Traveling the Blue Road: Poems of the Sea

Hopkins compiles 14 previously unpublished poems connected to major sea voyages in this arresting collection, which features Margarita Engle, Paul B. Janeczko, J. Patrick Lewis, G. Neri, Jane Yolen, and others. Stretching from the 15th century to the present day, the poems reflect on sea voyages that include Columbus’s trek west, the travels of the Mayflower and Titanic, the slave trade (“I was hiding in the bush when Papa got killed,” begins Marilyn Nelson’s “Kidnapped by Aliens”), and the desperate journeys of contemporary refugees. “They are the bravest people on earth right now,/ don’t dare look down on them,” writes Naomi Shihab Nye. The Hansmans—a father-son illustrator team—blend archival images into their dramatic mixed-media collages, and endnotes provide historical background on each voyage. Ages 8–12. (Oct.)