Dizzy In Your Eyes

Mora, Pat. Dizzy in your eyes: poems about love. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2010.

Plot Summary:

Pat Mora’s poetry collection contains many various poems about love in all forms. The collection shares poems about young love, parental love, break-ups, family and more. While the poems contain vastly diverse subjects, they all meet together to form a central and universal theme: love.

Critical Analysis:

Dizzy in Your Eyes, a poetry collection by Pat Mora, contains a collection of fifty poems about love in all forms. Although the collection is intended for a young adult audience, the poems span all generations and cultures. While each poem is about a different type or stage of love, the poems collect back to the central theme of “love.” Several poetry styles are explored in this collection, including sonnet, blank verse, tanka, tercet, list poetry, and more. The different styles of poetry used make the text appealing to readers who may be otherwise unexcited by poetry. Since readers may not be familiar with each style of poetry, Mora has included an easily understood explanation of each type. The poems are informal, easy to read, and accompanied by geometric graphics on the left sides of the book.

Since Pat Mora speaks both Spanish and English, many of the poems in the collection have a Hispanic vibe. One example of the Hispanic theme is using the titles “Mami” and “Papi” in the entry “Valentine to Papi.” Another poem in the collection, “Spanish,” discusses the challenges of speaking a new language.  Since the theme of love is a culturally diverse subject, the cultural aspect of this collection is not an integral part of the collection.

This assortment of poetry is well-written, diverse, and has subject content appropriate for young adults. While some of the poems are written with a Hispanic twist, those of any culture can appreciate the poems since love is understood by all cultures.

Reviews:

Booklist:

From family and school to dating and being dumped, the subjects in these 50 poems cover teens’ experiences of love in many voices and situations. Several entries incorporate Spanish words and idioms, as in “Ode to Teachers,” a moving tribute in English with a Spanish translation. A few poems hit a too-sweet tone with forced rhyme, but the best are wry, passionate, casual, and honest (“It’s nice having a sister especially when boys come over, / and some of them like you better”). One of the best is “Silence,” in which a girl speaks about waiting and waiting for her childhood friend to invite her to the prom. Mora writes in free verse, as well as a wide variety of classic poetic forms—including haiku, clerihew, sonnet, cinquain, and blank verse—and for each form, there is an unobtrusive explanatory note on the facing page. The tight structures intensify the strong feelings in the poems, which teens will enjoy reading on their own or hearing aloud in the classroom.

VOYA:

Celebrated author and speaker Mora offers encouragement by example in this appealing and evocative poetry collection that spans the rainbow of different types of love as well as provides an array of poetry forms. Many poems are snapshots or vignettes of the myriad emotions and angst experienced during young adulthood. The love is at times simple, innocent, and playful and at other times celebrates those important people such as mothers and teachers. Finally there is the new, intense, dizzy but sometimes scary and often unrequited love. For example in the pantoum form “Dumped,” Mora writes “me, a lump you dumped, casually,” which conveys a feeling almost all teens will experience. While in the villanelle, “Our Private Rhyme,” she offers “I feel you near. We’re intertwined.” The choices of poetry are arranged in a cycle which parallels that of love itself and mirrors a song with four movements. The poems run the gamut of emotions and offer glimpses into the heart and head as well as the creative soul. There are helpful and informative footnotes throughout the text that describe the various styles of poetic form used in the poem on the following page. One poem is even offered in both English and the author’s native Spanish. This collection may be used to stimulate young adults to attempt their own poetry and could easily be employed as a classroom tool.

Awards:

Pure Poetry, 2009 ; Voice of Youth Advocates; United States

Americas Award for Children's and Young Adult Literature, 2011 Commended Titles United States

Beehive Award, 2012 ; Nominee; Poetry; Utah

Connections: This book lends itself well to being read aloud. Teens, especially, will enjoy hearing and relating to the poems from this collection. Use this poetry collection in lessons about the varying forms of poetry, creative writing, or multi-cultural literature.

Check out the following titles by Pat Mora:

Mora, Pat, and Maribel Suárez. Wiggling pockets = Los bolsillos saltarines. New York: Rayo, 2009.

Mora, Pat, and Raúl Colón. Tomás and the library lady. New York: Knopf :, 1997.

Mora, Pat, and Raúl Colón. Doña Flor: a tall tale about a giant woman with a great big heart. New York: Knopf, 2005.

Mora, Pat, and Magaly Morales. A piñata in a pine tree: a Latino twelve days of Christmas. Boston: Clarion Books, 2009.

Mora, Pat, and Rafael López. Book fiesta!: celebrate Children's Day/book day = Celebremos el día de los niños/el día de los libros. New York, NY: Rayo, 2009.