Wow. This book is amazing...This book seems to apply to life, no matter what is going on. The poetry in this book seems to span across so many issues, and so many age groups. I just keep coming back to it.

This is a collection of poems about losing things, for all age groups. From losing pencils, keys, toys, parents, siblings, spouses, trust and freindship. A very moving book of poetry. It contains excellent black and white illustrations and I recommend it for students from the 5th grade up, as well as parents and teachers.

I purchased this book on a whim for my 9 year old son. He found some of the ideas very sad. We enjoyed talking about the different types of losses. I definately got more out of it than he did. I have enjoyed sharing it with my friends. The poetry comes from many kinds of experiences and is a great all around poetry experience.

"The Best of Pif Magazine Off-Line" offers a refreshing assortment of new stories and new voices. A standout among them is Mimi Carmen's "Love Birds". Ms. Carmen's tale of an aging mother and conflicted daughter resonates with idiosyncratic vision and gritty passion. The bird imagery is breathtaking. I also very much enjoyed "23 Johnson Avenue, 1985" by Diann Blakely. If writers were race horses, and I had money, I'd bet my wad on these two.

A wonderful collection - refreshingly different, but solid. My favorite is "Love Birds" by Mimi Carmen. I'd like to read more of her work.

I am bored with many print magazines nowadays. The same things, the same things. Ho-hum. I've been following this zine for a while now, open it every month with relish. They've definitely picked a lot of their best, and Camille Renshaw's intro says a lot about WHY I don't like other magazines. Here is something worth a read, something that will make you want to get everything the magazine has put out since the beginning. There's even a rationale for professional wrestling, something that wants me to buy a tape of the event with the Undertaker/Mankind Hell in the Cell match, and I NEVER watch that stuff! You should definitely have this on your shelf--impress your friends with how in the know you are.

Sarah Cortez is a poet, teacher, and cop in Houston, Texas. Her work is tough, sensual, and very sexual. Her job as a cop and her Latina heritage flavor her poems. This is a beautiful piece of work from a poet who has a lot of potential to be great. She has the flavor of those 'bad girl' poets (like Kim Addonizio, Dorianne Laux, and their matriarch-Edna St. Vincent Millay). This is a strong collection, and I recommend it wholeheartedly.

whoa...this book is soooo hot, it could scorch your fingers....not many poets can mix erotica with police work and pull it off without making it seem schlocky...in fact, i don't think i've ever read a book like this...rather than cloud her poems with ambiguities, she tell you straight up about what it's like being a cop, a woman, and a mexican american in america, sometimes, all three at the same time...she can make a poem about wearing a bulletproof vest interesting...what i love ( and i mean love ! ) about these poems,is she shows you her world without the taint of political correctness, which i think is the worst thing that has ever happened to art, because it has kept people from saying what they really mean...you see her frustrations as a cop,when she realizes she can't win every battle; the men she works with as she tries to gain their respect...her own struggles in her personal life as she loves men of brown and white shade and possible not a man at all? after reading this book. i respect her for the job she does, and for showing her sensuality unabashed on verse...

This work is a lifting of the curtain into the world of cops, for without officers of the law our civility in a society that teeters on the fence of good and evil would certainly deteriorate. Poet Cortez brings the dilemmas of the police to the forefront showing poetically the stresses endured by the men and women who devote their lives for mankind. She peers deep into the psyche of cops and through her artistic genius shares their emotions with the rest of us. As you absorb the verses look beyond the written word and feel the current of these eye-opening poems. Thank you Sarah Cortez for sharing them with us.

Naomi Shihab Nye is Palestinian-American and currently lives in Texas. Words Under the Words is a collection of works from three earlier books: Different Ways to Pray, Hugging the Jukebox, and Yellow Glove. In this collection, her poetry celebrates the interconnectedness of the human spirit and the ordinary world. A stranger's eyes, once met, become the eyes of a fellow (Eye-to-Eye, p. 11); a serving woman's lined face tells a story of great worth (The Indian in the Kitchen, p.4); and images of Guatemala eulogize the passing of indigenous culture in service to the industrial world (Getting Through the Day, p. 69).

Nye's poetry is informed by her sense of place: Kindness (p.42) could have been written nowhere but from Colombia. Before you learn the solemnity of kindness, she writes, you must see a dead person lying roadside. "You must see how this could be you/how he, too, was someone/who journeyed through the night with plans/and the simple breath that kept him alive." Many of the poems in this book have been written from different Central and South American countries-others in the Middle East, in the United States-there is even a poem about being lost in Kansas.

In an interview with Rachel Berenblat, Nye said she has written poems from childhood. "I liked the portable, comfortable shape of poems," she said. "I liked the way they took you to a deeper, quieter place, almost immediately." It is no surprise, then, that these poems are accessible and harmonious, written in the language of empathy and compassion.

I have always felt that I couldn't "understand" poetry, but these poems spoke to me. I came across this book by accident, but once I started reading it, I couldn't part with it. I felt compelled to buy a copy. The beauty of Ms. Nye's poetry lies in its unpretentious yet eloquent simplicity. The poems are full of everyday events, people, emotions - yet express such profound ideas. They are full of humanity, good-will, and self-discovery. This is a book that would appeal to even the most "unliterary" person.

The Words Under the Words is certainly one of my favorite books of poetry. Nye writes with a warmth and gentleness that is calming, thought-provoking, and increasingly rare in today's poetry. She seems to have an amazingly accurate and poignant understanding of human emotions and presents these so softly and beautifully that it's hard not to fall in love with the stories that grow from these poems. One of the few books of poetry I've read cover to cover that's maintained a sense of freshness and wonder throughout. It held my interest like a hand. I can't imagine anyone not liking this book. A great read.

Naomi Shihab Nye is a bridge-builder. She reaches out to those of other cultures, and always expresses understanding of those sometimes forgotten in our society. A good book for all ages!

Possibly the best book in this genre. Nye's essays are thought provoking because they could happen in any of our lives. If you are going to be stranded on an island, take this book with you.

Her essays read like poetry. This book is wonderful

This book may turn out to be my all-time favorite book of bilingual poetry. The frosting on the cake, so to speak, turns out to be the art work accompanying the poetry. Each time I read one of the poems I like it better than the last time. And these are carefully selected, excellent quality poems: with writers such as Octavio Paz, Alberto Blanco, Rosario Castellanos (and many more) how could they not be terrific? A lasting gift for any occasion, especially for someone interested in bilingual stories from Mexico.

Being a beginning self-taught student in Spanish with a special interest in Mexican Spanish by way of my residency in Texas, I took a chance on purchasing this bilingual book and was more than delighted by what I found inside. The convenient side-by-side text of the poems and short stories makes it easy to follow the translations and improve language skills. However, the real treasures in this book are discovered slowly, as one peruses the glowing artwork by various Mexican artists in conjunction with the inspiring words that seem to interweave themselves into the pictures. This is a book to sit back and savor during personal quiet time, or to read to your children. The melodic rhythms of both the Spanish and English texts rock the heart and sooth the soul.

This was a wonderful book with not only great poems but beautiful illustrations. It is a nice book for anyone who wants to get the feel for Mexican folk writing and art. The poems are simple enough that you can read them without having to know too much Spanish.

This collection is a perfect example of the ability of a gifted poet to communicate hard truths simply. Each piece is a work of art and sings in the voices of immigrants and immigrants' children and with the rhythms of life in the Middle East. Don't buy this book expecting to find a treatise on terrorism or the events of September 11. Buy it to see through another's eyes and sing in another's voice. This is a fantastic book in its own right and a great introduction to the talent and skill of Naomi Shihab Nye.

this book was recommended to me by a friend, so i wasn't sure what to expect. i am really glad to have bought it, the poems are like little stories someone tells you on the porch while it's getting dark. very vivid, i felt as if i knew these people...fathers, mothers, grandmothers, schoolchildren, old arab men selling crafts...

I bought Sitti's Secret about 10 years ago in D.C. I have read it to every one of my four children's kindergarten classes, crying each time. It shows the love of family and the misunderstanding of the world. The art work and the deepness of words are outstanding. I just read it to my youngest child's class and the emotions swelled again.

This is an amazing book. While superficially it is a gentle childrens tale about a girl living in two cultures, it is, on another level, tremendously emotive. I am not given to being affected emotionally by poetry or films, but when reading this book to my daughter for the first time, I choked up halfway through and was unable to finish it until after I took a break. It is not sad,but really works at a deep level to evoke long dormant emotions. A truly 'magical' book-great illustrations, too.We have bought twenty or more copies of this book for family, friends, libraries...

I am a huge fan of Ms. Nye's work. I write poetry for children myself, so I am always looking for new work for kids that is unique (there seems to be an inundation, currently, in the children's market, of mediocre poetry) - I knew I couldn't go wrong with "Come With Me". This is what poetry is all about - taking the simple, the everyday, and turning it into something astounding! In this book, Ms. Nye makes even the smallest of journeys (a word as it travels from mouth to ear)wondrous. How different these trips will now seem to us.
Each poem will leave a "Wow..." in your throat, and a great desire to explore your world, to discover the all the words to describe it. (And Mr. Yaccarino's ilustrations are bold, vivid - a perfect compliment.)

I'm not a big poetry buff but Qabbani just grabbed me. He's an amazing poet who spills his heart throughout this book.

So powerful, so sensual, so incredible. His poetry is earth shaking and primal.

Don't let the fact that his words have been translated from their original Arabic dissuade you from believing that somehow the work isn't as honest as it should be. Qabbani's work is so powerful it hardly matter shwat language it is in. In short, easily read dollops of wit measured out with a voice of quiet urging, he has given us work that transcends time and politics, while being above-it-all.

"If you know a man
who loves you more than I
guide me to him
so I may first congratulate
hom on his constancy
and later, kill him."

If poetry ever had a Luther Vandross, it was Pablo Neruda. If it ever had a Barry White, it was Qabbani.