Holes in My Underwear: Over 100 Poems That Will Knock Your Socks Off

Gr 6-8–The author’s note at the beginning states that the poems in the book are written for and vetted by middle school students. Perhaps it is no surprise that by the fifth poem, “Belly Button,” readers have already encountered daydreams, doodles, and how holding in a fart can turn a belly button from an innie to an outie. There is a wild amount of imagination at play throughout the collection. Generally written to entertain first and provoke thought second, many of these zany poems are a part of a friendly, fun batch for readers looking for relatable, casual, and occasionally irreverent material. However, despite the title, not all poems will knock readers’ socks off. While many of the poems flow with a bouncy, spoken-word type of elasticity, some fall flat under the weight of stilted lines: for example, “They call me ‘Kid Sir Nope-A-Lot,’/ cuz I don’t do things/ that I care to not.” Several of the shorter poems end up feeling more underdeveloped than sharpened by brevity. Collectively, there are enough poems that feel unpolished or thin to dilute the overall fun of it. While many may be a hit with the middle school crowd, the collection is uneven.