Adults and children alike have long admired Pat Mora’s extraordinary and diverse gifts. She has won awards and received acclaim for both her poetry (Borders, Chants, Communion, and other works) and her charming children’s books (Delicious Hullabaloo, Tomás and the Library Lady, The Desert Is My Mother, and many more).
Now, Arte Público Press is pleased to announce a major selection of new and previously published poems chosen by Pat Mora herself with young-adult readers in mind. Using the cactus plant as her guiding metaphor for our existence, she presents more than sixty poems grouped variously into “Blooms,” “Thorns,” and “Roots.” Each section opens with a graceful line drawing from artist Anthony Accardo, and the whole is prefaced by a whimsical and intimate introduction, “Dear Fellow Writer.”
My Own True Name, an anthology fifteen years in the making, is sure to be sought by deeply rooted and still-budding lovers of poetry.
Named to The New York Public Library’s 2001 Books For The Teen Age List and the 2000-2001 Tayshas High School Reading List
“Powerful selections representing more than 15 years of work, her poems are about universal experiences. The rich, symbolic imagery, raw emotion, and honesty will appeal.”—Booklist
“Accessible to, yet challenging for teens.”—School Library Journal
PAT MORA is a renowned writer of poetry, stories for children and nonfiction. Among her many works are the poetry collections Chants (1984), Borders (1986) and Communion (1994). Mora is also the award-winning and critically acclaimed author of over 30 books for children and young adults, including The Bakery Lady/La señora de la panadería (2001), My Own True Name (2000), The Gift of the Poinsettia/El regalo de la flor de nochebuena (1995), Tomás and the Library Lady, Pablo’s Tree, A Birthday Basket for Tía, The Desert Is My Mother/El desierto es mi madre (1994), Delicious Hullabaloo/Pachanga deliciosa (1998) and Confetti. In 1999, she was the Garrey Carruthers Chair Visiting Distinguished Professor in Honors at the University of New Mexico. An El Paso native and the mother of three grown children, she divides her time between the Southwest and the Cincinnati area where her husband teaches anthropology.
Learn more at patmora.com.
ATOS Interest Level: Middle/Upper Grade
Category: Young Adult
ATOS English: 5.9
Accelerated Reader Quiz #: 47265
