Rating: 
Summary: Do you five-star people actually read real poetry?
Review: My heart goes out to Mattie Stepanek and his family. He was certainly a brave soul. He was not, however, a poet. His poetry is trite, not at all surprising, and full of cliches. The fact that he's died does not lift his poetry to the level of, say, Sharon Oliver, Sylvia Plath, Galway Kinnell, Mary Oliver, or Charles Bukowski--poets whose work will be read hundreds of years from now.It would not surprise me a bit to find that you five-star people haven't read any of the poets I've mentioned above. Maybe you should. It's just possible you'll see what "real" poetry is all about. T.M. Wright
Rating: 
Summary: Kids who haven't yet lived
Review: The reviewers who have posted negative and malicious reviews are nothing but children who have inflated views of themselves and who haven't yet lived. Mattie was 13 years old when he died. He wrote poetry since he was a young child. He cannot be expected to have the "polish" of writers who were/are much older. Anyone who has a child can appreciate the sophistication and accomplishment of Mattie's words. Furthermore, a child who is living with a disease such as Muscular Dystrophy and knows that he will die before he becomes an adult, has a prospective that most of us can never understand. (...)
Rating: 
Summary: It's a fair question.
Review: to ask if these if these exact same poems would have a chance of getting published anywhere if there author was not a little boy dying of a serious illness. These poems are better than many I have read by thousands of teenage poets and even a few adults, but they are still on the whole simple, abstract, sentimental. Not enough for Stepanek to be proclaimed a great poet. An inspiration, maybe, but lets be honest about the poetry.
Rating:
Summary: Mattie is GREAT!!
Review: To the person who gave this book one star and said that this is not poetry and is literary trash, you are completely wrong. All you are is jealous because Mattie got more publicity than you probably will ever get. Mattie is one of the most inspirational kids I have ever known. His poems are some of the greatest I have ever read. Anyways who are you to judge someone. Unless you have a gavel and a black robe you shouldn't be judging anyone on anything.
Rating:
Summary: Cliche
Review: Whenever someone dies, everyone feels that it is necessary to shower the person with praise. Though well intentioned, saying that this poetry is any good is an insult to any struggling young poets out there. I know that he was sick, and I know that he was young, but give me a break. This poetry is so hacky.
Rating:
Summary: Heartsongs
Review: You cannot believe this book and young 11 year old author. For his remarkable story see VSPbooks.com. Amazon has the best price, but his story is worth reading on VSP. I saw him on Book Talk show on c-Span Sept, 1st, and could not believe my ears and eyes. He is in Children's Hosp. in Maryland. His mom lives therE with him. She was diagnosed with a form of MD in 1992, Lost 2 children from it aT a young age, and now has 3 others who were also born with it. Mattie is the writer...mom does research and writes technical material, and is very well spoken, but it is the boy's command of the English Language and his self-expression that is nohing short of ASTOUNDING...read the book and weep....with joy and inspiration. There is no way of knowing how long he will live, nor his siblings, as it is progressive. Another book is coming out in Sept,
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