On the Bus with Rosa Parks: Poems Paperback – April 17, 2000

having read rita dove's selected poems, i know she has written good poems (the adolescence poems, in the old neighborhood, the thomas and beuleh poems), but these poems don't have the same quality of her previous works. the poems in this collection don't have the narrative quality that made thomas and beuleh so good. the cameo sequence of poems is simply a poet trying to be difficult or experimental but not succeeding. the political preachiness wears on the reader after a while.

This book did not meet my need at all. I was looking for poems for young children in my church. If I had been more familiar with the poet's style of writing, I would have known that it was not appropriate. However, the book has become a part of my home library. I hope that someone will enjoy it in the future.