{"title":"Books by Ron Koertge","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"9781636282930","title":"Pandora's Kitchen","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eNATIONALLY-HONORED POET\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePOET LAUREATE OF SOUTH PASADENA, CALIFORNIA\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePUSHCART PRIZE WINNER\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eRon Koertge explores human fragility throughout history in his poetry collection, \u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cem\u003ePANDORA’S KITCHEN\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e“Moral certainties and stereotypes vanish in these sly\/subversive, satiric\/tender, achingly funny\/humane poems.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cem\u003e”–Amy Gerstler\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e“They are poetry at its best, causing his readers to laugh, think, and feel anew.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cem\u003e”–Billy Collins, former US poet laureate. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe subjects in Ron Koertge’s poems include Hades’ unhappy wife Persephone, Nancy Drew, and Dracula’s Wives.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003eThe subjects in Ron Koertge’s poems include Hades’ unhappy wife Persephone, Nancy Drew, and Dracula’s Wives. He has located Jane Austen at the mall, comforted the sun itself, and celebrated a winning day at the races. In an early poem, he extols his chosen vocation by saying this: “It’s so great to be a poet. I’m basically self-employed with nobody to please but myself.” Yet pleasing his many fans is at the top of his Things-To-Do list. That is why poets from Billy Collins to B. H. Fairchild have called his poems masterful, quirky, deliciously sly, inventive and surprisingly sweet.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56369059561845,"sku":"9781636282930","price":12.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9781636282930_e7e155b5-3919-46fb-babd-8894214be178.jpg?v=1786034459"},{"product_id":"a-day-at-the-beach","title":"A Day at the Beach","description":"\u003cp\u003eFrom two-time Newbery honoree Gary D. Schmidt and two-time PEN Award winner Ron Koertge comes a moving and often laugh-out-loud funny middle grade novel about family, friendship, and belonging, told by a group of kids spending a day at the beach.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eNow available in paperback!\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eHere’s what’s so cool about the beach. Kids are everywhere! Kids you know, kids you want to know. Wandering from one blanket to another, from one family to another. Somebody’s mom reads a fat summer novel. Somebody’s dad snores with an iPad on his chest. Babies cry. Girls laugh. Frisbee players whoop! Kites in the perfect blue sky. Some kids bodysurf. Some don’t even like the water. They build sand cities for their friends and sand jails for the grown-ups, and when the tide comes in everything gets washed away. There’s the other world, where all kids hear is tomorrow, next week, next year. And then there’s the beach, where everything is right now! Why can’t every day be a day at the beach?\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThoughtful vignettes brilliantly weave together an irresistible tale of tween conflict and connections.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57495469097333,"sku":"9780063380936","price":7.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9780063380936.jpg?v=1790000894"},{"product_id":"how-beautiful-the-ordinary","title":"How Beautiful the Ordinary","description":"A dozen original stories of love, sexual orientation, and gender identity from twelve of the most acclaimed authors of young adult literature.   A girl thought to be a boy steals her sister's skirt, while a boy thought to be a girl refuses to wear a cornflower blue dress. One boy's love of a soldier leads to the death of a stranger. The present takes a bittersweet journey into the past when a man revisits the summer school where he had \"an accidental romance.\" And a forgotten mother writes a poignant letter to the teenage daughter she hasn't seen for fourteen years.   Poised between the past and the future are the stories of now. In nontraditional narratives, short stories, and brief graphics, tales of anticipation and regret, eagerness and confusion present distinctively modern views of love, sexuality, and gender identity. Together, they reflect the vibrant possibilities available for young people learning to love others—and themselves—in today's multifaceted and quickly changing world.","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57495558619509,"sku":"9780061155024","price":8.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}]}],"url":"https:\/\/backstory.london\/collections\/author-ron-koertge.oembed","provider":"Backstory","version":"1.0","type":"link"}