Blue Lipstick: Concrete Poems

Blue Lipstick: Concrete Poems by John Grandits (Clarion Books) ISBN: 978-0-618-56860-4

Plot Summary

The book does take on something of a picaresque narrative or perhaps something more akin to a character study.  The book proceeds as a series of concrete poems, but they are all narrated by Jessie an artistic and athletic high school student.  She navigates the ups and downs of the high school experience -- including crushes and friendships.  Grandits does a nice job of showing the discovery of high school by make Jessie well rounded, she loves Mondrian, she plays cello, she clearly writes poems, but she also enjoys volleyball.  And though an early concrete poem that disparages cheerleaders reflects a dismissive view of some of her classmates, a later poem shaped like a guitar and a cello characterizes Andrea as "not so bad -- for a cheerleading unicorn" (Grandits, 2007, p. Silver Spandex*).  This turn shows growth for Jessie, though, the overall effect of the book is just to give a sense of her identity.

*The book's pages aren't numbered and Grandits even creatively uses the cover to write his first poem.

Critical Evaluation

Grandits offers an interesting take on the form of concrete poetry.  He writes in a distinctly narrative style that is so rarely part of the form.  Concrete poetry's task is typically to draw attention to the material nature of the way words look.  (This Aram Saroyan poem is one of the most direct examples I can think of). Concrete poems don't always attempt to remove the relationship between the graphical shape of letters and the meaning that is made by putting them next to one another, but often they truck in image.  Grandits often uses the shapes of poetic lines to replicate the scenario at hand -- wild hair, a volleyball match, the purring of a cat, a reflection in a mirror, streaming water from a shower head.  The actual lines then narrate the scenario.  The end result is an inventive and wildly accessible version of a rather avant-garde art form.  As my wife noted, Grandits also seems to invite his readers to write their own concrete poem (he does this even more explicitly in his book Technically It's Not My Fault, though, that book is more suitable for tweens than teens).  Having said this, The H-U-P song (in which Grandits makes a new alphabet song by randomizing the letters of the alphabet) would likely earn him serious concrete poet credibility.

Reader’s Annotation 

Concrete poems shape the daily scenarios of Jessie -- an artistic, athletic high school student.  Taken as a whole the poems offer a picture of Jessie -- or rather of her personality.

Information about the author 

From the author's webpage: 

John Grandits is a poet, typographer, art director, designer, & writer. He’s written cartoons, articles, humor pieces, fiction and nonfiction for children and adults. Occasionally he’s been published. In his previous life he was associated with a number of juvenile publishing ventures including Cricket, Muse, and Click magazines, Crown Books for Children and Random House. He has also art directed adult trade and children’s textbooks. For a short time he was owner and publisher of Film and Video News magazine. He has written and designed books, book jackets & covers, brochures, advertisements, periodicals, record jackets, corporate logos (although he hated doing it), posters and, of course, poems. Oddly enough he didn’t become funny until he was 55 years old. His ultimate goal is to design the perfectly illegible font and use it for the perfectly unreadable concrete poem. (Grandits, 2013)

Genre

Poetry

Curriculum Ties

The book is in the California Department of Education's database for Recommended Literature: http://www3.cde.ca.gov/reclitlist/displaytitle.aspx?pid=41072. They suggest it for grades 6-8, but the narrator's age will make it an appealing quick read for high school students.  A middle school teacher might easily make it part of her curriculum though.

Booktalking Ideas

1) Open to any page.  Bad Hair Day is a good introduction and Volleyball Practice and the Bowling Party are personal favorites.

2) I find it charming that Grandits even uses the book's cover to write a poem.  Showing off the cover already gives a sense of what's in the book.  It presents a fun opportunity to let teens judge a book by its cover.

Reading Level/Interest Age

6th grade and up.

Challenge Issues

None to speak of. But in case a patron found something, I'd prepare in the following manner.  I would openly greet any patron who presented a challenge to the work, giving them ample time to detail their complaint.  I would listen attentively.  To respond to these challenges I would have some reviews of the work on hand.   I would be prepared to explain that as a public institution libraries "cannot limit access on the basis of age or other characteristics" (ALA, 1999).  I would have copies of the library's collection policy on hand.  I would be prepared to politely discuss that parents can control what their children are exposed to by coming to the library with them and examining books they check out.  If the Teen Advisory Group had written reviews of the book I'd have them handy.  While it may be of little comfort to certain parents, I would also be prepared to discuss my staunch support of intellectual freedom and abhorrence of censorship.  As a last resort, I would be sure to keep copies or a reconsideration form on hand.

Why did you include this book in the titles you selected?

My dissertation is a study of experimental poetry. While I don't deal specifically with concrete poetry there, it's a favorite form of mine.  I believe it can be enjoyable and accessible for all ages.

References

Grandits, J. (2013). Bio. Retrieved from http://www.johngrandits.com/bio/index.php