I Feel a Little Jumpy Around You: Paired Poems by Men & Women

by Naomi Shihab Nye and Paul B. Janeczko

Book Overview

An award-winning anthology of paired poems by men and women . In this insightful anthology, the editors grouped almost 200 poems into pairs to demonstrate the different ways in which male and female poets see the same topics. How women see men, how boys see girls, and how we all see the world--often in very different ways, but surprisingly, wonderfully, sometimes very much the same.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0689813414
• ISBN13: 9780689813412
• Release Date: January 1999
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
• Length: 256 Pages
• Weight: 1.10 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 6.0" x 8.9"
• Age Range: 12 to 17 years
• Grade Range: Grades 7 to 12

Customer Reviews

I feel A Little Jumpy Around You (poetry)

I enjoyed this books unique theme of giving two sides on the same topic. There is a male and a female speaker in a poem inspired about the same thing. The most interesting part of the book was to see how two people can thing of things in such a different way. At times when I couldn't identify with one, I could identify with the other. The great thing was when I could understand both and think, hey that is a great way to look at it. I felt that this book really caused me to open my mind and not to expect things so much. I also like the great emotions that were pulled out of me while reading the book. There were topics such as death, fathers, hospitals, relaxation, childhood, beliefs, common day existance, and objects commonly thought of as irrevelent. The fact the the book is made up of poetry also gave it chances to be open and the reader to find their own meanings. I felt that I could understand this poetry and that it is current. It was published in 1996, that is probally why. The poems also flow smoothly in general and have come sort of conclusive meaning. Other poetry is harder for me to read because it is too whimsical and I guess and comtemplate the meaning too much and never figure it out. The two views on the same subject seems to set this book apart from others. I think that it is great that it gives two ways for a person to look at something. When I write, I write as a matter of factly and a this is the only way solution. I enjoyed the legnth of the poems in this book because they were catchy and descriptive, yet not overbearing. One of my favorite poems in there is titled Conversation With A Fireman From Brooklyn. It envoked so many emotions from me. A part in it says, "Already he's telling me he dosen't mind women firefighters, but what/they look like after fighting a fire, well/they loose all respect." The male speaker goes on to act as if the only thing good about a women is how they look with a stay in the kitchen attitude. As a female I was disturbed by it. There are also great looks back at childhood. In the poem Dark Song a great part says, "Don't be scared of the dark:/ all night is the biggest shadow/ little kid in the biggest shadow. The book also includes interesting titles that made we wonder and keep reading. Such titles are Black Patent Leather Shoes, The Locker Room, and The Pyramid of Khufu. The whole idea behind the book I feel A little Jumpy Around You is a great example to readers and writers everywhere. Again, I would like to stress how much I enjoyed the different speakers in the poems, the giving of more than one view on the same subject, messages that are clear to understand, but you can interpert them in your own way, creative similies and metaphors that even youth can pick up on, modern subject matter, and poems that are a nice legnth to keep me motivated. The only dissappointment was that all the poems seemed to include a few choppy lines and I feel that there should have been differe

These poems are not from France!

Collected in PAIRS -- that is, two at a time, this collection looks at the world through male and female eyes. It delights not just with the usual anthologist's skill of finding wonderful poems for us to read, but with the collaborative skill of two people who care deeply about quality verse for young adults. A marvelous collection.