Truth and Lies: An Anthology of Poems

This treasure of a book is a crystal prism of poetry. Even had I not seen Ms Vecchione teach poetry and read it aloud, I would hear her voice in its introduction, feel her wonder and belief of poetry through the body of work, and join a community peopled with poems and poets described in the extended biographical notes. Truth & Lies deserves a place on your shelf, be it at a school library, public library, or home, for more than these reasons. This anthology is not a "see if you like one in this pile of poems" collection. It is a careful, creative, poetry-loving collection revealing the duality of truth and lies; a subject matter which exposes the core of human connection. It allows poetry to speak for itself in a setting as comfortable as a kitchen and triumphant as the spotlighted stage. Truth & Lies is catalogued for young adults - young people who are turning over and over the puzzle of human connection. They will find more than one poem in this book to hang on a mirror or to question as they pause while making their way in the world. As a middle-aged adult, I found delightful surprises by poets I like and introductions to poets I had never heard of. And as with all literature which spans time and space, I find myself going back to the book to find remembered lines, filling myself with joy, humor, smiles of pleasure and sadness, and truth.