I heart John Grandits

In TECHINICALLY IT'S NOT MY FAULT, Grandits won my undying gratitude for a lovely concrete poem called THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF MURRAY THE FART. How could he possibly top that feat? His latest book of concrete poems manages. BLUE LIPSTICK'S story (yes, the poems form a narrative of sorts) begins on the cover with the story of the selection of blue lipstick and the reaction of family (who cares?) and friends (we SO care). Bad hair, zombie jocks, tongue studs: no topic is unapproachable in this novel collection. I want to scan each and every page to show to folks in the seminars and workshops coming up (I won't, promise). It is a gem of a book, one that should be in all middle school collections.