Cast Away: Poems for Our Time

by Naomi Shihab Nye

Acclaimed poet and Young People’s Poet Laureate Naomi Shihab Nye shines a spotlight on the things we cast away, from plastic water bottles to those less fortunate, in this collection of more than eighty original and never-before-published poems. A deeply moving, sometimes funny, and always provocative poetry collection for all ages.

 “How much have you thrown away in your lifetime already? Do you ever think about it? Where does this plethora of leavings come from? How long does it take you, even one little you, to fill the can by your desk?”

With poems about food wrappers, lost mittens, plastic straws, refugee children, trashy talk, the environment, connection, community, responsibility to the planet, politics, immigration, time, junk mail, trash collectors, garbage trucks, all that we carry and all that we discard, this is a rich, engaging, moving, and sometimes humorous collection for readers ages twelve to adult.

Includes ideas for writing, recycling, and reclaiming, and an index.

Genres: Poetry, Middle Grade, Nonfiction, Environment, Childrens, Juvenile, Climate Change

170 pages, Kindle Edition

First published February 11, 2020

About the author

Naomi Shihab Nye was born to a Palestinian father and an American mother. During her high school years, she lived in Ramallah in Jordan, the Old City in Jerusalem, and San Antonio, Texas, where she later received her B.A. in English and world religions from Trinity University. She is a novelist, poet and songwriter.

She currently lives in San Antonio, Texas. She was elected a Chancellor of the Academy of American Poets in 2010.

Reviews

[Christy · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars

I picked up this book for a reading challenge and I honestly wasn’t sure what it was about aside from it being poetry. This book was about trash. An interesting concept for sure, but I personally didn’t enjoy much of the poetry.

Audio book source: Libby
Story Rating: 2.5 stars
Narrators: Naomi Shihab Nye
Narration Rating: 3.5 stars
Genre: Middle Grade Poetry
Length: 2h 10m

[Deborah · Rating 2 out of 5]

I thought how cool and innovative, a book of poetry on garbage, waste, litter, debris, and refuse. The 2019 - 2020 Young People’s Poet Laureate promoted awareness of trash, our need to recycle, and don’t use plastics but reuse implements. However, once I started reading my ratings dropped down until they settled on two stars. Further browsing did little to alleviate my disappointment. Out of 84 free-styling verses, maybe around ten resonated. Poet W.S. Merwin wrote poetry on junk mail envelopes to not waste paper. Her finding of crystals in the trash after the death of one friend, reading vintage school magazines after the death of another, throwing a can back into a driver’s window after it had just been tossed out, and speaking to a suicidal classmate in others. A poem entitled “Nothing” - “Nothing a child does is trash. It is practice.” An excerpt from another, “Trash tells its story. Who you are, how you spend your days.” The rest, well I found were ... well .... rubbish. How did this book garner over 2,500 votes in the 2020 Poetry Goodreads Choice Awards?

[Jeff · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've been reading thru my city library's poetry collection in alpha order by title. I didn't know this was a kid's book until i got it home, at which point i decided not to read it ... until i read a 1-star review on GR that made me want to know whether i'd agree with that review. I do not.

The 1-star reviewer was unsure about the intended audience. I think the evidence incontrovertibly indicates a teen reader. The publisher name and Library of Congress classification are clear. The style and tone are certainly not adult.

I do not object to the poem that starts with a line about underwear found in the street even for a kid's book because Nye acknowledges the unseemly backstory possibilities. I think teens can handle this and parents should be mature enough to talk to teens about it.

I did not get an ablist vibe from the multiple mentions of how wasteful disposable straws are.

I also did not take offense to Ms Nye's perfunctory dismissal of a reader as "stupid" for misreading her poem "Jerusalem." It seems perfectly reasonable to say such about anyone who could misunderstand that poem as advocating violence when it clearly does not.

I have no idea whether teens will like this book. I liked it enough, mostly for the observations of daily life and American culture and the political slant.

Finally, some advice for turning deckled (rough cut) pages: try it at the TOP or the BOTTOM of the page rather than the traditional right edge.

[Alex Baugh · Rating 4 out of 5]

This collection of more than 80 free-verse poems about trash, litter, and the things we throw away by Naomi Shihab Nye, Poetry Foundations' Young People's Poet Laureate (2019-2021), is my new favorite Earth Day book. Maybe because I live in a big city that I love and that has a large population and a great number of tourists roaming around, I am aware of the amount of litter people carelessly drop on the streets, the subways or the piles of garbage that don't get collected because of events like strikes, snowstorms (see "Snow Covers All the Trash" pg 35), and hurricanes.

Nye is a committed collector of trash, picking up after other people as she travels around the world. In fact, she begins her book with two epigraphs, the first being perhaps the most fitting: "I couldn't save the world, / but I could pick up trash." Nye covers a wide variety of trash and litter topics ranging from the purely ecological to the commercial to the political. She has even found that some trash is gift worthy - like the red purse given to Nye by a woman picking through a trash bin outside a restaurant in London the becomes her favorite purse, or the found blue mitten with dots and the word Heroes! knitted into it that became a gift. On the other hand, some trash is overwhelming like the 37,000 abandoned mustard packets from McDonald's that Nye has found by herself.

Nye has divided up this book into five sections: Sweepings, Titters & Tatters, Odds & Ends, Willy-Nilly, and Residue. Throughout this collection, however, she is imploring us to pay more attention to the world around us and our part in contributing to the vastness of waste we create. To that end, at the end of the book, Nye has included 10 Ideas for Writing, Recycling, Reclaiming. These are all ideas designed to help kids get acquainted with what our trash is doing to the world, like that big floating island of plastic in the Pacific Ocean. It's a world these children will inherit, but as Nye says "It's never too late to make things better. Understanding them more might help." (pg 151)

But trash and litter are our problem and there is just so much to unpack in the poems included in this collection. Some don't think these are poems that will appeal to young readers, but I think that as they begin exploring them, they will find much that they can benefit from. Perhaps that next Jolly Rancher wrapper will make it into a trash bin instead of the sidewalk, or single use water bottles will be replaced with reusable bottles.

I'm sure now you can understand why I think this is an excellent choice to share with kids on Earth Day, April 22, 2020.

This book is recommended for readers age 10+
This book was an ARC received from the publisher, Greenwillow Books.

[Julia · Rating 1 out of 5]

I was frustrated with this book from the first page. The pre-introduction poem mentioned being age 40, and I was confused about who this book was for. The introduction included a comment about plastic straws with no understanding of the accessibility issue in blanket straw bans, and I was insulted. And the deckled edges were REALLY haphazard and made turning pages SO DIFFICULT and it was so hard for me to not be just done by page 8.

Except for the bit where Kirkus called this book "engaging and insightful," I agree with everything in their review. I just fundamentally came to a different conclusion about this book and its merit.

This is a book of poems that purports to be about trash, and litter, and environmentalism. The themes meander into so many other areas that it felt like the book itself was a collection of gathered trash. I'm fine with getting political, especially in works for children, but this was just so disjointed, rambling, and lacking emotion, proper descriptive language, or thematic cohesion.

And then, over and over again, this didn't seem like a book for children, despite being from the Young People's Poet Laureate. Nye calls David Sedaris "one of everyone's favorite writers." But for kids? Really? A poem noticing a discarded pair of underwear seems to hint at rape, or a forgetful sex worker. Many, many poems invoked a "we" that Nye identifies with, that is decidedly privileged, middle aged, white, middle class, etc. "We" don't know what it's like to be homeless. "We" don't know how to make things from scratch. "We" don't want to know what could cause someone to lose undergarments in public. "We" can't help thinking about trash [as opposed to human suffering] during hurricanes, floods, and earthquakes. It just felt, over and over again, that so many kids would read this and think, "Huh, this white lady doesn't get me, and she's judgy as heck." Nye insults an unnamed reader for misinterpreting a previously published poem, because clearly authorial intent is so sacred that we have to call out readers for being wrong and use an ableist slur in the process. Nye mentions plastic straws multiple times, erasing the disabled folks who need them. Nye even declares war on disposable diapers, shaming new parents for making a choice that, yes, is environmentally problematic, but for a host of other reasons might be the best option for a family. And the discussion of family border separations and child abuse comes out of nowhere, with no trigger warning, which is sure to traumatize some child readers.

My final takeaway was just one big "why." For someone so big on environmentalism, this certainly seemed like a waste of paper.

[Ms. B · Rating 3 out of 5]

From Don't Mess with Texas - "Don't mess with Texas" was said to be the anti-litter campaign that really worked? Who knew? Not this Minnesotan.
From Not My Problem - Trash tells its story. Who you are, how you spend your days. IMHO #truth
This is a book of poems about all sorts of trash for well-read, well-versed or deep thinking teens. For the rest of us; there are practical ideas for Writing, Recycling and Reclaiming at the end.

[Lynn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic Poem Book for All Ages

I just loved these poems and would love to share them with many people and students. As a teacher I’d love to share these with my students and with my fellow teachers and friends. Funny, witty and insightful poetry about litter, and the Earth. And people.

[Cynthia · Rating 2 out of 5]

I thought this poetry collection had a very interesting premise. From the introduction, I expected the works to be about trash, litter, and environmentalism. I loved the concept of found objects telling a story and was really excited to read about that. However, this didn't end up being the case. I didn't find Cast Away: Poems for Our Time to be thematically cohesive. The poems that focused on trash, found objects, and environmentalism were quite interesting but then it got very political at times. I love political pieces but I feel like this book became more of a critique against certain things than what I had originally expected the theme of the book to be. Furthermore, the book is listed for all ages and was even found in the juvenile section of my library. However, I think that overall this is a poetry collection for an adult audience. There are a couple pieces that are great for children but I definitely wouldn't categorize this as a children's collection.



*My favorite poems from this collection were:
Honolulu
Two
Separated
Maui
College Town
Stumble Leaf
Three Wet Report Cards on Camden Street
McD on ald's
The President We Did Not Vote For
Trash Talk 326
Attention
Vero Beach Revival

[Dai Guerra · Rating 3 out of 5]

While I thought these poems were written more for adults than young people I still found them interesting. I like how she wrote a whole book about trash and different types of trash. I thought it was interesting to really think about the way we throw things away and how careless we are with our things.

[Annissa Joy Armstrong · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting poems about how we treat trash and how careless we are with our planet. Leaves you with a lot to think about!!

[Jeimy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reflections on trash, both what we throw away and what others consider worthless, and its impact.

[Linda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sometimes we may believe our actions are limited during the constant "staying at home" during this pandemic, but reading this new book by Naomi Shihab Nye shows actions that can happen every time we do go out, and sometimes when we're in. Writing poems is an added experience if you wish to write about your experiences and at the end, Naomi offers lots of ideas and advice for doing that, too!
In five different sections termed "routes", Naomi reflects on, yes, trash, that seen or picked up during her sojourns outside, and those trips take her, and us readers, all over the world. A poem by Kamilah Aisha Moon prefaces Nye's introduction writing about taking out the trash and a 'thank you "to those doing this grueling, necessary work." Nye offers memories and advice, sadness when she spies bags thrown into rose bushes, tiny words with admonitions hurled at us. In "Trash Talk" from Route 1: Sweepings, "Let's just throw it away./We can get a new one." And in Route 3: Odds & Ends, a poem titled "Mysteries of Humankind" begins with "One rotten white sock/at Alma's front gate–/we need to talk to Alma." There are poems and poems and poems, for laughing and crying, but especially for considering one's life and what is being "Cast Away'! I loved every bit and won't forget to take care of what is in my own trash!

[Edyta Medina · Rating 4 out of 5]

This collection of eighty-four poems is written by Young People’s Poet Laureate, Noomi Shihab Nye. It forces us to think about all things we “cast away” or throw in our lives. Sometimes we do it accidentally, but most of the time we choose to do it and ...forget about it.

“Things usually do not just fall- out of our basket, cars.
Usually we drop them. We carry too much.
Why do we need so much?”

We throw away plastic containers and wrappers, food, homework, things that break, or things we don’t like anymore.
But it's not just thrash she talks about. She mentions “camps of refugees” where finding a clean space to sleep is a miracle. She talks about people not willing to recycle, simple because someone else would make money off it. She talks about issues like the trees being cut down, people wasting toilet paper, people resenting paying for trash collection and “secret troves of trash”.

I would recommend “Cast Away” to students from upper elementary school, Middle School and High School. I found it searching Goodreads and I was intrigued enough to get my own copy. I am glad Idid.

[Trina · Rating 4 out of 5]

After reading Naomi Shihab Nye's collection of eighty-four poems in Cast Away: Poems for Our Time, I don't think I will look at trash in the same way again.

The introduction of this book made me pause, considering the poet's questions to the reader:
How much have you ever thrown away in your lifetime already?
Do you ever think about it?

This book has a collection of short, yet beautiful poems about trash. Many of the poems reminded me of David Sedaris's quirky observations about collecting trash.

From the poem "Not My Problem," these finals lines will keep me thinking for a while:
"Trash tells its story. Who you are,/
how you spend your days." (page 142)

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cast Away: Poems for Our Time is a book of poetry that has a main theme of trash: what we do with it, what happens to it, why we do it, etc. It uses real life examples and puts them into perspective for us to understand. When I picked this book up for an English assignment, I thought I was going to hate this book because I had the stereotype in my head that all poetry was boring and I never want to read it. After reading a ways into this book, the stereotype in my head started to get manipulated. It showed that there is good poetry that makes sense and is pretty cool when you get the meaning of it, whether the meaning be deep inside or blatantly obvious. Once I finished reading this book, I realized that I might like poetry and now if I ever have to read poetry for another class then I'd gladly welcome it. I recommend this book for anyone that can look a little deeper than reading/skimming a book so then they can get a deeper meaning for this book or else you'll probably not enjoy it.

[Edward Sullivan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nye explores our world of trash in engaging, sometimes funny, sometimes poingnsant poems about food wrappers, lost mittens, plastic straws, refugee children, trashy talk, the environment, connection, community, responsibility to the planet, politics, immigration, time, junk mail, trash collectors, garbage trucks, and more.

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Naomi Shihab Nye recommends " A solitary trash walk will offer an instant boost of positivism -- your dopamine level instantly rises. (A scientific fact I just made up, but I do think it's true). " She has turned her trash walks into little poems,

O magnificent giant trees, your lives were in vain.

[Ellie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm not much of a poetry reader and this was for a challenge, so I can't really compare this to other poetry collections for young readers. I did like the idea of poems about litter, it can tell a story after all, as well as rubbish being a serious threat to the environment. I liked some of the poems, especially those focused on her litter picking walks, but others just seemed like random thoughts jotted down. And then there's the smattering of politics that felt a bit out of place.

[Maeve · Rating 2 out of 5]

A collection of poems by Naomi Shihab Nye about items that have been thrown out or seen as not valuable.

It was an interesting concept (and I wanted to like it), but it felt like a slog getting through the poems. I did like the writing/recycling suggestions for children included in the end.

[Benny Dunn · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good collection of many different types of poems. It was very fun to read because they were all different. I enjoyed how all of the poems were about modern things which made it much easier to connect with. I recommend everyone reading this.

[Melissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting poems, amazed at the creativity! Who finds inspiration in litter?! I definitely feel inspired to consume less and throw away less.

[Prince Mendax]

mycket bra med diktsamling som har tema skräp <3

[Joy Kirr]

This book made me want to go out and collect discarded trash. It was neat to see how she imagined it. If I were to use it in school, I'd look at the activities that start on page 149 first. (This was probably a sit-in-one-session read, but this nutty school year was especially distracting and demoralizing this week.)

[Rachel J · Rating 5 out of 5]

I came across Castaway: Poems for our Time in a classmate’s Goodreads review. After googling the book, I discovered that it won several awards: Green Earth Book Award Long List, Washington Post Best Children’s Book of 2020, and Kirkus Reviews Best Book of 2020. I accessed an electronic copy of this collection of poems through Hoopla. In Hoopla, the print is very plain and there are no pictures. It makes me wonder if I am missing out because a hardcopy of the book might be more interesting.
All of the poems in the collection are related to things being thrown away or castaway. For example, one poem is about an elderly woman who grows beautiful azaleas and gives her husband the credit. Was she throwing away well-deserved praise? I’m not always sure how all of the poems tie into the theme of the book, but it is fun to try and guess. Other poems are more literally about things that have been lost or thrown away as garbage.
The part of these poems that I enjoyed the most were the images that they bring into my mind as well as the author’s insight about things that we cast away. For example, there is one poem called Separated. It begins with the words, “Band-Aid printed with green turtles crumpled by the road at Ingleside on the Bay, Texas.” At first, it seems like a happy poem. I can clearly picture a Band-Aid lost by a well cared for toddler. Later the poem refers to traumatized children who have been separated from their parents at the U.S.- Mexico border. The poem is actually a sharp critique of our government’s policy toward immigrants.
I think these poems are pretty sophisticated, so they would work well with older children. A classroom teacher could use them to talk about imagery. These poems evoke some pretty powerful images.

[Jessica Stransky · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this poetry book on Dr. Quiroa's wakelet and found out it was a National Book Award Finalist and a Young People’s Poet Laureate. This collection of poems by Naomi Shihab Nye has a theme of littering and pollution on Earth. Most poems carry a humorous tone but there is seriousness to it. I would recommend for upper elementary school grades especially because there are a lot of references to people and places that I think would make the poems more meaningful if that part of it was understood. Overall I enjoyed reading this book and am even using a few of these examples (specifically with metaphors) for a poetry unit in my HS ESL class.

[CiarraL · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cast Away: Poems for Our Time contains a collection of poems. Each poem explores seemingly insignificant things that people cast aside or throw away. Throughout the book, the author describes her adventures traveling the world and what she sees on sidewalks and streets during her travels. From napkins, to seashells, to tin foil wrappers -- there is a recurring theme throughout these poems of appreciating beauty in unexpected places. Things we often want to cast away can have great purpose and extraordinary beauty if we learn to value it. There is also a clear message about taking care of the environment woven throughout the poems as well. As the author says: “Litter tastes bitter”.

I think this is a great text to use to explore rhythmic language and poetry. I saw this book listed on the NerdyBookClub website shared by my professor. I saw that it won the 2020 Nerdy Award, so I decided to check it out. I read a copy of this text on the digital library Hoopla. The text was clear and easy to read on this platform. I would recommend this text on any platform though, especially if you enjoy poetry.

[Lauren R. · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this collection of poems! I found this book as a recommendation from my professor's poetry Wakelet. It is a National Book Award finalist and was such an interesting read. I read this on my kindle and the e-text was similar to that of reading a paperback book. I did not miss any elements. The book had more than 80 poems ranging from topics about food wrappers to politics with an overall arching theme of carelessness for our environment. I thought Nye's poems were beautiful. Every student should have access to this book. I think this would be a wonderful story to use in a poetry unit, middle school level.

[Pam · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nye places a spotlight on trash. She emphasizes how much damage is being done to our environment. She also interweaves statements on the political and social environment as she provides commentary on lives being thrown away or damaged. Variety of poetry styles that flow from one idea to the next in each chapter.

[Danielle Palmer · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a spicier book from Naomi than I was expecting. There are few political rants included, a whole bunch of environmentalism and some lovely quirky-ness. I am confused about the reviews stating the author isn’t thinking about disabled people who NEED to use disposable straws when Naomi speaks against disposable straws. I’d like to know more! Why couldn’t these differently abled people who need to use straws use reusable ones instead of disposable ones? That made me curious. I also see that her poem about finding a pair of underwear on the sidewalk made some reviewers feels this isn’t appropriate for the age it is marketed to (ages 12 and up). I would hope most persons 12 years old to adult could discuss underwear. I tagged many pages of this to share, the book covers a wide range of what could be interpreted as “trash” - the way we treat certain people as garbage, actual refuse, trashy politicians, etc.

[Nadia · Rating 4 out of 5]

*I won this book in a Goodreads giveaway*

This is an interesting collection of poems that will make you look at trash and what you waste differently. Thought-provoking, direct, and hopeful, these poems are relevant for our times especially when we waste and throw away so much stuff.