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PRAISE FOR CLEVER GRETEL"In Clever Gretel, Jennifer Dotson's poems transform the straw of everyday womanhood to that which glows with the luminosity of simple truth. Utilizing a playful sense of the magically real, she sleuths for meaning-- in misplaced glasses, in the chipped veneer of Art Deco dressers, in the empty jar of celery salt, in her nightmare "plummet into space." As a reader I peered through the window of Jennifer's words into the grace of family life and her 'fortune shone on me.'"Maureen Tolman Flannery, author of Ancestors in the Landscape"Clever Gretel explores life's loves, losses, anxieties and joys in a voice sagacious yet candid enough to discuss acne over a latte. Even Dotson's forays into the worlds of mythology and superheroes stay grounded in the contemporary problems of junk mail and low-carb diets. In one poem the speaker says of the Muse, 'I don't remember what she looks like'-- but you will certainly find her here in this refreshing debut." Tania Runyan, author of Delicious Air (Finishing Line Press).Chicago Poetry Press supports the continued production of books that are made out of paper and that are read from a page; this is why Clever Gretel is not currently available as an e-book. Chicago Poetry Press promises to publish quality poetry, beautifully published and reasonably priced.

Jennifer Dotson's poems-as-monologues range from subjects broadly cultural to intimately personal-say, Demeter, Jack and the Beanstalk, and the poet's trials with driving lessons. Delivered with self-effacing wit and deft comedic timing, the "talk" readers encounter here arrives casually if paradoxically within an array of traditional poetic forms. What's notable is how transparent such forms appear, each the apposite vessel for a poem's chitchat. Kevin Stein, Illinois Poet Laureate 2003-2017 With a "guest list" that includes the Bionic Woman, Dionysus (in crisis) and a teenaged Jesus, Late Night Talk Show Fantasy is a fun, funny, and insightful collection perfect for curling up with in bed. Dotson's poems are often surprising and always accessible, inviting the reader not just as an observer, but as an engaged participant. In essence, it's a pleasure to join in as this "world-famous poet/drinks the champagne/and rides the bubbles." Jan Bottiglieri, author of Everything Seems Significant: the Blade Runner Poems and Alloy In Late Night Talk Show Fantasy & Other Poems, poet Jennifer Dotson creatively and humorously reweaves myths, fairy tales, lives of minor celebrities and advertising taglines; gets personal with family secrets and driving lesson foibles; and plays skillfully with rhymes and forms such as the villanelle, Luc Bat and pantoum. In poem after poem, from prepping for the apocalypse to wearing basic black, Dotson takes us along on a fantastic romp through her wide range of poetic talents. Cynthia Gallaher, author of Epicurean Ecstasy: More Poems About Food, Drink, Herbs & Spices, and Frugal Poets' Guide to Life: How to Live a Poetic Life, Even If You Aren't a Poet

This book gives you 80 powerful, classroom-tested lesson plans. A complete program for helping your students gain self-esteem and improve relationships with peers, teachers and adults outside of school.

ABOUT THE BOOK It’s another home run for Kevin Williamson with the CW tween drama The Vampire Diaries. Williamson is well-known for the creation and writing of Dawson’s Creek as well as the Scream series. Premiering on September 10, 2009 to mixed reviews, The Vampire Diaries continues to hold its own and is now in the midst of filming its third season. So what makes this show different from every other show in its genre? According to Ian Somerhalder, who portrays the devilish and sexy Damon Salvatore, (known for his role as Boone in ABC’s hit drama Lost), comparing Twilight and True Blood to The Vampire Diaries is like comparing “apples to oranges.” Twilight is more of an “annual event” and True Blood is R-rated making it less likely a 13-year-old girl can watch it with her mom.“The Vampire Diaries falls in this little niche, this place this prime-time network version.” MEET THE AUTHOR Jennifer Dotson is a meeting manager by trade, and really just fell into writing when she started a personal novel about being unemployed. She's a graduate of CA State University Sacramento and she now resides in Chicago, IL. EXCERPT FROM THE BOOK Undeterred by Damon’s presence, Stefan continues to pursue a relationship with Elena. Little does she know that his fascination with her goes beyond her kindness and vulnerability. Elena is a doppelganger of his past love Katherine Pierce (also known as Katerina Petrova), with whom he and Damon both had a love affair, contributing to the demise of their once tight brotherhood. This contention is exasperated when Damon threatens revenge against Stefan and the town of Mystic Falls, putting Elena in the crossfire. Further into Season One, the audience learns the truth behind the anger and resentment Damon holds towards his brother, which goes beyond the shared love of Katherine. At the same time, Elena questions the strange behavior and abnormalities in her now boyfriend Stefan. He gets cut on his hand and is visibly bleeding, yet there is no wound when Elena attempts to stop the blood. An elderly townsman comes across Stefan and can’t believe how he hasn’t aged since knowing of him back in 1954. What is even more disconcerting to Elena is that Stefan refuses to speak about his past and the relationship between he, Damon and Katherine... Buy a copy to keep reading!

Trees have always been essential and revered living things - from the Tree of Knowledge in the Garden of Eden to the current arguments of scientists about trees and their ability to communicate with each other. For the Fall 2020/Winter 2021 Muses' Gallery, we asked poets to share their love and understanding of trees. The poets, photographers and artists included in this book: Candace Armstrong * Carla Barger * Mary Beth Bretzlauf * Peter Brinckerhoff * Michael H. Brownstein * Teresa K. Burleson * Marie Louise Buteri * Tim Callahan * Emily Thornton Calvo * Monica Cardestam * William Carey * Jackie Chou * Tina Cole * Kathy Lohrum Cotton * Victoria Crawford * Gail Denham * Charlotte Digregorio * David Dotson * Jennifer Dotson * Miranda P. Dotson * Idella Pearl Edwards * Michael Escoubas * Isadora Esson * Lawrence Feder * Daniel J. Fitzgerald * Phil Flott * Judith Stern Friedman * Diane Funston * Cynthia Gallaher * Marilyn Gehant * Joe Glaser * Carol L. Gloor * Alwyn Gornall * Gwynneth Green * Mark G. Hammerschick * Janea D. Harris * Geoffrey Heptonstall * Linda Imbler * Julie Isaacson * Annie Jenkin * Caroline Johnson * Betsy Dolgin Katz * Ed Kaufman * Judith MK Kaufman * Tricia Knoll * Gert Knop * Chuck Kramer * Anna Lamas * Joan Leotta * Terry Loncaric * Barbara Boothe Loyd * Terry Loncaric * Lennart Lundh * William Marr * LaVern Spencer McCarthy * Matt McGee * Joan McNerney * Adrian McRobb * Wayne L. Miller * Michael Minassian * Alexander Monshaw * Silvia Morgan * Lakshmy M. Nair * Ann Privateer * Kim Reed * Jen "Pen" Richards * Marjorie Rissman * Barbara Robinette * Ronald S. Rocha * Dr. Sneha Rooh * Miriam Sagan * Marie Samuel * Diana Smith * Joris Soeding * Alice Marcus Solovy * Pat St. Pierre * Christine Swanberg * Kay Thomas * Dennis Trujillo * Agnes Vojta * Lori Wall-Holloway * Lynn West * C.J. Wilkens * The Rev. Court Williams * Rita Yager * Mantz Yorke

Highland Park Poetry asked poets to write about the drinks that take us through each day. This collection is worth sipping slowly. The following poets are included: Jocelyn Ajami * Emma Alexandra Kowalenko * Andrew Antonio Allen * Mary Jo Balistreri * Lois Baer Barr * Judith Bernstein * Mary Beth Bretzlauf * Michael H. Brownstein * Madeline Canmann * Joseph Kuhn Carey * William Carey * Sylvia Cavanaugh * J.H. Cooper * Albert DeGenova * Gail Denham * Charlotte Digregorio * Jennifer Dotson * Idella Pearl Edwards * Michael Escoubas * Dan Fitzgerald * Michelle LM Gale * Dominique Galiano * Cynthia Gallaher * Joe Glaser * Marne Glaser * Kathleen Gregg * John Grey * Gay Guard-Chamberlin * Apple Rhodes Gunther * Cynthia T. Hahn * Colleen McManus Hein * Julie Isaacson * Annie Jenkin * David Jibson * Caroline Johnson * Judith MK Kaufman * Trudy Kleckner * Candace Kubinec * Nancy LaChance * Ann Lamas * Jill Angel Langlois * Kerry Leaf * Terry Loncaric * Barbara Boothe Loyd * Lennart Lundh * Emily Ruth Mace * Bonnie Manion * William Marr * Wilda W. Morris * Lakshmy Menon Nair * David Nekimken * Ellen Pickus * Donna Pucciani * Hannah Radeke * Jenene Ravesloot * Dorothy Marie Rice * Marjorie Rissman * Rie Sheridan Rose * R. Craig Sautter * Irfanulla Shariff * Joseph Solberg * Max Sparber * Beth Staas * Bekah Steimel * David Subacchi * Henry Torres * Merle Tovian * Robert West * CJ Wilkens * Michael P. Wright * Rita Yager * Ed Zifkin

For the 2023 Summer Muses' Gallery, Highland Park Poetry asked poets to write about herbs and spices. These assorted plants, rhizomes, bulbs, barks, flower buds, stigmas, fruits, seeds, and leaves literally add flavor to our food, our memories, and our lives. They stimulate our senses of taste and smell, embedding in our brains and evoking memories. They also have a long history of medicinal properties. This anthology is divided into four sections: Sweet Memories, Savory Stories, Medicinal Cures, and Spicy Tales. Poets included in this anthology are: Anne Alarcon, Marie Asner, Maria Asvos, CR Bolinski, Gayle Brandeis, Mary Beth Bretzlauf, Michael H. Brownstein, Paul Buchheit, Tim Callahan, Monica Cardestam, William Carey, Jackie Chou, Jan Chronister, Tracy Davidson, Jennifer Dotson, Idella Pearl Edwards, Dana Fine, Daniel Fitzgerald, Judith Stern Friedman, Barbara Anna Gaiardoni,Dominique Galiano, Cynthia Gallaher, Kathleen Gregg, Cynthia T. Hahn, Mark Andrew Heathcote, Julie Isaacson, Elizabeth Stanley King, Candace Kubinec, Lisa Lachapelle, Lucia Lemieux, Joan Leotta, Arlene Gay Levine, Fay Loomis, Olivia Maciel, William Marr, Matt McGee, Khalid Mukhtar, Lakshmy Nair, René Parks, Ellen Pickus, Donna Pucciani Sarah Royer-Stoll, Marie Samuel, LB Sedlacek, Irfanula Shariff, Joris Soeding, Jacqueline Stearns, Lesley Anne Swanson, Lynn White, Peter A. Witt, Marilyn Zelke Windau.

To celebrate the 150th anniversary of Highland Park, Illinois, local writers were invited to research element of local history and use that to create a persona poem. Each poem captures a moment of Highland Park history as told from the perspective of a resident -- either an imagined witness or based on an actual person. The assembled collection includes personal portraits across the years, the time period extending beyond the 150 years of Highland Park's incorporation and including Native, early explorer, pioneer and settler perspectives.

Environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) has been well established as a danger to children. Exposure to secondhand smoke can cause coughing and wheezing, bronchitis, pneumonia, ear infections, asthma, and sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). Childhood exposure to ETS may also increase the risk of developing leukemia and lymphoma in childhood (Mitchell, 1997) as well as developing lung cancer as an adult (Glantz, 1992). Despite the great strides recently made in the implementation of regulatory measures to safeguard children from ETS in public places like schools, there remains significant concern regarding children's exposure at home and in their out-of-home care facilities (Ashley and Ferrence, 1998, Jarvis, 2000). In 1996, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimated that there were 336,749 Virginia youth exposed to ETS in the home (State Tobacco Control Highlights, 1999). The purpose of this study was to ascertain the number of family day home providers who allow smoking in their home and/or those that have some type of smoking policy. The sample consisted of 746 licensed, registered or locally approved family day home providers through the Department of Social Services. Of these childcare providers, 81.5% (n=608) completed a questionnaire about their tobacco use policy and its effects. An overwhelming majority (94.7%) of providers reported having a tobacco use policy in their family day home. Most of the providers, 67.6% indicated that smoking was allowed outdoors only while 26.3% noted that smoking was not allowed anywhere at any time, indoor or outdoor. Other policy specifics and background information are discussed in the study. The implications of these findings and recommendations for future training and educational programs for family day home providers are also reviewed.

For the 2021 Summer Muses' Gallery, Highland Park Poetry asked poets to tell us everything they know about shoes. This includes all kinds of footwear - from sandals to boots, from slippers to sneakers. Shoes are a fundamental part of every step we take in life. Shoes protect our feet. Shoes can also chafe and produce blisters. Shoes give us confidence in our step. Shoes may trip us up. Shoes are cultural icons and a few are even featured in classic fairy tales. Shoes may represent wealth, status, caste, class, profession, age. What do the shoes we wear reveal about us and why are we so obsessed with them? Read on and find out. The poems in this footwear focused anthology are organized into four sections: Working Shoes, Comfort and Fit, A Closet Full, and Fashion Statement. We hope you'll try several on for size and discover some verses that suit you.