Franco, Betsy, Falling Hard: 100
Love Poems by Teachers. Massachusetts: Candlewick Press, 2008.
ISBN: 978-0-7636-3437-7
Betsy Franco is the author
of a lot of very deep poetry! Falling Hard is a compilation of poems about
love, written by young adults. I am a fan of Betsy Franco. She has a very
different attitude in her books. I like how up front she is and how bold her
work can be. This is definitely the case with Falling Hard. Ms. Franco has put together quite an edgy group of
poems for young adults. The topics range from things like falling in love,
missing love, finding love, and all that is between. Betsy Franco’s Falling
Hard is absolutely intended for an older audience. I would feel comfortable
with high school students being familiar with this book.
The different types of
poetry keep Franco’s book versatile. We can read through poems that rhyme,
poems that don’t rhyme, free verse, etc. Due to the fact that there were so
many different types of poetry, it seems as though the reader would get lost in
the variety. Fortunately, that
common theme of heart-felt, raw experience kept the reader in tune with the
theme.
Below I’ve listed a few of
my favorite selections from Falling Hard.
Love Poem
I am
the flour
to your tortilla
baby.
Juan Nunez, age 15
Love Poem is a favorite of mine
because many of the poems in this book can be sad and heavy. This is a fun and
silly poem! I would love to see what other poems students could come up with
like “You are the icing to my cupcake” or “the cheese to my macaroni”… great
practice on similies!
Untitled
Every time he gets around me
I fall weak
Trip on my words
Suddenly can’t speak
The way he licks his lips
Soft and wet
My palms get sweaty
My heart jets
He inspires me
To be everything I can
It’s crazy how I feel this way
About another man
He calls my name
Like the lyrics to a love song
Carried to me by Cupid
Nothing can go wrong
When I look at him, same body as me
I get scared and back away
Somehow, he makes me smile again
and the feelings I have convince me
to stay
Aljune, Age 17
This is a more of a ‘love poem’…
something I would expect to hear from a young adult or 17 year old. As I
mentioned previously, reading the majority of these poems would be most
appropriate for older students. These two poems are a great example of the
versatility of this book. Overall, I would definitely have this book in a high
school collection.
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