Cast Away: Poems for Our Time by Naomi Shihab Nye

Summary from Goodreads:

Acclaimed poet and Young People’s Poet Laureate Naomi Shihab Nye shines a spotlight on the things we cast away, from plastic water bottles to those less fortunate, in this collection of more than eighty original and never-before-published poems. A deeply moving, sometimes funny, and always provocative poetry collection for all ages.

 “How much have you thrown away in your lifetime already? Do you ever think about it? Where does this plethora of leavings come from? How long does it take you, even one little you, to fill the can by your desk?” ? Naomi Shihab Nye

National Book Award Finalist, Young People’s Poet Laureate, and devoted trash-picker-upper Naomi Shihab Nye explores these questions and more in this original collection of poetry that features more than eighty new poems. “I couldn’t save the world, but I could pick up trash,” she says in her introduction to this stunning volume.

With poems about food wrappers, lost mittens, plastic straws, refugee children, trashy talk, the environment, connection, community, responsibility to the planet, politics, immigration, time, junk mail, trash collectors, garbage trucks, all that we carry and all that we discard, this is a rich, engaging, moving, and sometimes humorous collection for readers ages twelve to adult.

Review:

I love Naomi Shihab Nye. I love her book, Habibi. I love her stories and her poetry. When I saw she wrote a book of poetry for kids, about trash, it appealed to me. I know I throw away too many things. Two years ago, I made the small goal of giving up paper plates and plastic cups in my household. Sadly, we used to use them all the time. We of course recycle the millions of seltzer cans we go through (and we do own a machine that allows us to make our own seltzer now too).  But, I want to do better.

As someone who has lived in urban, suburban, and rural places, you notice trash differences where you go. And as mentioned in a poem in this book, you notice how much waste you create as you get older and are responsible for getting rid of it. One of the things I always notice about the place I live now (which is more rural) is what gets cast away on the side of the highway and on the beach. At one point, I started keeping track of all the odd things I saw out my window. Unlike this author, I don’t always pick them up…(well, I don’t necessarillly advise this on a highway). But, just the idea that I’m fascinated by the same thing that she is, made me feel connected to her.

I’m not sure all of the poems in this book are child friendly. But, I think maybe that makes this more appealing to kids. Nye is trusting young people with politics, with trash talk, with words she wants to throw away (not just items). She’s not sugar coating everything for a young audience. And in a way, I respect her for this even more. I guess if a kid doesn’t understand something, they can just move to the next poem, or come back to it later. My favorite poem from the book was put on the back! I didn’t realize this until I finished it. From page 140:
                        Nothing

                        Nothing a child
                        ever does
                        is trash.
                        It is
                        practice.

Some poems spoke more to me than others. Some made me think about all the trash I throw or don’t throw away. Some made me think. Some I didn’t get. Some were about being a grandparent or living in a place I’ve never been to. But, overall, I feel like I connected to the message of the book. And I’m glad I found it. I give it an 8/10.