You Don't Have to Be Everything: Poems for Girls Becoming Themselves

Poems to Turn to Again and Again - from Amanda Gorman, Sharon Olds, Kate Baer, and More Created and compiled just for young women, You Don't Have to Be Everything is filled with works by a wide range of poets who are honest, unafraid, and skilled at addressing the complex feelings of coming-of-age, from loneliness to joy, longing to solace, attitude to humor. These unintimidating poems offer girls a message of self-acceptance and strength, giving them permission to let go of shame and perfectionism. The cast of 68 poets is extraordinary: Amanda Gorman, the first National Youth Poet Laureate, who read at Joe Biden's inauguration; bestselling authors like Maya Angelou, Elizabeth Acevedo, Sharon Olds, Naomi Shihab Nye, and Mary Oliver; Instagram-famous poets including Kate Baer, Melody Lee, and Andrea Gibson; poets who are LGBTQ, poets of diverse racial and cultural backgrounds, poets who sing of human experience in ways that are free from conventional ideas of femininity. Illustrated in full color with work by three diverse artists, this book is an inspired gift for daughters and granddaughters-and anyone on the path to becoming themselves. No matter how old you are, it helps to be young when you're coming to life, to be unfinished, a mysterious statement, a journey from star to star. -Joy Ladin, excerpt from "Survival Guide" A contemporary poetry anthology that offers girls and young women wisdom and compassion for a vital, formative time in their lives. Diana Whitney writes across genres with a focus on feminism, motherhood, and sexuality. Her first book, Wanting It, became an indie bestseller in poetry. Her essays have appeared in the New York Times, Glamour, the Washington Post, and many more. A feminist activist in her Vermont hometown and beyond, Diana works as an editor and a yoga teacher. diana-whitney.com HOW TO BE REAL: Poets and poems Aria Aber, "Self Portrait as Wounded Doe of Artemis." Elizabeth Acevedo, "Night Before First Day of School." Kim Addonizio, "'What Do Women Want?'" Maya Angelou, "Phenomenal Woman" Margaret Atwood, "Flying Inside Your Own Body" Angélica María Aguilera, "in critique of modesty." Leslie Marie Aguilar, "Event Horizon." Kate Baer, "For My Daughter on a Bad Day." Blythe Baird, "When the Fat Girl Gets Skinny." S. Erin Batiste, "Questions Asked to Me When I Was Ten." Tamiko Beyer, "And if by invisibility." Sheila Black, "What You Mourn." Paige Buffington, "Away From Home." Holly Burdorff, "Song to Elise." Stephanie Burt, "Final Exam Stephanie" Marci Calabretta Cancio-Bello, "Origin/Adoption." Kayleb Rae Candrilli, "On Crescents & Transitions & Waning." Leila Chatti, "Confession" Franny Choi, "Solitude" Lucille Clifton, "Homage to My Hips." Dominique Christina, "The Period Poem." Natalie Diaz, "Why I Hate Raisins" Amy Dryansky, "Lost & Found." Denise Duhamel, "I've Been Known." Safia Elhillo, "Ode to Gossips." Joshua Jennifer Espinoza, "Flowers #3." Tarfia Faizullah, "Self-Portrait as Mango" M. J. Fievre, "I Will Practice Self-Talk." Andrea Gibson, "No Filter." Nikita Gill, "Wolf and Woman." Wendy Guerra, "Playing Hide and Seek." Joy Harjo, "For Keeps." Rage Hezekiah, "On Anger." JP Howard, "What to Say to a Friend Who Wants to Give Up." Marie Howe, "Practicing." Laura Kasischke, "Bike Ride With Older Boys." Sarah Kay, "On the Discomfort of Being in the Same Room as the Boy You Like." Jane Kenyon, "Insomnia" Joy Ladin, "Survival Guide." Dorianne Laux, "Fast Gas" Melody Lee, "Growing Up." Ada Limon, "How to Triumph Like a Girl." Lynn Melnick, "Landscape With Cli