Awards
- Quick Pick for Reluctant Readers, ALA, 2011
- Americas Commended List, Consortium of Latin American Studies Programs, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, 2011
- Eureka! Children’s Nonfiction Award, Silver Honor, California Reading Association, 2011
- Lasting Connections, Book Links, 2011
Weird
I start to type an e-mail, but
the letters on the screen don't match
the letters I type. I try again,
stare at the screen,
feel I'm in some weird movie
and the machine is possessed,
has learned to read
my mind
and enjoys watching my confusion,
knows I can't tell anyone:
my computer and I
have a secret.
They'll think I'm crazy.
No matter what I do,
the keys type your name.
© 2010 by Pat Mora.
Watch Pat read her poem "Sisters" from Dizzy in Your Eyes, recorded by Sylvia Vardell at the 2010 NCTE conference and posted on her blog, Poetry for Children:
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Dizzy in Your Eyes: Poems About Love
Knopf
Available as an e-book: For Kindle For Nook
Temporarily out of print in hardcover or paperback though copies are available through various sources.
Download a hi-res jpeg of the book jacket.
A collection of fifty poems about love: Shared and unrequited. Lasting a moment and lasting a lifetime. Love for a pet, a sport, music. And love for a boyfriend or girlfriend, family, our world. This collection explores the intensity, pain, and beauty that love brings - from first crush to love's bloom, from a breakup catastrophe to starting over. Love is an experience that makes us think: No one has felt like this. Ever. It can make us look at someone and feel dizzy in his or her eyes.
In these interviews with WETV's ¡Colorín Colorado!, Pat describes why she thinks writing poetry is a natural activity for teens; the experiences she hopes diverse teens will relate to in her poems; and how she decided to write Dizzy in Your Eyes:
Highlighted Reviews
“From family and school to dating and being dumped, the subjects in these 50 poems cover teens’ experiences of love in many voices and situations. Several entries incorporate Spanish words and idioms, as in “Ode to Teachers,” a moving tribute in English with a Spanish translation … Mora writes in free verse, as well as a wide variety of classic poetic forms—including haiku, clerihew, sonnet, cinquain, and blank verse—and for each form, there is an unobtrusive explanatory note on the facing page.The tight structures intensify the strong feelings in the poems, which teens will enjoy reading on their own or hearing aloud in the classroom.”— Booklist
“A lovely collection of poems about the uncertainties of teenage love in all its greatness and through all its varied forms of expression. Mora explores the first love between a girl and a boy, the filial love between a daughter and her father, the fraternal love between sisters, the love of family, friends and teachers, picturing each variation as a strong force that strikes, blesses, empowers and beautifies the lives of the ones touched by its light. The poet’s voice is multifaceted: tender, humorous and joyful but also profound … The author employs an extraordinary diversity of poetic forms, from blank verse to a tanka, a cinquain to an anaphora, a haiku to a triolet and more, short notations adding a learning component for budding poets … A must read for lovestruck teens, whether they’re poets or not.”—Kirkus Reviews
Read more reviews 
“Peppered with Spanish, the selections define the emotion in countless ways. The quiet lyricism of some lines will prompt many readers to roll them over and over on their tongues; this is a world in which a simple smile can make a boy feel as if he’s "swallowed the sun" or one’s worst fear might be a kiss “dull like oatmeal.” Where relevant, poetic form is indicated, defined, and discussed on the adjacent page … The love here is neither hot and heavy nor clichéd, however, but rather a glimpse into the last remaining innocence of the teen years … Teachers in need of a fresh new avenue for teaching poetic form, lovers of language, and teens in search of a broader definition of love will find it here.”—School Library Journal
“Mora employs a variety of voices and forms, including haiku, sonnets, and free verse, in these 50 poems (including one in Spanish) that evoke the states of love. The first-person teenage voices ring true, and so do the emotions, from 'love’s initial rush and confusion, to love’s challenges, heartaches, and quiet sadness …to falling in love again.' ”—Book Links
“Pat Mora explores the intense sensation of teenage love in Dizzy in Your
Eyes: Poems About Love. In 50 poems, Ms. Mora writes about the joys, sorrows and challenges that love can bring … Ms. Mora's poems are nicely organized in an easy-to-read style that will appeal to teen readers, who may even be inspired to try writing their own poetry.”—Scripps Howard News Service
In these interviews with WETV's ¡Colorín Colorado!, Pat shares excerpts from Dizzy, reading the poems "Spanish" and "With Feeling":
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