Pink Tennis Shoes

The voice in Janice Morgan's compelling poetry collection, Pink Tennis Shoes, ranges from a grandmother-in-training, trying to determine where she fits into a granddaughter's haphazard existence, to an adoring companion for the unfolding adventures of childhood, including making a fort in the living room, putting puzzles together, and first swim lessons. Images of mermaids, caterpillars, and butterflies are interspersed with the harsher realities of poverty, addiction, and a loving but absent son and father. Dedicated to "all the grandparents out there doing their best to take care of the kids," Pink Tennis Shoes manages to endure the ups and downs: story weather alongside sun-drenched summer days and sometimes waking up in the dark at 3 a.m. These are poems for all seasons.

Constance Alexander

Civic journalist, dramatist, and poet

The poetry in Pink Tennis Shoes reads like an intriguing novel of love and discovery. At Morgan presents us with "stories within stories/moments within moments," she draws us into a whole world full of people we recognize- strong, sometimes troubled but always hopeful. Within Morgan's stories we begin to see "It's the light shining through that creates the beauty." A wonderful collection I will never forget.

Victoria Woolf Bailey

Author of Cannibalism and the Copenhagen

Interpretation, a Love Story