Ruth Gordon (6) (1933–2016)

Target Audience: Ages 13 and up

"Am I the only person on Earth?" begins Gordon's qustion to her readers. The 73 poems, range over time and cultures, are fresh and poignant. Each of the selection expresses the often inexpressible sense of loss and loneliness tthat we all experience in our lives. Gordon's selection of poems from popular works of authors, such as Emily Dickinson, Cynthia Rylant, Paul Simon, Carl Sandburg, Adrienne Rich, and John Keats. Many of the poems are translations from a variety of Eastern and Western languages. The topics range from the timeless to the timely, emotions from hope to despair.

The collection keenly reminds us that we are lonely creatures dwelling in this universe. It is an extraordinary gift, a repsonse to the proverb Gordon includes: "We are lonely.../until we find ourselves." Other memorable lines include: "To be born is to be separate, and "...to know someone or something lead ultimately to separation." The collection will connect to young adults of all ages.… (mer)

Hazel Rochman (Booklist, June 1993 (Vol. 89, No. 19 & 20))
Between the blast of commercials and the blur of fast forward, we all have lonely places where private memories tremble and slip away. That uncertainty, that elusiveness, is the mood of this fine anthology in which poets from all over the world capture the echoing quiet "when the game has ended." As in her acclaimed collections Under All Silences (1987) and Time Is the Longest Distance (1991), Gordon includes many poems in translation, with lots this time from Spanish, Russian, and Yiddish. The settings and subjects are universal: nature (sea, animals, woods, snow) and play and memory. What's extraordinary is how absence is made physical, as in Dilys Laing's "Lost, Stolen, Strayed," in which a lost dog is there--a shivering presence wherever you look. Nothing is abstract or messagey, whether it's the sense of "snow flopping off roofs" in Pasternak's Russia, or the knot of anguish and tenderness when Dona Luongo Stein braids her sister's hair. The poems aren't easy; you'll get little if you skim through the collection. But the design is spacious, with large, clear type, each poem alone on a page; and even if readers don't get it all right away, individual lines will haunt them, especially in those moments when, as Octavio Paz says, "Nothing is real but the fog." Category: Older Readers. 1993, HarperCollins, $15 and $14.89. Gr. 8-12. Starred Review.
(Hazel Rochman (Booklist, June 1993 (Vol. 89, No. 19 & 20))
Won: Editors' Choice: Books for Youth, 1993 ; American Library Association-Booklist; United States… (mer)

Reviews:

Stephanie Zvirin (Booklist, Mar. 15, 1995 (Vol. 91, No. 14))
Devoted dog friends first encountered in the delightful Moe the Dog in Tropical Paradise (1992) are back in another entertaining friendship story. Here, Moe's creativity earns him a chance to escape the drudgery at the Frozen Cow ice-cream factory where he and his friend Arlene work. The perks of his new job are great, but the responsibilities strain the friendship. "Woe is Moe" until Arlene comes up with a solution that brings the buddies back together. Stanley's comic view of the modern work ethic is presented simply enough that most kids will catch on, but even those who don't will grasp the friendship message and love Primavera's illustrations, which exuberantly capture the very personable canine characters in Day-Glo splendor. Not as spunky as Tropical Paradise, but still lots of wacky fun. Category: For the Young. 1995, Putnam, $15.95. Ages 4-7.… (mer)