How I Discovered Poetry

by Marilyn Nelson, Hadley Hooper (Illustrator)

A powerful and thought-provoking Civil Rights era memoir from one of America’s most celebrated poets.
 
Looking back on her childhood in the 1950s, Newbery Honor winner and National Book Award finalist Marilyn Nelson tells the story of her development as an artist and young woman through fifty eye-opening poems. Readers are given an intimate portrait of her growing self-awareness and artistic inspiration along with a larger view of the world around her: racial tensions, the Cold War era, and the first stirrings of the feminist movement.
 
A first-person account of African-American history, this is a book to study, discuss, and treasure.

Genres: Poetry, Memoir, Nonfiction, Biography, Middle Grade, History, African American

112 pages, Hardcover

First published January 14, 2014

About the author

Marilyn Nelson is the author of many acclaimed books for young people and adults, including CARVER: A LIFE IN POEMS, a Newbery Honor Book and Coretta Scott King Honor Book, and A WREATH FOR EMMETT TILL, a Printz Honor Book and Coretta Scott King Honor Book. She also translated THE LADDER, a picture book by Halfdan Rasmussen. She lives in East Haddam, Connecticut.

For more information, please see http://www.answers.com/topic/marilyn-...

Reviews

[Leslie · Rating 5 out of 5]

When I read that Marilyn Nelson had a new book coming out called How I Discovered Poetry, I said to myself hurray! I was thinking she might deliver a prose narrative that uncovered the background magic of why her poems touch me so. I had high expectations but when I saw the little volume with its sparse, undramatic illustrations (by Hadley Hooper) and realized the book consisted of 50 unrhymed sonnets, the sides of my mouth did sag a little bit. Marilyn! That’s not what I wanted from you! (I may as well have whined). Just for that I’m putting your book to the side while I read something else! (What a brat, right?) Well, by the time I finished sulking it was nearly time for me to return the book to the public library---there would be no renewing it since another patron was awaiting this copy. I sat on the side of the bed and began to thumb through.

Underneath the title of each poem was a location and a year, such as “Mather AFB, California, 1957” or “Smoky Hill AFB, Kansas, 1954.” The first poem was situated in “Cleveland, Ohio 1950” and the final poem in “Clinton-Sherman AFB, Oklahoma, 1959.” I counted at least nine different locations. There were also three photographs from the family album which had been shrunk in size for the book, so I had to squint extra hard to guess at what people’s---especially young Marilyn’s, and her sister, Jennifer’s---eyes and facial expressions might tell. At the back of the book was the author’s note, in which Marilyn Nelson explained that her father was one of the first African American career officers in the United States Air Force. I realized her family had spent the 1950s moving around the country, picking up their life and laying it down over and over again. When I laughed aloud while reading the following poem, I decided to return to the first page and re-open my heart to reading:

“Church”
(Cleveland, Ohio, 1950)

Why did Lot have to take his wife and flea
from the bad city, like that angel said?
Poor Lot: imagine having a pet flea.
I’d keep mine on a dog. But maybe fleas
were bigger in the olden Bible days.
Maybe a flea was bigger than a dog,
more like sheep or a goat. Maybe they had
flea farms back then, with herds of giant fleas.
Jennifer squirms beside me on the pew,
sucking her thumb, nestled against Mama.
Maybe Lot and his wife rode saddled fleas!
Or drove a coach pulled by a team of fleas!
I giggle soundlessly, but Mama swats
my leg, holding a finger to her lips.

Ever so gently, reading poem after poem, I remember what its like being a kid; what language sounded like and where I heard it and what I thought it meant. It seems that as we become avid, mature readers and start to have more experience in the world we forget the mystery of first encounters with expressions like: "fingers crossed," "knock on wood," or, "walking on eggshells." A laugh like a snort came out of my nose when I realized Marilyn thought she was hearing the words Kemo "Sape" for Kemo Sabe while watching episodes of “The Lone Ranger.” And like Marilyn and her sister, I, too, wanted to cry on the front lawn when their parents broke their word: saying they would only be gone “for five minutes.”

But this book is about so much more than endearing malapropisms and taking the world literally. It’s about fighting words and having one’s hair grow wild during two weeks at summer camp. It's about tip-toeing to the mirror at night, testing your grin because “Some TV Negroes have shine-in-the-dark/white eyes and teeth and are afraid of ghosts.” It’s about a world of firsts and only’s; about Creek-Seminole Native Americans, whites, and blacks all living in the United States of America during the Cold War years. It’s about being a sensitive and bookish Negro girl whose family traverses the impressive landscape by car, saying hello and waving goodbye to friends in people and pets and toys and regional folkways. “The sky seems to be bigger in the West. I’m growing bigger inside to take it in.” It is about the powerful imprints made by our every-day-use of language, as well as witnessing the visual poetry of a dawn and realizing “There’s more beauty on Earth than I can bear.”

The book takes it’s title from a poem so layered with meanings that appear, waver, disappear then reappear, again, mirage-like. I’m still thinking about it.

“How I Discovered Poetry”
(Clinton-Sherman AFB, Oklahoma, 1959)

It was like soul-kissing, the way the words
filled my mouth as Mrs. Purdy read from her desk.
All the other kids zoned an hour ahead to 3:15,
but Mrs. Purdy and I wandered lonely as clouds borne
by a breeze off Mount Parnassus. She must have seen
the darkest eyes in the room brim: The next day
she gave me a poem she’d chosen especially for me
to read to the all-except-for-me white class.
She smiled when she told me to read it, smiled harder,
said oh yes I could. She smiled harder and harder
until I stood and opened my mouth to banjo-playing
darkies, pickaninnies, disses and dats. When I finished,
my classmates stared at the floor. We walked silent
to the buses, awed by the power of words.

[Dave Schaafsma · Rating 4 out of 5]

A memoir covering ages 4-14 in the form of 50 non-rhyming sonnets by Nelson, who has been three times nominated for the National Book Award. I think it reads more for younger readers in places, as Nelson has written many books for children, so I think of this as an ideal YA text for a poetry unit, or one about African American history, or as a supplement to any text about growing up. To Kill a Mockingbird focuses on white people's experience of civil rights mid century, but it tells little about the African Americans in Macomb, GA. Maybe How I Discovered Poetry could be seen as a useful book to read with Harper Lee's book in a high school classroom. It's not primarily about civil rights, though.

This is also a book about growing up African American in the fifties, and will be of interest to general readers. Narrative, non-rhyming sonnets. Sweet and gentle, mostly. Likable.

Here's the NPR interview, with some poems:

http://www.npr.org/2014/02/08/2726548...

Here's some more poems to check out:

https://books.google.com/books?id=fun...

[Madison D · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is really good. Its about this girl and her family always on the road because her father is in the army. I highly recommend this book to people who like poetry or who just need a good book to read.

[J & J · Rating 2 out of 5]

This just didn't work for me...

[Edward Sullivan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Moments from Nelson's life, ages 4-14, beautifully captured in 50 sonnets.

[Maggie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Stunning autobiographical series of 50 unrhymed sonnets by Marilyn Nelson that tell the story of her 1950s childhood as the daughter of African-American military officer. Each poem provides a snapshot of her life; some are funny, some are poignant; all show a moment of insight or growth. I read it in one sitting and then promptly started to read it over again. Because Nelson was a military brat, this slim volume is literally set all over the country, and as such it is really a remarkably American story. And for poetry lovers, this book is a real delight, as Nelson is a formidable wordsmith.

[Barbara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Splendidly accessible and infinitely suited for rereading, the fifty unrhymed sonnets in this book speak powerfully of one girl's coming of age in many ways. The narrator, whose life experiences seem to have mirrored many of Marilyn Nelson's own experiences, begins to question everything that she has held to be true and wonders about the conditions of the world around her. An Author's Note explains that the verses are set during the 1950s when she was four and end when she is fourteen. Thus, the poems cannot possibly ignore the turmoil of those times as schools were desegregated, the Red Scare made Americans frightened of atomic bomb attacks, and there were shocking murders carried out without reprisal. All of these political events provide a backdrop for the poet's growing up years. But readers will also be touched by the determination of her parents to insure that she and her sister had what they needed to succeed as well as examples of others who had paved the way for them. The poems often poignantly describe the constant movement of a military family like Nelson's, seemingly constantly saying hello and goodbye and leaving behind a string of possessions and family pets as they moved to the next base and assignment. The young girl's growing interest in writing and word play can also be traced throughout the poems, even starting with "Church," which describes how Lot had to flee, and in which she misunderstands the two words--flea and flee. The family photographs and illustrations add another layer to the poems. I would be hard pressed to choose one favorite since they all fit together so beautifully and provide a verbal record of how one child came to savor poetry by paying attention to language and the world around us. My only regret was not having annotations for each poem so that I could know more about what inspired each of them. Viewing our growing up years from the perspective of an adult is different from how a child regards those years, which makes this collection even more precious.

[Angela · Rating 5 out of 5]

Perfect.

[Rich in Color is now on StoryGraph · Rating 5 out of 5]

Review Copy: purchased

Reading How I Discovered Poetry is like looking through a photo album with a loved one while they share memories. Here a laugh, there a tear, sometimes even an admission of mischievousness. Marilyn Nelson has crafted fifty sonnets that begin with the simplicity of a pre-schooler and progress to the complexity of the early teen years. Each sonnet is a snapshot of family life, but many also give glimpses of the cultural changes that were occurring in the wider world.

What I loved was the voice that truly seemed to mature. I could just see a young child asking,

“Why did Lot have to take his wife and flea
from the bad city like the angel said?”

She is truly puzzled about that flea as she sits there in church. She has many such misunderstandings as she grows up. Over time, they become less about vocabulary issues and more about the deeper questioning she is doing concerning the world and her place in it. As she learns, grows and experiences life, the sonnets show her increasing sense of self. She begins to find her voice – the voice of a poet.

There are so many ways that readers can connect to this book. Nelson throws the door open so we can see into the life of a military family on the move. There are sibling and family interactions that I know I could sympathize with as an older sister. She includes civil rights issues and instances of prejudice. With so many brief moments of time highlighted, there are many opportunities for readers to see echoes of their own life.

As a military family, they move all over the country. In most of the places they are stationed, they are the first or only Negro family. This makes for a lot of what she calls “First Negro” moments. Some of the experiences are positive – like her mother being the first Negro teacher of the all white class on base. Some are negative like the racial name calling that happens. In the midst of her personal stories, she also embeds stories from the Civil Rights movement including people like Emmett Till and Rosa Parks.

Humor is present here along with the serious matters. I enjoyed the poem “Fieldwork” where Daddy says, “Let’s pretend we’re researching an unknown civilian Caucasian tribe,” when they move to New Hampshire. The poet goes on to explain the eating habits and vocabulary of the locals.

If you know any of Marilyn Nelson’s previous work, you won’t be surprised to find out that there is also beauty among the poems. There is beauty that she describes, but there is also simple beauty in her words. If you want a taste, be sure to read the poems from the book that are linked below. The NPR interview is excellent. It’s about seven minutes long and features a reading of the title poem at the end.

Recommendation: Get it soon especially if you are a poetry lover. Even if you don’t typically read poetry, this is a great book for history buffs or those who enjoy memoirs. Besides, reading How I Discovered Poetry would be a perfect way to celebrate Poetry Month.

Original review posted at Rich in Color http://richincolor.com/2014/04/review...

[Alice · Rating 4 out of 5]

"How I Discovered Poetry" is a book written by the African American Marilyn Nelson in the 50’s in America. She wrote these poems about how her life was at that time. What made this book a truly inspirational book to me was because it is written by someone that seemed to have a true passion for what she was writing about. The poems are taking place in more the nine different locations. However none of the poems in this book rhyme. I imagine many of them as short stories, in poetry form. Even though they are not rhyming, they have a good flow, which is why I define it has poetry.

Just by looking at the titles of her poem, this author has a lot to say, and a range of different, unique topics. When I saw this book, and after reading the back, I thought it would be a book with very strong literature, as she seemed to write with passion. This feeling remained with me through every poem. Reading some of the poems, she doesn’t even mention that she is an African American. This, to me, symbolizes what I think was one of the author's purposes to writing this. You don’t need to know what skin color she has to know this is good poetry. No one has to be white to write good poems. I Relate this a lot to a movie I saw recently, about a very smart African American girl that does not get as equal rights as white people. Both of them didn’t let other people's opinions get in their way. I would recommend this to all readers, as it teaches you a lot about how it was like in the 50s for African Americans, as it also shows great literature and poetry.

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked reading this book, a kind of memoir through poetry of the author's young life (ages 4 - 14), in which we see her start school, move around with her military family, and explore her fascination with words as she begins to see that she may become a poet. Some poems are heart-wrenching: 75 Bitter Apple, 93 The Baby Picture Guessing Game, 95 Safe Path Through Quicksand, and 97 How I Discovered Poetry.

A favorite: 73
Africans
(Sacramento, California, 1959)
Mama brings Africans home from grad school,
like a kid who keeps finding lost puppies.
She's so proud of their new independence.
She brings home smooth-faced mahogany men,
dressed in suits like beautiful pajamas,
so Jennifer and I can shake their hands.
Nodding polite answers to her questions,
they go to town on her catfish and grits.
Later, while Daddy drives them to their dorms,
she washes and Jennifer and I dry.
"Some of the greatest wrongs of history
are being righted now," she says. "These are
our people." As I put a plate away,
I ask myself who is not my people.


The author's note at the end explains some of the form of the book (for example, the poems are sonnets - I would never have noticed), more reasons to like it.

[Emma · Rating 4 out of 5]

This collection of 50 unrhymed sonnets reveals the life of author Marilyn Nelson, a young African American girl growing up in the 1950s. The poems trace her development from the age of four to fourteen, her growing self-awareness, and her experience of a world in tension. The Cold War, the “Red Scare,” the civil rights movement and women’s liberation all provide context for her poems. Nelson explains that, “each of the poems is built around a ‘hole’ or ‘gap’ in the Speaker’s understanding.” Readers will notice the development of the author’s passions and convictions as the novel progresses. Other themes include military family life and the complexities and beauty of language.

Classroom Connection: Introduce your young folks to the inspiring voice of poet Marilyn Nelson. Do an author study with your students using some of her other titles—Carver: A Life in Poems, A Wreath for Emmett Till, Sweethearts of Rhythm, Fortune’s Bones: The Manumission Requiem. These books lend themselves well to writing and cross-curricular lessons.

[Krista the Krazy Kataloguer · Rating 5 out of 5]

I expected this book to be about how poet Marilyn Nelson discovered poetry as a child. However, it was more about her childhood growing up in the '50s in a military family, and about the political events (civil rights, Emmett Till, riots, women's lib) happening then. I really enjoyed reading about this time period, when I myself was born. I was especially interested in what school was like then, and what she read from the library. She had a hard time understanding racism, reading because she liked to read rather than because she was "tryin' to be white." In fact, Nelson states in the author's note at the back of the book that each poem revolved around something she didn't understand as a child, and this was evident. In the end, I wish the book had been longer, moving into the '60s. Highly recommended!

[Greg Holch]

Two books.
Each about an African American girl growing up in the U.S.
Each written in verse.
Each by a Newbery Honor award winning author.
Each published by "an imprint of Penguin Group."
Each with an author whose name is incredibly similar to the other.
Which one is somehow missing the titles of the author's previous work, while the other one has all the author's books listed on the front sales page along with major reviews on the back cover?
Which one looks like it's dreaming of winning all the awards out there, while the other one is asking politely to be shelved with the poetry books?
Two books.
Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson.
How I Discovered Poetry by Marilyn Nelson.
Are we still judging books by their covers?
Open them both. Read the first page.
They both look like winners to me.
-- Greg Holch

[elissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's incredible how much of a story Nelson can tell with poetry, and how clear a picture a poem can paint (certainly when Nelson is the poet). I am not a huge fan of poetry, but am in awe of all of the books that I've read by this author. I couldn't put this one down, as has been true every time I've read a book of hers. The fact that I now know Nelson's younger sister makes this all the more mesmerizing for me, but I was mesmerized by Marilyn Nelson's writing long before I met Jennifer (only a couple of years ago). [To my UUCSS goodreads friends: I'm talking about Jennifer Nelson, if you haven't gotten the hint. :) Her sister is an amazing poet who's won both a Newbery Honor and Printz Honor from the American Library Association.]

[Tali · Rating 4 out of 5]

I finally read my first book of the summer 2016! This also happens to be the first poetry book I've ever read! It was a unique experience, but I enjoyed it a lot! I found myself covering the pages in annotations.
Nelson's poems are straightforward and easy to read, yet they made me think a lot afterward. I appreciate how she weaves together a complex picture of 1950's America coupled with undercurrents of racism, the Red Scare, the civil rights movement, and the cold war. The poems feet very much rooted in 1950's America, but her themes of growing up and finding your identity were still very relatable and relevant to the present day. All in all I highly recommend this book to someone who is new to poetry (like me) and enjoys American history and a coming of age story. :)

[Samantha · Rating 3 out of 5]

Semi-autobiographical poems set in the 1950s. Using a narrator very similar to herself, Nelson takes readers from coast to coast with a military family and addresses Civil Rights issues such as segregation and reveals the influences that led up to Nelson's writing career.

An author's note explains Nelson's approach to the collection of poetry found here and mixed media artwork supports the tone of the memoir.

Recommended for grades 9 and up, especially as part of a class unit on Civil Rights in history.

[Elizabeth Higginbotham · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a lovely book that really does capture a child's voice and we see changes between age four and fourteen. Growing up with a father in the Air Force, the family moved around the nation, often being the only Negro family. Much is captured and you see the development of the poetic voice. Her travels also mean learning about race and what it means to be a Negro in a world that is quickly changes as she advances during these year.

[Kelsey C · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was one that definitely took me by surprise. I wasn't ready for the problems I would encounter when following this young girl's experience in finding her self and dealing with bullies and the world who just wants to put her down 24/7. I very much enjoyed the book, and I think everyone who reads it will enjoy it just as much as I did. But if you are really into civil rights I think this book would be a good one to pick up.

[Christine · Rating 2 out of 5]

I can't seem to reconcile the book's title with it's content. It is poetry yes, but it doesn't really tell us much about why she enjoys it so. Marilyn gives us little glimpses into her life growing up in the 50's and 60's but if you didn't grow up in that era the references are so vague that it will likely not make sense to you.

[Whitney · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lovely unrhymed sonnets from Marilyn Nelson, telling the story of her childhood growing up in a military family in the 1950s. Touches on family relationships, race, and civil rights. One downside is the brevity -- just 50 poems in these 100 or so pages. This would probably work best in a guided reading as some historical elements might need to be explained to younger readers.

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Both a snapshot of a person’s life and an unforgettable time period in American history, How I Discovered Poetry is also a tribute to the power of words arranged in lines and stanzas and couplets." More at Reading Rants: http://www.readingrants.org/2014/04/1...

[Kate · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars
It feels personal and the collection tells a story but the strength of the poetry varies. The author's note seems written for classroom use almost. I'm not sure who the audience is, teens or adults. Teens might need some of the poems explained, not having the historical knowledge of all the events.

[Precious · Rating 3 out of 5]

How I Discovered Poetry is a strong memoir about the life of Marilyn Nelson. in this story she talks about how she had to deal with Jim Crow laws and civil rights. I believe that as she grow up she began to gain a deeper understanding of what's going on around her which sparked her beginning into poetry.

[Crys · Rating 3 out of 5]

The writing was solid, but I didn’t feel it was long enough.

It’s considered a memoir, but it didn’t for me as a memoir in poetry form. I needed it to be longer. I had so many questions when I finished it.

With that said, I do think it’s a strong candidate for choice reading lists. For students intimidated by longer texts, this could be a good choice for them.

[Brenda Kahn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fifty sonnets cover a decade of the author's life, from age 4 to 14, as she relocates repeatedly due to her officer father's military assignments. Significant Civil Rights events occur and are processed by the young Speaker. Unique and evocative.

[Janet Hewitt · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved these poems! Marilyn paints a picture of a young girls life growing up negro and military in the 50/60s. Her poems are thought provoking, nastalgic and funny! So happy to have discovered Marilyn. Can't wait to read more of her work!

[Lynn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful evocative poetry that put me completely in the Speaker's shoes. Excellent range of topics and emotions and had me writing down lines to keep and remember. LOVED this!

[Kaye · Rating 3 out of 5]

For category: a memoir

[Jay · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was expecting a larger time period to be cobered, but this was still a cool way to get insight about a poet's life. The illustrations added well to the poems as well.