Mel Glenn has written with humor, pathos, and gripping imagery about the realities, the dreams, the ups, and the downs of being a teenager. From girls who get up the courage to make the first move that is ignored to guys who wonder what went wrong, romantic distresses and exhilirating successes are discussed in words straight from a teen's throbbing heart.

Glenn presents a multicultural viewpoint of surviving the teenage years. Miguel turns his life around one year after graduating from high school, and the reader cheers him on. Brandon, one year after high school, is still a loser, and the reader recognizes Brandon's lack of motivation. Isabel is fighting poverty and personal demons, but when she begins to dance onstage . . . oh, how she leaps above the pain of her life! Veronica's father is in the service, and she complains about the schools in seven states and compares her life to the red lines on the Rand McNally atlas. Barry humorously describes failing his road test again and wonders how he will travel. Dana finds out that there are no "express lanes to happiness" and thinks that perhaps returning to school would be more productive than his K-Mart job. Self-centered Dorothy wonders why her friend leaves, Robert wonders who's going to college--him or his parents, Paul means no disrespect but wonders if his teacher has any books that deal with real life . . . The poems touch on every aspect of what it is to be human, alive, young, reaching, hoping, dreaming, achieving, losing, and trying again.

As a language arts teacher, I use these poems as journal prompts to springboard my students into writing, and these poems touch my students in ways classical poetry does not. My students see themselves in these poems and are always eager to discuss the teens represented in these pages as if they are real people. I highly recommend this book to language arts teachers, teenagers, or those who would like to remember what it was like to be a teen.

Class Dismissed! is easily the best book of poetry I have ever read. It is full of emotion;sadness, relief, fear, and hapiness. It shows how overwhelmed high-schoolers of today are, and the problems they deal with everyday. It brings topics that are often hidden into the light, and discusses them in a blunt and descriptive manner.It is brutally honest, and truly a whorthwhile read.Every parent and teen should read this book.

The Celtic Encyclopedia is an interesting collection of traditional Irish pieces, mostly one page long - some a little longer. (Yes, it does have a version of "Danny Boy") Many are arranged from harp music, which works quite well, and most of them are quite obscure (at least to me). There aren't any "melody line" pieces - they all seem to be well rounded, with interesting harmonies that allow them to stand alone.

Nothing is going right for Richie Linder, age seventeen. School is boring, his social life is dismal, and his free time is spent laboring in his father's greasy luncheonette. Then he meets Lana Olivia Turner, an eccentric redhead with a habit of butting into other people's lives. The result is an explosive confrontation between father and son.

I think that if you are intrested in sorts, YOU should read this book NOW

This is one of the best books of poetry I've ever read. The poems are wonderful for read-alouds with others. Most are very poignant and heartfelt. Some make me cry. Some are funny. Ultimately, I am moved.

The book is about a Chinese girl growing up in an American society, who decides to find herself in the library. I picked this book up in my high school library, ironically enough. I spend most of my after school time there, in the library. I looked through this book, not expecting this girl to relate to me in any single way. I am Chinese myself, with both a working dad and a working mom, both love me, but in a Chinese way. And here i am living, growing up American. I enjoyed this book like i enjoy any type of poetry...and i realize i enjoy it a bit more differently than other people enjoy it. they dont see the mother's love, because they are too american. Or the father's love. This book is amazing to all who read it, I'm sure, but keep your eyes open for unseen love. This girl in the story did not, and it led to her downfall. :D I loved this book.

Book review
Split Image
By,Mel Glenn
Review by.Nalleli Enriquez

Have you ever felt unloved or loveless because your parents are so busy with their own life that they don't have any time for you? The book Spit Image,by Mel Glenn, Will show you the strong feelings of an loveless girl whose only wish is to spend time with her parents.This book written in strong poetry . That will change parents way of thinking towards their children.

Everyone has an image of Laura Li,the most popular girl in school:"stone hearted," "warmhearted.""conceited deceiver," "humble achiever," "a virgin" and "the hottest girl in the world." They call her a "too" girl ,you know - Too smart, too pretty, too popular and too perfect,but no body Knows that she only wishes for some time with her parents. Many classmates have a different image of her although she has everything.She only begs for parent love."I just want to say one more thing. It won't take too long or interrupt your schedule. Oh, Daddy you could have same me,from her from myself. If you could have save little time for me.Laura Li quoted in this book(pg.127). She states this quote to catch her Day attention,but he doesn't cares. He moves on with his work leaving Laura Li loveless.

When Laura Li kill her self her parents realize that they had done something wrong. Oi Pin Li Laura mother begs for Laura forgiveness,but it was too late. Charles Li, Laura father recognized that she begs him for some love and he never care.But today is too late. Laura kill her shelf and know she is dead and nothing could bring her back.There could have been more to Laura life,but without parents love everything gets lost.Hearts broke and love ones are gone.

This book Split Image change my parents way of thinking towards me. This depressing story opened my parents closed eyes . because they had too little time for me ,but know they recognize that children are miserable with out parents loves and this could lead to kill your shelf.Because nobody values their love ones until they see it lost.My parents got the advice and they appreciate me more that they use too. Laura could have had more to her life if she only was love.She sends the book message straight to your heart and into your mind. If you cry over love stories here is a little part of a love stories hare is a little part of a love story with great poetry.

The author of this book, Mel Glenn wrote this book in poetry instead of narrating the story like a normal book. Why did he used poems through out this story? Poems are a special way of writing. Poems are used to unlock the feeling inside of the character or the person.This book is special because you have to read the poems and find what is the characters feelings.This great book would put your mind to work.
specially if you are a good reader that likes or loves poems.

I highly recommend this book to anyone who appreciates strong poetry. once you start, you won't want to put it down. This is never boring. Special those parents who don't have to value their love ones before its too late.If you don't read this book you are missing out. Oh, and by the way a bit of advice! Take along some tissues.

i think that this book was really great and i think the meaning of this book was that all of the young kids today and what goes on and if they took the time to read this book they would really understand what was going on in the world and how devestistating it is to loose and educator or family or freinds just by pulling a trigger.

This book Is a fantastic book. It really captures teenagers attention. It is neither boring or "dumb". Mr glenn is able to write from all the characters points of view as to the horible situation that occured at their school. This book is NOT graphic in Violent detail as so many others are. I beleive that this author has donr a good job at writing a book that will attract many teen readers...but then my opinion may be biased as Mr.glenn was my former english teacher and one of the best teachers I ever remember having and that was over 16 years ago. Please try this book I am sure you will enjoy it and the other books writen by this author.

"Who Killed Mr. Chippendale?" is one of my favorite books. I have reread it many times. I love how it is all in poetry, and how there are so many different characters. It kept me guessing who the killer was until the end. I would recommend it to anyone. I wish the author (Mel Glenn) would write more of these types of books.

This book wasn't the best book i have ever read, actually, it 'stank on ice' (lol, i had to say that)
This book was really boring, and dont waste your time reading it,all it is is blah blah blah.
in short.. Dont read this book.

i had to read this for my Fresham n honors english class, it was okay, i had to read it slowly to pick everything up, it is in poems, so it takes some analasis, and you have to understand everything about every character, the ending really dsent have much to do with the characters, well it does have to do with one of the main players but not the rest of them. Okay now that i totally threw you off, i sugjest reading this, if you can find it.

A classroom is a community, and everyone in it views and interacts within it differently. This story takes multiple viewpoints, weaving together the strands creating the seemingly-impossible scenario of a classroom held hostage by a gun-toting teacher. While mystifying at first, as the poetic narratives resonate, the world of Room 114, evolved over 4 years of high school, becomes a clear window on the individuals involved, and a mirror of vital issues in youthful society. This book creates images in your mind that resonate long after the last page is turned.

My 6th grader was assigned this book for a school project. I previewed the book first and am grateful I did. I feel the book has many adult themes and is totally inappropriate for school children. If this book were to have a rating equal to those assigned to movies, I believe it should be "R" rated.

I really didn't like Foriegn Exchange. It had many adult themes and I would not recomend it to a kid. It was about the murder of a girl named Karen. People thiought that the boy that danced with her at the Foriegn Exchanged dance killed her. This book is writen in poems and each poem is in a different person's perspective. Most of the characters are teenagers and in their poems, they talk about what teenagers think about.

I loved this book. It was a page turner. I read it for a school project, and I couldn't put it down. I usually don't read poetry books(but i love to write poetry) but this one was very interesting. Each poem is from a different point of view and you must read themm all to keep up. You'll never guess the solution to the mystery! So you must read it to find out!