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

by Pat Mora, Anthony Accardo (Illustrator)

More than sixty poems, some with Spanish translations, include such titles as The Young Sor Juana, Graduation Morning, Border Town 1938, Legal Alien, Abuelita Magic, and In the Blood.

Genres: Poetry, Young Adult, Cultural

81 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2000

About the author

Pat Mora (born 1942) is a female Mexican-American author and poet. Pat Mora was born in El Paso, Texas. She is married and has 3 grown children.

Reviews

[Sandy 🥀 · Rating 3 out of 5]

I loved the authenticity in this book. Pat Mora highlights a lot of common struggles of Hispanic Americans; I felt myself often feeling sad, empathizing with a lot of her experiences. For example, she talks a lot about the difficulty of learning English and trying to catch up with her kids. Her experience reminded me of my mother’s own experience and how she often feels shameful of not speaking or reading “well” enough. It’s challenging being an immigrant and very often people can be ruthless. However, Pat Mora (along with my mother) have shown their resilience by trying and pushing themselves in a country that often rejects them. I applaud a lot of the honesty and feeling the author shows in her poetry.

Even though I loved many of these poems, I did feel that the language could’ve at times been more interesting and could’ve done a better job of zooming in to some of these authentic experiences. Some of the poems.. like the pizza one.. used over-generalized language that made it feel cliché. I loved the content of the poetry and because of her experiences, I understand where she’s coming from, but I think more work can still be done to create a more rich version of these captured moments.

Despite my critique, I’d still recommend these poems to anyone who loves to read poetry or wants to learn more about the Mexican-American or Hispanic experience in the U.S.

[Karen Bessin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Opening letter to writers is a good one to share with students.

[Rebecca · Rating 5 out of 5]

Legal Alien. I cry everytime. I wrote a whole review, but it doesn’t matter. It’s so personal and doesn’t tell you what you need to know. You should read her and Pat Mora should be part of every our Texas school system.

I’ll save my “review” for my journal... or my iPhone notes.

[Audrey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some of these were just beautiful. Very evocative (to me) of the Southwest.

[Claire · Rating 5 out of 5]

10/10, 5 stars all around. Pat Mora can do no wrong. *chef's kiss*

[Giovanne · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book is fantastic.

[Carie Juettner · Rating 4 out of 5]

From My Own True Name, by Pat Mora:

Two Worlds

Bi-lingual, Bi-cultural
able to slip from "How's life"
to "M'estan volviendo loca,"
able to sit in a paneled office
drafting memos in smooth English,
able to order in fluent Spanish
at a Mexican restaurant,
American but hyphenated,
viewed by anglos as perhaps exotic,
perhaps inferior, definitely different,
viewed by Mexicans as alien
(their eyes say, "You may speak
Spanish but you're not like me")
an American to Mexicans
a Mexican to Americans
a handy token
sliding back and forth
between the fringes of both worlds
by smiling
by masking the discomfort
of being pre-judged
Bi-laterally.

This book by Pat Mora is subtitled "New and Selected Poems for Young Adults" but really it is for anybody. Anybody who has ever struggled with identity, anybody who has deeply loved (and maybe lost) a family member, anybody who likes a good poem.

In many of the pages of this book (which is divided into three sections-- Blooms, Thorns, and Roots), Mora gives a voice to Mexican-Americans struggling to find their place in two different worlds. In "Los Inmigrantes" she paints a picture of immigrants who "wrap their babies in American flags" and give them American names and feed them hot dogs and apple pie, hoping they will be accepted. In "Elena" and "Learning English: Chorus in Many Voices", Mora tackles the topic of Spanish-speaking mothers trying to learn English for their children, and the effect is heart-wrenching. The poet captures the hurt, the embarrassment, and the feeling the women have that their children are slipping away from them in an honest and compassionate way.

Other poems in the collection cross cultural boundaries. "Teenagers" and "To My Son" are both beautiful poems about children growing up and leaving home. And while most of the poetry in the book is in free verse, I was surprised and delighted to see a villanelle about "Strong Women" on page 70.

My Own True Name is a book of very personal poems about life and family and fitting in. Young and old and in between, any reader will find something in its pages that touches the heart.

[Sarah Holland · Rating 5 out of 5]

Personal Reaction: I appreciate the variety of topics included in this poetry book with their own unique/fresh takes. The author does an excellent job of reaching a wide range of readers, from young children to adults. The poems can be broken down into simple terms or digested on deep levels of understanding. The topics include everyday objects, immigration, life in the American West, and Mexican heritage.

Purposes
-read aloud for enrichment: Certain poems would be great to be read aloud during transition periods. The poems on just random objects in particular would be fun for the children to hear as a way to keep poetry alive in the classroom.
-read aloud for curricular purposes: This book is an excellent tool for history class in terms of addressing immigration, history of the American West, Mexican heritage, and the United State's war with Mexico. I would definitely use this as a tool the students to understand not only the events themselves, but the mood and feelings of the people at that time from those who were directly affected. The poet is from Texas and offers excellent insight into the nature of the South and West in regards to those topics. Additionally, this book can be used with younger children in the introduction of figurative language and types of poetry as they begin their own writing. This book would be an excellent model in displaying various concepts.


Age level
-I would target this book to students aged 10-adult (4th-high school) because of the wide range of topics that could be discussed, as well as how in depth the teacher decides to go in terms of the purpose for reading the poem.

[Scott Whitney · Rating 5 out of 5]

Some very beautiful poetry with a great introduction. I am excited to use parts of this book with my students. I did not want to put this book down as I was reading, and the imagery in the poetry was incredible.