Most Popular Books by Naomi Shihab Nye

FAMOUS is a short illustrated poem. Both text and illustrations have a charmingly ironic take on what it means to be "famous." At once simple and profound, it "opens minds and hearts." Ironically, it is this famous poet''s most famous poem, with an established fan base! FROM THE POET: Over the years when I visited schools, students of all ages gathering in their libraries or auditoriums would often clamor to ask me, “Are you famous, Miss?” before I even began speaking about writing. The concept confounded me. Of course I could never say “Yes” and I realized that saying “No” might mean they would be less attentive, so I meditated on the oddity of the word and the concept itself and wrote this little poem that I could read whenever they asked. Sometimes they thought I was trying to trick them. Huh? Sometimes they laughed. But they always paid good attention afterwards, and I liked that the poem might bend their idea of what the word even means. Sometimes I started by saying “Everything is famous if you notice it. Sure, here’s my answer.” I think the poem has served me well. My biggest surprise has been, everyone always wants me to read this poem. I guess it is one of my three most often-requested poems. Teachers always mention it. Parents have told me they copy it on graduation cards for their high school seniors. I’ve seen it hand-printed on posters in many classrooms. Students participating in UIL public speaking competitions often recite it. It’s been printed on more than one standardized test. I allow it to be printed because I like to imagine students can have friendly moments even while taking ominous tests. Book artist Lisa Desimini, whose work I cherish and delight in, honored me by wanting to illustrate this poem and create a visual experience for the poem as well. Lisa and I imagine Famous as a possible gift book for people of all ages. People who have been famous to us, whom we wish to encourage, who are at a crossroads, who are graduating, w

In You and Yours, Naomi Shihab Nye continues her conversation with ordinary people whose lives become, through her empathetic use of poetic language, extraordinary. Nye writes of local life in her inner-city Texas neighborhood, about rural schools and urban communities she''s visited in this country, as well as the daily rituals of Jews and Palestinians who live in the war-torn Middle East. The Day I missed the day on which it was said others should not have certain weapons, but we could. Not only could, but should, and do. I missed that day. Was I sleeping? I might have been digging in the yard, doing something small and slow as usual. Or maybe I wasn''t born yet. What about all the other people who aren''t born? Who will tell them? Balancing direct language with a suggestive "aslantness," Nye probes the fragile connection between language and meaning. She never shies from the challenge of trying to name the mysterious logic of childhood or speak truth to power in the face of the horrors of war. She understands our lives are marked by tragedy, inequity, and misunderstanding, and that our best chance of surviving our losses and shortcomings is to maintain a heightened awareness of the sacred in all things. Naomi Shihab Nye, poet, editor, anthologist, is a recipient of writing fellowships from the Lannan and Guggenheim foundations. Nye''s work has been featured on PBS poetry specials including NOW with Bill Moyers, The Language of Life with Bill Moyers, and The United States of Poetry. She has traveled abroad as a visiting writer on three Arts America tours sponsored by the United States Information Agency. In 2001 she received a presidential appointment to the National Council of the National Endowment for the Humanities. She lives in San Antonio, Texas.

“Nye once again deftly charts the world through verse.”—Kirkus Reviews (starred review) “A beautifully constructed, thoughtful, and inspiring collection.”—School Library Journal (starred review) Young People’s Poet Laureate and National Book Award Finalist Naomi Shihab Nye’s uncommon and unforgettable voice offers readers peace, humor, inspiration, and solace. This volume of almost one hundred original poems is a stunning and engaging tribute to the diverse voices past and present that comfort us, compel us, lead us, and give us hope. “I think the air is full of voices. If we slow down and practice listening, we hear those voices better. They live on in us. Inspiration? We need it every day. We deserve it. It is essential, like food, water, clean air, shelter. Here are some poems celebrating the voices that have changed my life and continue to do so.”—Naomi Shihab Nye, Award-winning poet and author Voices in the Air is a collection of almost one hundred original poems written by the award-winning poet Naomi Shihab Nye in honor of the artists, writers, poets, historical figures, ordinary people, and diverse luminaries from past and present who inspire her and us. Full of words of encouragement, solace, and hope, this collection offers a message of peace and empathy. Voices in the Air focuses on the inspirational people who strengthen and motivate us to create, to open our hearts, and to live rewarding and graceful lives. With short informational bios about the influential figures behind each poem, and a transcendent introduction by the poet, this is a collection to cherish, read again and again, and share with others. Featuring black-and-white spot art throughout, as well as brief bios of the “voices,” an index, and an introduction by the author.

Life is a tangle of twisting paths. Some short. Some long. There are dead ends. And there are choices. And wrong turns, and detours, and yield signs, and instruction booklets, and star maps, and happiness, and loneliness. And friends. And sisters. And love. And poetry. Life is a maze. You are a maze. Amazed. And amazing.

A Young People’s Poet Laureate’s “striking use of everyday images and timely themes makes this free verse collection meaningful, memorable, and accessible” (Kirkus Reviews, starred review). This celebratory book collects in one volume award-winning and beloved poet Naomi Shihab Nye’s most popular poems. Featuring new, never-before-published poems; an introduction by bestselling poet and author Edward Hirsch, as well as a foreword and writing tips by the poet; and stunning artwork by bestselling artist Rafael López, Everything Comes Next is essential for poetry readers, classroom teachers, and library collections. Everything Comes Next is a treasure chest of Naomi Shihab Nye’s most beloved poems, and features favorites such as “Famous” and “A Valentine for Ernest Mann,” as well as widely shared pieces such as “Kindness” and “Gate A-4.” The book is an introduction to the poet’s work for new readers, as well as a comprehensive edition for classroom and family sharing. Writing prompts and tips by the award-winning poet make this an outstanding choice for aspiring poets of all ages. “The poet’s voice is, as always, distinct and inquisitive and hopeful, sometimes playful, sometimes tender, sometimes both . . . Compelling.” —Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books “A substantial volume of poems by Nye . . . A pleasure on many fronts. . . . Warm, welcoming, [and] inclusive . . . Lucky the reader who would have this collection lying around for visiting and revisiting.” —Horn Book Magazine “A brilliant collection of poems about the essence of human connection....A spectacular book for all collections. An essential purchase. —School Library Journal

From the acclaimed poet and National Book Award finalist, “a sparkling book of travel and childhood: born on the bridge between two cultures” (Paulette Jiles, New York Times–bestselling author). In Never in a Hurry the poet Naomi Shihab Nye resist the American inclination to “leave toward places when we barely had time enough to get there.” Instead she travels the world at an observant pace, talking to strangers and introducing readers to an endearing assemblage of eccentric neighbors, Filipina faith healers, dry-cleaning proprietors, and other quirky characters. A Palestinian-American who lives in a Mexican-American neighborhood, Nye speaks for the mix of people and places that can be called the “American Experience.” From St. Louis, the symbolic “Gateway to the West,” she embarks on a westward migration to examine America, past and present, and to glimpse into the lives of its latest outsiders—illegal immigrants from Mexico and troubled inner-city children. In other essays Nye ventures beyond North America’s bounds, telling of a year in her childhood spent in Palestine and of an adulthood filled with cross-cultural quests. Whether recounting the purchase of a car on the island of Oahu or a camel-back ride through India’s Thar Desert, Nye writes in wry, refreshing tones about themes that transcend borders and about the journey that remains the greatest of all—the journey from outside to in as the world enters each one of us, as we learn to see. “The generous gift of a writer at the top of her form, a book jammed with vivid sights and pungent tastes and wonderful stories.” —Marion Winik, author of Above Us Only Sky

Fourteen-year-old Liyana Abboud would rather not have to change her life...especially now that she has been kissed, for the very first time and quite by surprise, by a boy named Jackson. But when her parents announce that Liyana''s family is moving from St. Louis, Missouri, to Jerusalem -- to the land where her father was born -- Liyana''s whole world shifts. What does Jerusalem hold for Liyana? A grandmother, a Sitti, she has never met, for one. A history much bigger than she is. Visits to the West Bank village where her aunts and uncles live. Mischief. Old stone streets that wind through time and trouble. Opening doors, dark jail cells, a new feeling for peace, and Omer...the intriguing stranger whose kisses replace the one she lost when she moved across the ocean.

A collection of poems that find meaning in a world where we are "so tired of meaning nothing", "Fuel" covers topics ranging from the border families of southern Texas to small ferns and forgotten books to Jews and Palestinians in the Middle East.

“Nye at her engaging, insightful best.” —Kirkus Reviews (starred review) 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. Includes ideas for writing, recycling, and reclaiming, and an index.

A collection of poetry in which the author draws from ordinary people and events for subject matter.

With themes of family, love, kindness, empathy, grief, growing up, and resilience, these one hundred never-before-published poems by the beloved poet, speaker, and teacher Naomi Shihab Nye will resonate with a wide audience. National Book Award finalist and former Young People’s Poet Laureate Naomi Shihab Nye’s Grace Notes: Poems about Families celebrates family and community. This rich collection of one hundred never-before-published poems is also the poet’s most personal work to date. With poems about her own childhood and school years, her parents and grandparents, and the people who have touched and shaped her life in so many ways, this is an emotional and sparkling collection to savor, share, and read again and again.

The editor of The Same Sky: A Collection of Poems from Around the World now presents a richly layered story of an Arab-American girl who travels wit h her father to the Middle East to visit her grandmother for the first time. Illustrated with full-color, multimedia art throughout.

Memorable, moving, vivid, prickly, funny, and honest, these short poems speakto the heart and will delight, surprise, and inspire young writers and poetrylovers of all ages. Full color.

A multicultural anthology of poems represents the poetic voices, observations, traditions, and stories of people from some sixty countries around the world.

“Celebrates the power of human connections.”—School Library Journal (starred review) “Humorous, sensitive, and poignant.”—Kirkus Reviews (starred review) The stand-alone companion to National Book Award Finalist and beloved poet Naomi Shihab Nye’s The Turtle of Oman. The Turtle of Michigan is a deft and accessible novel that follows a young boy named Aref as he travels from Muscat, Oman, to Ann Arbor, Michigan, and adjusts to a new life and a new school in the United States. A wonderful pick for young middle grade readers and fans of Kevin Henkes, Erin Entrada Kelly, and Meg Medina. Aref is excited for his journey from Oman to the United States, where he will reunite with his father in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Aref makes a friend on an airplane, wonders what Michigan will be like, and starts school in the United States. While he does miss his grandfather, his Sidi, Aref knows that his home in Oman will always be waiting for him. Award-winning author Naomi Shihab Nye’s highly anticipated sequel to The Turtle of Oman explores immigration, family, and what it means to feel at home. Carrying a suitcase and memories of Oman, Aref experiences the excitement and nervousness that accompany moving to a new home and new school. The Turtle of Michigan is a great choice for reading aloud as well as a perfect read-alone for younger middle grade readers. Illustrated in black-and-white throughout.

“Nye’s sheer joy in communicating, creativity, and caring shine through.”—Kirkus Reviews A moving and celebratory poetry collection from Young People’s Poet Laureate and National Book Award Finalist Naomi Shihab Nye. This resonant volume explores the similarities we share with the people around us—family, friends, and complete strangers. Honey. Beeswax. Pollinate. Hive. Colony. Work. Dance. Communicate. Industrious. Buzz. Sting. Cooperate. Where would we be without honeybees? Where would we be without one another? In eighty-two poems and paragraphs (including the renowned Gate A-4), Naomi Shihab Nye alights on the essentials of our time—our loved ones, our dense air, our wars, our memories, our planet—and leaves us feeling curiously sweeter and profoundly soothed. Includes an introduction by the poet.

Internationally celebrated poet places her Palestinian-American identity center stage, putting a human face on war, honoring courage, praying for peace.

"I am a poet," I said. "It is my destiny to do strange things." My father gripped the wheel of his car. "I am the chauffeur for foolishness." We said no more. Foolhardy missions. Life-altering conversations. Gifts—given and received. Loss. Getting lost. Wisdom delivered before dawn and deep into the night. Love and kissing (not necessarily in that order). Laughter. Rides on the edge. Roses. Ghosts. As a traveling poet and visiting teacher, Naomi Shihab Nye has spent a considerable amount of time in cars, both driving and being driven. Her observations, stories, encounters, and escapades—and the kernels of truth she gathers from them—are laugh-out-loud funny, deeply moving, and unforgettable. Buckle up.

Florrie''s favorite coffee shop, with its open mike night, dreamy candles, and cute waiters ... Going? The mysterious little hut selling fresh lemon ice on the west side of town ... Going? The boutique featuring clothes you don''t find at the mall, allowing you to look like ... an interesting person ... Going? Individuality. Originality. Quality. Independence. Opportunity. Going, going, gone. What''s a girl to do?

When her mother takes her out in her stroller, a toddler encounters a variety of things, people, and animals.

They are inspiring talented stunning remarkable wise They are also fearless depressed hilarious impatient in love out of love pissed off And they want you to let them in.

What have you lost? A friend? A brother? A wallet? A memory? A meaning? A year? Each Night Images, dream news, fragments, flash then fade. These darkened walls. Here, I say. Climb into this story. Be remembered! Jay Bremyer 00-01 Tayshas High School Reading List Notable Children''s Trade Books in the Field of Social Studies 2000, National Council for SS & Child. Book Council, 2000 Best Books for Young Adults (ALA), 00 Riverbank Review Magazine''s Children''s Books of Distinction Award Nominations, Winner 2000 Lee Bennett Hopkins Poetry Award, and 01 Riverbank Review Magazine''s Children''s Books of Distinction Award Nominations

A journey can lead east and west, from north to south, up, down, over, under, in between, and next to. A journey can last a minute, an hour, a year, a month, a lifetime. A journey might be slow or fast or both. A journey might be shining. One journey could remind you of another one. Are you sliding? Stumbling? Floating? Maybe it all depends on your point of view. Where -- and how -- will these sixteen poems take you? Winner 2000 Lee Bennett Hopkins Poetry Award

ALA Notable Book: A “warm and humorous” novel of a boy’s much-dreaded move from the Middle East to Michigan with his parents (Kirkus Reviews, starred review). Aref Al-Amri does not want to leave Oman. He does not want to leave his elementary school, his friends, or his beloved grandfather, Sidi. He does not want to live in Ann Arbor, Michigan, where his parents will go to graduate school. His mother is desperate for him to pack his suitcase, but he refuses. Finally, she calls Sidi for help. But rather than pack, Aref and Sidi go on a series of adventures. They visit the camp of a thousand stars deep in the desert, they sleep on Sidi’s roof, they fish in the Gulf of Oman and dream about going to India, and they travel to the nature reserve to watch the sea turtles. At each stop, Sidi finds a small stone that he later slips into Aref’s suitcase—mementos of home. Acclaimed poet and National Book Award finalist Naomi Shihab Nye’s warmth, attention to detail, and belief in the power of empathy and connection shines from every page of this story following Aref Al-Amri as he says goodbye to Muscat, Oman and prepares for a journey to an unfamiliar world. “Richly rewarding.” —School Library Journal “Deeply moving.” —Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books “Nye’s story about the special bond between a boy and his grandfather and their mutual love for their country is somehow both quiet and exhilarating.” —Horn Book (starred review) A Winner of the Middle East Book Award Includes bonus material from the author and art by Betsy Peterschmidt

This extraordinary anthology features the work of 64 Mexican writers and artists, among them Octavio Paz, Rodolfo Morales, and Leticia Tarrago, as well as those having their work published in the U.S. for the first time. The 102 poems and stories are presented in the original Spanish and in translation. Full color.

In these forty life-altering, life-affirming, and extremely short short stories, the award-winning poet Naomi Shihab Nye proposes that no matter how great the divide between friends, siblings, life and death, classmates, enemies, happiness and misery, war and peace, breakfast and lunch, parent and child, country and city, there is, in fact, no long distance. Not anymore.

A collection of poems in which the author draws upon her experiences as a Palestinian-American living in the Southwest, and her travels in Central America, the Middle East, and Asia, to comment upon the shared humanity of different cultures throughout the world.

This volume collects for the first time in one place, all of Naomi Shihab Nye''s poems about the Middle East, about peace, about being an Arab American in the United States.

An award-winning anthology of paired poems by men and women. In this insightful anthology, the editors grouped almost 200 poems into pairs to demonstrate the different ways in which male and female poets see the same topics. How women see men, how boys see girls, and how we all see the world—often in very different ways, but surprisingly, wonderfully, sometimes very much the same.

A collection of prose poems that cover topics such as library cards and obituaries.

"In the current literary scene, one of the most heartening influences is the work of Naomi Shihab Nye. Her poems combine transcendent liveliness and sparkle along with warmth and human insight. She is a champion of the literature of encouragement and heart. Reading her work enhances life."-- William Stafford Dusk where is the name no one answered to gone off to live by itself beneath the pine trees separating the houses without a friend or a bed without a father to tell it stories how hard was the path it walked on all those years belonging to none of our struggles drifting under the calendar page elusive as residue when someone said how have you been it was strangely that name that tried to answer Naomi Shihab Nye has spent thirty-five years traveling the world to lead writing workshops and inspire students of all ages. In her newest collection Transfer she draws on her Palestinian American heritage, the cultural diversity of her home in Texas, and her extensive travel experiences to create a poetry collection that attests to our shared humanity. Among her awards, Naomi Shihab Nye has been a Lannan Fellow, a Guggenheim Fellow, and a Witter Bynner Fellow. She has received a Lavan Award from the Academy of American Poets, the Isabella Gardner Poetry Award, the Paterson Poetry Prize, and four Pushcart prizes. In January 2010, she was elected to the board of chancellors of the Academy of American Poets.

A collection of poetry and full-color artwork from Texas.

An early chapbook by Texas''s most beloved poet, now an international literary figure.

Gorgeous illustrations surround a collection of poetry written for children about the magic, beauty, and promise of sea voyages.

Naomi Shihab Nye has been writing about being Arab-American, about Jerusalem, about the West Bank, about family all her life. These new and collected poems of the Middle East -- sixty in all -- appear together here for the first time.