Blue Lipstick: Concrete Poems – A Unique and Playful Book About Teenage Life for Kids

by John Grandits

A 15-year-old girl named Jessie voices typical—and not so typical—teenage concerns in this unique, hilarious collection of poems. Her musings about trying out new makeup and hairstyles, playing volleyball and cello, and dealing with her annoying younger brother are never boring or predictable. Who else do you know who designs her own clothes and writes poetry to her cat? Jessie’s a girl with strong opinions, and she isn’t shy about sharing them. Her funny, sarcastic take on high school life is revealed through concrete poetry: words, ideas, type, and design that combine to make pictures and patterns. The poems are inventive, irreverent, irresistible, and full of surprises—just like Jessie—and the playful layout and ingenious graphics extend the wry humor.

Genres: Poetry, Young Adult, Humor, Teen, Novel In Verse, High School, Fiction

48 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 2007

Reviews

[Hannah M. · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was quite good overall. I really liked the poems in it, they were pretty funny, and it was also pretty fun to read because I had to keep turning the book. Overall I liked it a quite a bit.

[Steven Godin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Why do they force us to come to these stupid pep rallies?
I don't want to be here.
I'm not feeling peppy, and the pep rally isn't helping.
These things are only set up so that the cheerleaders can show off,
and all the boys can drool over them—
especially Andrea Herkimer.

I don't actually hate Andrea, since we've never spoken.
But if we ever did speak, I would hate her.

[Katie Carson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved the creativity that comes with writing concrete poetry and Blue Lipstick is exemplary of this. The story of a teenager sorting her way through high school is brilliantly told through a variety of styles, shapes and fonts. As in all concrete poetry, the form of the writing tells the story along with the words themselves. What I really liked about Blue Lipstick in particular is that the author never strays from the story in order to include a poem. With each new narrative poem, the story of Jessie's life progresses smoothly.
The variety of poems in the book offer Grandits the opportunity to play with many different concrete styles, such as a dialogue poem with "Talking to My Stupid Younger Brother Is Like Swimming Upstream in a River to Nowhere." Creating a block form in "The Wall" allows for the author to separate some of the main character's internal struggles visually for readers.
As stated in our text, contemporary poetry often comes with a honest and direct voice, as well as a clever non-rhyming tone to still engage its audience. Blue Lipstick exemplifies both of these contemporary poetry elements.

[Grace Galinski · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was...interesting. The poems are pretty whacky, but they were pretty funny also. The layout of the book was pretty weird too. I kept having to turn the book to read the actual poems. But over all I'd say it was worth the read.

[Cassie Cox · Rating 5 out of 5]

I just finished this tiny giant of a book. I am a collector: a collector of words of models of ideas for possibilities. Each time I turned the page, I found myself reading and thinking of ways I might be able to use this in my high school Language Arts classes. Seriously, this book is a quick read. I am ordering extra copies right now because I know my students will want to analyze this gem over and over and over.

If you don't already own it, I'm sorry...but there is hope. If you order it now, Blue Lipstick: Concrete Poems can find its way to your porch in just days.

[Jared B · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read Blue Lipstick: Concrete Poems by John Grandits in print format after finding it through the NCTE Award for Excellence in Children’s Poetry list. This book is a poetry trade book for middle school readers, best suited for grades 6–9. It has received notable recognition, including being named an ALA Notable Children’s Book and a School Library Journal Best Book.

Told from the perspective of Jessie, a sharp, funny high school girl, this poetry collection stands out for its inventive use of concrete poems—where the shape and design of the text visually mirror the topic or emotion of the poem. Whether she’s ranting about gym class, dealing with her younger brother, or rebelling against school expectations, Jessie’s voice is strong, relatable, and often hilarious. One poem spirals to show confusion, while another mimics a lipstick smear across the page, making the reading experience playful and immersive. I appreciated how the unique visual layout of each poem enhanced comprehension and engagement. The humor, sarcasm, and graphic design features work together to support reader interest, particularly for those who may not typically enjoy poetry. The poems demonstrate the qualities described in our textbook—strong voice, cohesion, age-appropriate themes, and high aesthetic appeal.

This would be a great addition to a classroom library or poetry unit, especially for supporting lessons in poetic form, visual literacy, and voice. It could also serve as a mentor text for student-created concrete poems. Overall, this is an engaging, creative collection that opens up new ways for students to connect with poetry.

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

Recommended for Ages 10 and up
Kirkus Reviews
After suffering indignities at the pen of little brother Robert (Technically, It's Not My Fault, 2004), big sister Jessie gets her chance. In full adolescent voice, she talks of the disastrous day she dyed her hair blue, the misery of pep rallies, the futility of talking to grownups and the path of a secret. As in the previous volume, the poems are shaped by their subjects, so in "The Bowling Party," the reader gets a bird's-eye view of Jessie's shots-a gutter ball, a fader, a feeble dribble and a strike in the neighboring alley. In "Go Look in the Mirror!" the words appear in reverse against an oval of blue as Jessie contemplates her appearance before going out. "All My Important Thinking Gets Done in the Shower," possibly the best selection, features gentle streams of blue words emerging from a showerhead, each forming a sentence completely unrelated to the one next to it. Although Jessie's progress through the year is far from smooth, she learns a few things about friends, boyfriends and cheerleaders. Necessarily lacking the startling originality of its predecessor, this is nevertheless a playfully worthy companion. (Poetry. 10+)

I really enjoyed the cleverness of this book full of concrete poems. One of my favorite piece was "All my Important Thinking Gets Done in the Shower." This book is funny and would be great for girls 10 and up.

[Catherine · Rating 4 out of 5]

The poetry book, “Blue Lipstick” by John Grandest is an award winning collection that should be shared with children! The poems in this book are formatted in unusual ways. For example, the “Pocket Poem” is written on a sheet of paper that is coming out of a jean pocket. Before the poem begins the sheet of paper says, “It’s a good idea to carry a poem in your pocket in case of an emotional emergency” which is an intriguing way to captivate the intended reader. I would recommend this book of poems to students grades 5-9. In the classroom, I would have my students choose a poem from the book and write a poem that models the format of the poem as seen in the book. Then the students would create an interesting format to publish the poem similar to Grandest.

[Abby Johnson · Rating 4 out of 5]

In a collection of concrete poems that are more fun visually than intellectually, Blue Lipstick gives a snapshot of 9th grader Jessie's life. Poems cover everything from an emotional graph of her day (stretching from "Shaving My Head and Running Away" to "Ridiculously Happy") to Zombie Jocks (my personal favorite) and making a poem that a cat would appreciate (cut onto strips, attached to a hanger, "She loved it. She batted at it for an hour.") Certainly fun to look at and to read. Kids will eat this one up and enjoy making their own concrete poems.

[Mallory · Rating 4 out of 5]

Written from the viewpoint of a teenage girl, this collection of poems brilliantly portrays the thoughts, feelings, and issues of being an awkward high school kid. Students will be able to easily relate to these poems, as the words visibly show the actions or emotions being expressed. Some of the poems are about lighthearted topics, while others are more serious. I would recommend this books for middle schoolers. However, concrete poems will appeal to students of all ages and this book is a great example of such poems.

[Katiekate · Rating 5 out of 5]

great book,the words are set up very creativley and everyone is waiting for me to check it back in. Im not going to check it back in for a while... even though i already finished it! :)

[Riley · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was a quick read, but I really liked the format and the style of the poems. Each poem had a funny or relatable situation, anyone could relate to. This book is a must read for poetry fans.

[vic ˚₊۶ৎ˙⋆ · Rating 2 out of 5]

this was so creative except for the fact that now both my neck and arms are now in excruciating pain due to me having to constantly rotate this book to know what the fuck was actually going on

[Rosalind Ferguson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Justification: Teens-Poetry
Although this book is more than five years old, it is such a remarkably appealing collection of poems that it is a classic in my book.

Evaluation:
First of all, concrete poems rock. They are visual and as fun to read as they are to write: usually to read them, the book must be rotated or waved or moved in some unusual way to follow the text. Concrete poems pull in readers who are not auditory learners, and they communicate with the shape, pace, font, size, or movement of lines of the text to give more layers of meaning to the topic. And when the topics are of interest to teens, the poems win on several levels.

The title comes from a poem on the cover of the book about a blue lipstick that Jessie falls in love with at first sight...and how that relationship progresses. Other topics are Pep Rally, Zombie Jocks, Chart of My Emotional Day, Advanced English (which Jessie was not accepted into, although she found motivation to tackle the reading list), and Bad Hair Day. The lines for Bowling Party show the trajectory down the alley as she scores a total of 4 for the game, and the Volleyball Practice lines bounce over the net as the players take their turns with the volleyball. She does haiku for scents around the school, including the lunchroom aroma and the bus driver, both a.m. and p.m.

Another beauty of this collection is that the poems create a narrative arc for Jessie, as she shares her opinions of her days and her little brother. Having a painful experience with an acquaintance early on, she builds a wall of words to protect herself. By the end of the book, she has begun to take her wall down and find fewer reasons to keep her guard intact. Her diabolic scheme to thwart her aunt’s perfect parenting plan deliciously includes a creative alphabet song taught to her cousin while babysitting.

Conclusion:
Don’t miss this book of poetry. This is fun and funny and deep and a great intro to reading and writing poetry for non-poets. Concrete poems about high school life which have a narrative arc? Oh yeah. Bring it on.

Citation:
Grandits, J. (2007). Blue lipstick. New York: Clarion.

[Lila Streich · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book, I liked how sassy Jessie is and I enjoyed learning her personality throughout the book, but I took off one star because some of the stories were hard to read because you had to turn the book upside down to see some of the words. This novel was about a girl named Jessie and her daily life and how she navigates family, school and friends. The novel is set up in poems that each have their own story on a new page. The first story talks about her friend helping her change up her hair and she ends up dying it blue and it turns out awful. Later on there’s a story about jocks and she compares them to zombies because all they can think about is winning. She also writes about her brother and how he plays pranks on her, she gets into a fight with him over manners, and she smacks him in the back of the head with a spoon after telling him about phrenology. The author later writes about how Jessie is “allergic to time” and how she’s always late and her parents yell at her to be more careful. In the end her brother almost sticks up for her and she seems to reconsider finding him annoying.
I liked the way the author designed the book and I liked how the words had movement and they were set up to tell the story rather that always using pictures. On some pages, the words that tell the story are overlayed over a picture to help tell the story. For example, she tells a story about her dad hating the way she’s dressed and in the story she’s looking at herself in the mirror and her thoughts are written in the illustration of a mirror. The author also writes about Jessie’s shower thoughts and writes them as if they are streams of water coming out of a shower head. I feel like this book would be good for 6th graders and may be a good way to teach about puberty since Jessie can be defensive and has an attitude problem at times, she strikes me as a teen going through puberty. It can also be used to teach about individuality and how it’s good to be different.

[Linet L. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jessie is a strong-minded high school girl with a sarcastic way of viewing people, humor, and herself. Jessie has a peculiar way of understanding people with all her opinions. For example, “Life is simpler if you have a wall.” (3) Jessie has a separate way of thinking which some people would call sarcasm. Another example of Jessie’s characteristics is, “That’s your science bump.” (14) Even though Jessie and Robert don’t get along; they represent the funny relationship of a big sister and her little brother while they trick each other. Playing with your little brother or trying to get him in trouble with your parents by playing a prank is a fun corrupt way to show love to your brother. Something that most have in common: “Grownups Listening: D-” (23) Adults and teenagers do not think alike most of the time or more than most of the time. Jessie really shows her experience with adults commonly to some other teenagers out there. For Jessie, her style is “perfect” doesn’t matter what others say. Like teens of her age, she also wants people to think she is “interesting” by the way she dresses. Jessie is known for her sarcastic mindset and her humor. Every high schooler has their own story about their friends, family, and themselves. Jessie is a good example of all those things combined.

[Shella · Rating 5 out of 5]

I never had been inspired to like or appreciate poetry. It has been a long journey as a teacher to try to inspire students with this genre. I wish I had read some concrete poetry as a student. I love the humor and creativeness that oozes from these types of poems. I had to look twice and was stunned that a male author caught the voice, personality, tempo and concerns of Jessie, a young female high school student perfectly. I had many laugh out loud moments reading his poetry. Don't skip the copyright, dedication or author's note pages. I would recommend reading this book just a few pages at a time so that you don't miss one detail. Don't try to read it in one setting. I enjoyed the page where he listed the fonts and how he developed the visual parts of his poems. I thought I would list a couple of favorites as I started this book, but there were too many to list by the end of the book. I loved how he had "The Wall" poem at the start and then revisited it with "The Wall" again at the end of the book. These poems would make a great compare/contrast for a character. It takes some create writing to thread a character through a book of poems. If you have reluctant poetry readers- get this book into their hands!

[Caitlin McGrath · Rating 4 out of 5]

Blue Lipstick: Concrete Poems is a book of poems that tell stories of a young girl. She explains her experiences with friends/people at school, her younger brother, and trying out new things. Each page's poem is written in a different format that matches the story. For example, one poem titled "The Wall" is about how she built up a wall because of someone she had made friends with. This poem's page has an illustration of a brick wall. Another example is one of the poems about her brother; she says that talking to him "is like swimming upstream in a river to nowhere", so the words of this poem are written in blue and are traveling from the bottom of the page to the top, which makes them look like a river. I think that the designs of the pages in this book make it much more interesting and fun to read. This book could be used to teach children about various struggles in life and how to deal with them. It could also teach them about poetry and creativity because the poems are written in a way that is different from what students typically see. I think that this book would be good for children from fourth grade through seventh grade.

[Maggie Davis · Rating 3 out of 5]

After reading Blue Lipstick, I noticed that this book is not super appropriate for elementary students. I just feel there are a lot of words written in this book that are more targeted towards high level maturity. Other than that, I did enjoy this book because it shows stories written in creative styles. The words would be written in different patterns and shapes such as zig zags, a graph, a mirror, and words running out of a shower faucet. This would be be a good activity for older elementary kids to do. I would ask them to write a poem, and after they wrote it, I could have them write out the words in some sort of shape like waves, a basketball, or a building. This would be a fun activity to allow my students to be engaged with the poetry material, while creating a fun way to allow them to be excited for learning about poetry. The author and a illustrator did an excellent job intertwining the words and drawings to allow the reader to be reading illusions. It keeps the reader on their toes and thinking.

[Kristen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Blue Lipstick chronicles the high school experiences of a teenager, named Jesse, in the form of concrete poems. The poems are a combination of different fonts, patterns, and pictures. More than several poems require the reader to turn the book almost completely upside down in order to read some of the lines. Through these poems, readers get to know the inventive and rebellious Jessie. From her annoying, but sometimes sweet little brother, to her participation on the volleyball team, to an unlikely encounter with the head cheerleader, who Jessie is surprised to find out is just like a regular person. Author John Grandits does a wonderful job of drawing readers in with his playful fonts and very accurate insight into the mind of a teenage girl. A 2008 Lee Bennett Hopkins Poetry Award Honor Book, I recommend for any student in high school. It's clever and an enjoyable read.

[AlexandraM · Rating 4 out of 5]

The winner of multiple awards and honors, John Grandits' creative, hilarious book is told from the perspective of Jessie, a 15-year old girl, living life in high school. From hairstyle mishaps, to annoying cheerleaders and hopes of romance, Jessie tells about her high school experience in poems.

Each page is different, with Grandits formatting the poems to reflect what they are about. The drawings and illustrations that are made of words from each poem really add to the hilarity and also the message of the story. Using blue, white and grey, Grandits creates patterns, pictures and word formations that capture the reader's attention.

I have never read a book written (and illustrated) in this way, and would definitely look into more books by this author after reading Blue Lipstick.

[Kaitlin Brugato · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved reading these poems. It was such a fun way to represent poems and to visualize what the poem was saying. I think this book would be great for middle and high school students, but this book and books like this would be great to teach all students fun ways to write poetry. I would try and find a book for elementary school kids with a similar writing type. And I would have them write poems as a picture. Very fun and creative but you are still writing! Published in 2007.

[Heather Hunter · Rating 5 out of 5]

My daughter had to read this a year or so ago and said I would enjoy it. Finally got around to picking it up and I liked the poems and way they were presented. My favorites were The Wall, The Wall Revisited, and the Haiku about the Girls Bathroom at the 9th grade dance, though they all made me smile.

[Pamela Hatch · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is a hurried review because I lost my notes and I have already returned it to the library. I do like the concept of concrete poetry and I remember reading this many years ago and liking it...however, on this read, I didn't really enjoy it and near the middle I just skimmed the rest of the entries. But I gave it at least one star because of its creativity.

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best books of poetry I’ve ever read. In turns hilarious, raw and insightful. Captures high school/middle school but is a nice read for anyone! Has really helped me to have deep conversations with students.

[Abigail Crago · Rating 5 out of 5]

Some of the best poetry I've read.

[Galion Public Library Teens · Rating 4 out of 5]

Review by A.B. : "I liked the poems. I did not like how I kept having to flip the book."

[Ness · Rating 2 out of 5]

I love a good concrete poem, but many of these were sexist and included a lot of ableist slurs. It felt like the author was making fun of teenage girls. Don't recommend.

[Lynn Davidson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book of poems is the follow-up to Technically, It's Not My Fault. These poems are fun to read because of both content and layout.

[Judi · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fifteen year old girl tells all about her family and high school life in this funny, irreverent, inventive collection of concrete poetry. This book is just a lot of fun !