This Is Just To Say: Poems of Apology and Forgiveness by Joyce Sidman

1.  BIBLIOGRAPHY

Sidman, Joyce.  2007.  THIS IS JUST TO SAY: POEMS OF APOLOGY AND FORGIVENESS.  Ill. by Pamela Zagarenski.  New York: Houghton.  ISBN  0618616802

2.  PLOT SUMMARY

Inspired by William Carlos Williams' poem "This Is Just To Say," Mrs. Merz's class of sixth grade students decides to write their own letters of apology to those they have wronged and send it to them.  After some students receive responses, the class gathers the letters together to create a collection for a book.  With a total of eighteen apology poems and seventeen response letters, this collection consists of poems that mirror many of the topics and issues children face today in the areas of relationships, apologies, and forgiveness.  

3.  CRITICAL ANALYSIS

This specialized anthology of heart-warming and thought-provoking poems is centered on the topics of apology and forgiveness.  The majority of these poems are presented in free verse format which allows the emotion for each poem to flow freely without the constraints of a rhyme scheme or a forced ending.  This also serves to reinforce the belief Mrs. Merz continually shares with her sixth-grade students, which is that "rhymes are not as important as meaning."  Readers are also introduced to other poetic styles such as the haiku in "Haiku for Emily" and the pantoum in "Spelling Bomb."  All poetic styles contribute to the unifying themes of apology and forgiveness.

The strength of this book comes from the language and word choice used to present a variety of topics which evoke a mixture of emotions, ranging from joy and amusement to sorrow and sympathy.  Readers will find themselves chuckling at the light-hearted poems which focus on some of the students' mischievous antics, such as stealing jelly doughnuts from the school's front office, rubbing a statue's nose for good luck, and flinging dodge balls at each others' heads with a little more force than necessary.  Similes are used to bring out the playfulness and spirit in which these light-hearted poems are written, with verses such as "all those red rubber balls/thumping like heartbeats" and "The principal's eyes are like hot sparks."  This allows readers to visualize the quick action of the dodge balls as well as the explosive energy found in the principal's reaction.  Sidman adds to the readers' experience by effectively using imagery and sensory words in the poem titled "Brownies-Oops!"  The readers' senses of sight, touch, and smell are appealed to as young Maria sneaks down the stairs to steal a piece of her mother's fresh batch of chocolate brownies.  Readers will savor the fresh use of this figurative language as they read "I smelled them from my room:/ a wafting wave of chocolate-ness."  As she makes her way towards the fresh batch, Maria describes "I felt the cold linoleum/ on my bare toes/ I saw the warm, thick/brick of brownies,"and "The gooey hunks of chocolate winked at me as I gobbled them."  The use of these descriptive sensory words will draw readers in and perhaps make them feel like an innocent bystander.

To balance the collection, Sidman contrasts these playful poems with others that take on heavier, more serious topics.  Poems that delve into the issues of abandonment, acceptance, and death will tug at readers' heart strings and may even make them shed a tear or two.  To convey the myriad of emotions these adolescent writers experience, word choice plays a critical factor in their respective poems.  In the poem "It Was Quiet," readers can sense the weight of guilt a young boy carries after he and his family make the agonizing decision to put the family dog to sleep: "all my cells and nerves/ were screaming/ I'm so sorry we had to do this/ We wanted to save you some pain/ I hope we did the right thing."   In another poem titled "Spelling Bomb," young Anthony expresses his sorrow as he writes an apology to his mother for failing to win the spelling be: "I saw you turn away from me/and in that moment would have given anything/ to be your champion."  This serves as a sober reminder of the many things children do to seek the approval and love of their family and friends, and the emotional scars they endure when they believe they have failed.  Readers will feel the emotional impact of the brutal honesty and raw emotional power found within these poems.

Also, personification is used to give readers some surprising and unexpected points-of-view from a pet hamster and a lucky statue.  In "Sorry Back, from the Hamster," Sidman ingeniously creates the hamster's persona in which he describes the glory of his new found freedom, but later realizes and appreciates the comfort and security found in his cage.  This will make readers laugh at the creativity and good humor found within.  In the poem "To the Girl Who Rubs My Nose," a statue tells a little girl "I think maybe spelling/ isn't important./ Friends are important./ Kindness is important./ A gentle touch."  Personification is used in this poem to make readers think about things differently, and perhaps give them a new perspective about what truly matters in life.  This not only keeps the readers' interest, but also allows them to make a meaningful connection with the poem.

The voice of each writer is developed through the type of language found in his or her poem.  For example, Lamar responds to an apology poem written by his younger brother, DaRon.  In it, Lamar uses slang vocabulary which emulates the way he speaks: "Why you got to hide?/ Look at me, man/ I am living large as I can."  The use of free verse allows for a conversational type poem to emerge, which reinforces the personal relationship that exists between the two brothers.  Although free verse allows for the true nature of the recipient's language to be captured, it may prove controversial in several instances.  Parents, teachers, and librarians should take note of the response poem in which the Lord's name is used in vain, and the poem in which a sister is "still really/pissed off" after being stabbed with a pencil.

To capture the essence and emotional experience many of these young writers endure, the illustrator Pamela Zabarenski uses a combination of graphic techniques, collage-type images, and cartoon drawn figures.  As readers turn the pages, they see thin-lined drawings of children, dogs, and cars placed over images of rulers, pencils, and torn out notebook and graphing paper.  Paper reinforcements are used to decorate the pages of the poem pertaining to the stolen powdered donuts, which mirror the type of evidence found that led to the culprit's capture.  This clever use of school supplies in the illustrations serves to reflect the age of the young poem writers as well as the environment they work in.  The warm color palette and use of soft pastel colors reflect the tender tone woven throughout this specialized anthology.

Sidman's book also includes an introduction by the student editor, Anthony K., in which he explains the book's conception as well as its format.  A table of contents page reveals the layout, with the first half of the book containing the eighteen apology poems the class has written, and the second half containing the seventeen responses. The table of contents page also allows readers to easily locate a specific apology poem and find its corresponding response.  While some readers may find the lack of not having the apology and response poems paired together bothersome, they will enjoy the overall ease and parallel organization in which these poems are presented.  As an added bonus, Sidman includes the poem that inspired Mrs. Merz's sixth grade class to write their own apology poems, William Carlos Williams' "This Is Just to Say."  This book is recommended for children ages nine through twelve. 

4. REVIEW EXCERPTS

Lee Bennett Hopkins Poetry Award Honor Book, 2008

COOPERATIVE CHILDREN'S  BOOK CENTER CHOICES: "Joyce Sidman's wonderfully imagined collection is full of humor and tenderness, expressed in poems that offer brief yet exacting portraits of the diverse children she's created, as well as glimpses into their lives.  Pamela Zagarenski's whimsical illustrations, presented as the work of one of the students and the art teacher, along with footnotes in the voice of the fictional student editor of the compilation, add further charm to this captivating volume."

BOOKLIST: "The result is a captivating anthology of short poems in various styles touching on different aspects of life...The quirky illustrations, created with a variety of media, collage, and computer graphics, give a lighthearted feel to the anthology... Children will find much to identify with in the situations presented in the apology poems, and they'll appreciate the resolutions given in the responses."

SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL: "Sidman's ear is keen, capturing many voices.  Her skill as a poet to young people is unmatched...  This is an important book for its creativity and for its wisdom."

5.   CONNECTIONS

*Pair this book up with another book that was also inspired by William Carlos Williams' poem "This Is Just To Say."  

Levine, Gail Carson.   FORGIVE ME, I MEANT TO DO IT: FALSE APOLOGY POEMS.  ISBN  0061787256

Then have students compare and contrast the types of poems found in each of the collections.  Then have them discuss how many times have they apologized and were truly sorry.  What were the results?  How many times have they given a false apology?  How did it make them feel?

* Have students write their own apology poems.  Author Joyce Sidman offers a step-by-step guide for students on how to craft an apology poem.  This may be found on her website at www.joycesidman.com/teachers/poetry-ideas/pn_sorry_poem.pdf