Product Description

If you've ever had trouble apologizing or keeping a secret, had a crush or a broken heart, there's a poem here for you! Written with humor and understanding, Judith Viorst's poems are certain to delight children and adults alike -- and be read again and again.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #194221 in Books
• Published on: 1984-10-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 64 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780689707704
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

From the Publisher
If you've ever had trouble apologizing or keeping a secret, had a crush or a broken heart, there's a poem here for you! Written with humor and understanding, Judith Viorst's poems are certain to delight children and adults alike -- and be read again and again.

About the Author
Judith Viorst says that she has been writing always -- "or at least since I was seven or eight, when I composed an ode to my dead parents, both of whom were alive and well and, when they read my poem, extremely annoyed." She has written many books for children, including the acclaimed Alexander and the Terrible Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day, If I Were in Charge of the World...and Other Worries, and I'll Fix Anthony as well as several books of poetry and prose for adults. She is also a contributing editor to Redbook magazine. Mrs. Viorst lives in Washington, D.C., with her husband, Milton, a political writer. They have three sons -- Anthony, Nicholas, and Alexander.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
FIFTEEN, MAYBE SIXTEEN, THINGS TO WORRY ABOUT

My pants could maybe fall down when I dive off the diving board.

My nose could maybe keep growing and never quit.

Miss Brearly could ask me to spell words like stomach and special.

   (Stumick and speshul?)

I could play tag all day and always be "it."

Jay Spievack, who's fourteen feet tall, could want to fight me.

My mom and my dad -- like Ted's -- could want a divorce.

Miss Brearly could ask me a question about Afghanistan.

   (Who's Afghanistan?)

My mother could maybe decide that I needed more liver.

My dad could decide that I needed less TV.

Miss Brearly could say that I have to write in script and stop printing.

Chris could stop being best friends with me.

The world could maybe come to an end on next Tuesday.

The ceiling could maybe come crashing on my head.

I maybe could run out of things for me to worry about.

And then I'd have to do my homework instead.

Copyright © 1981 by Judith Viorst

Customer Reviews

Wonderful for all ages
I, too, got this book in approximately the third grade -- 17 years ago. I am now teaching middle school literature and share this collection with all of my students; I also have given it as a gift to every person under the sun, no matter what their age! It remains, unquestionably, my favorite collection of poetry, if not for its content, then for its sheer simplicity and "perfection." (If you read it, you'll understand what I mean...) Judith Viorst magically captures the sadness, scariness, uncertainty, and immense joys of childhood and adolescence -- her rhymes are clever, too! As I return to these poems as an adult, I find them as applicable today as they were more than ten years ago. Thank you, Ms. Viorst, for such an wonderful book!

I can even top that
I was in the second grade when I first found this book, and subsequently read and memorized each poem. Viorst has an astounding ability to incorporate the hightened emotions of childhood with the reality of aging. She can be whimsical and rhythmic as well as dramatic and mornful. I would recommend buying this for any relative, friend, or yourself no matter what age. I still have my very first copy given to me by my grandmother and have yet to go a year without picking it up. Believe me, it is more than it seems.

One of my long-time favorites
I originally got this book from my grandparents when I was in third grade--16 or 17 years ago. I didn't like it immediately, but a few years later I fell in love with the quick rhymes and the amusing, realistic subject matter. I still have some of them memorized today: "They tell me that I talk too much. I'm trying not to talk too much..." I'm replacing the book now because I've realized that I lost it sometime in the last year, and I still enjoy re-reading it now. Highly recommended!