to capture the feelings that I had when I was a teen! However, the poems address diverse issues, issues both lofty (the meaning of death, the fate of the world) and self-centered (crushes, family issues). I definitely believe that almost every girl could pick up and enjoy at least one poem in this book. ( )