When I Dance

by James Berry

A collection of fifty-nine poems for young adults celebrating life in inner-city Britain and in the rural Caribbean.

Genres: Poetry

96 pages, Hardcover

First published March 1, 1988

About the author

James Berry, OBE, Hon FRSL (1924-2017) was a black Jamaican poet and writer who settled in England in the 1940s. His poetry is notable for using a mixture of standard English and Jamaican Patois.

Reviews

[Kiera Beddes]

Genre: poetry
Summary: Just a collection of poems by one poet about his life in Jamaica and his ties to England.
Response: This was my YA poetry book that i had to read for class, and it was interesting. James Berry was born in Jamaica and live in England when he grew up so there are definitely some island flavor to the poems. It would be more easily understood if I had more cultural understanding of Jamaica but there were some great lines in the poem. Poetry of this type would be an excellent way of showing students that there is more to poetry than Shakespeare.

[Landon]

I enjoyed this book. It is well written and had my attention. The poetry in this book is good. I like how he talked about his life in Jamaica. Since that is where I am from. It interest me on how he talks about his life in Jamaica And his ties to England. I think high school students should pick up this book especially someone who likes reading peoms/poetry.. I would definitely recommend this book.