Book Review - Naomi Shihab Nye

A Maze Me: Poems for Girls by Naomi Shihab Nye

Nye, Naomi S. 2005. A Maze Me: Poems for Girls. Ill. by Terre Maher. New York: HarperCollins Children’s Books.

My initial attraction for this book began with the two parts of the title - Poems for Girls, and the play on words of A Maze Me. As I was reading the poems, I could easily imagine the events described, whether they took place in a specific setting or simply in the mind. Although some of the poems could be for either girls or boys, the overriding pronoun is “she”, allowing the feminine reader to slip into the context of the poems. Ms. Nye includes a seven page introduction that gives the premise for writing the book; I found the writing to be beautiful and eloquent, evoking images of a memory of Ms. Nye’s fast-approaching thirteenth birthday as she struggled with the desire to mature and the desire to stay a child. Because of this, the poems may be more appropriate for late elementary or middle school readers.

The cover of the book features an eye-catching turquoise background with colored circles super-imposed over a round window of white. Physically, the book is small enough to fit comfortably in one’s hand, the poems are spaced in a very reader-friendly way on the pages, and the inside jacket cover presents a poem instead of the usual prose teaser.

Divided into five sections, poems of similar themes are collected within individual headings, and the illustrator, Terre Maher, pictured several of the images from the poems of each section on the heading page. An interesting feature was that Ms. Nye has written the title of some of her poems to lead into the body – as if the title is the first line of the poem. I chose to highlight “Little Chair” from Section One: Big Head. It embodies the need for children to feel that there is a secure area for them in every place and in every circumstance, and how that secure feeling can manifest itself even into adulthood.

Little Chair

1
I didn’t mind so much
growing out of little girl clothes
the blue striped shirt
the corduroy jumper
giving up Candy Land
and my doctor’s kit
but never again to fit
the turquoise Mexican chair
with flowers painted on it
hurt

I keep it in my room till now
a throne for the stuffed camel
Little kids sit on it when they visit
The straw in the seat is still strong
The flowers are always blooming

2
Miss Ruth Livingston
who taught first grade for forty-three years
in Marfa, Texas
kept a little reading chair
in front of the windows in her classroom
Whenever her students finished their work
they knew they could go over to the little chair
and read
It was a safe place
Their minds could wander anywhere
I wish everyone in the world had a little chair

3
Recently a big cowboy wearing sunglasses
came to Miss Livingston’s house and asked where
“that old furniture from our classroom went”
She’s ninety-seven now
She still has her china-faced dolls
from when she was small
She pointed at the wooden reading chair
sitting in front of the windows
in her beautiful living room
He walked over to the little chair
with his hands folded
and silently stood there, stood there

Ms. Nye’s poems evoke a wide range of emotions from nostalgia, understanding, distaste, joy, and memories of everyday happenings. School Library Journal states “This thoughtful collection encourages readers to observe the world around them, look inward and savor their experiences, and appreciate the comfort and clarity that words provide. Covering many different subjects, the free-verse poems are playful yet perceptive and combine a childlike viewpoint with startling bits of wisdom.” A wonderfully written book, A Maze Me: Poems for Girls provides the reader a chance to ponder such things as sibling love, favorite teachers, hopes and dreams, and the written word.

A Maze Me: Poems for Girls. (2005, October 2). School Library Journal, Retrieved February 19, 2009, from Academic Search Complete database.