Reel Reading for Real Readers: October Mourning

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It's April and the display ideas, special events and activities, and poetry slams are blowing up the school library blogosphere.  We love National Poetry Month.





Today's book trailer features a novel told through verse, October Mourning, that relates the events of October 6th, 1998 when gay teenager, Mathew Shephard, was lured from a bar, savagely beaten, tied to a fence post, and left to die.  Leslea Newman employs multiple points of view and verse to create a poignant homage and raise awareness of the tragedy.

Sometimes, poetry is the only means to express what our hearts are feeling.  Sometimes, poetry can turn the darkest, ugliest, most tragic moments into opportunities for personal and spiritual growth.