YA – Vertical Bridges: Poems and Photographs of City Steps

Corso, Paola. Vertical Bridges: Poems and Photographs of City Steps. Six Gallery Press, 2020. 978-1-989-30505-8. 137 p. $16.00. Grades 9 and up.

Steps connect people and places around the world. In Vertical Bridges: Poems and Photographs of City Steps, poet and native Pittsburger, Paola Corso, connects stories of strength and suffering, the past and the present, and family together through the motif of steps. She details the uniqueness of Pittsburgh’s steps (approximately 800 public sets) connecting neighborhood to neighborhood by exploring the history and people of this great city to the “steps” taken in life and the experience that makes each person. In her poem “Beginnings,” Corso moves through the history of Pittsburgh in each stanza and highlights change, the good and the bad, and ultimately connects change universally while focusing on the changing features of Pittsburgh. In later poems, Corso explores hauling water, the famous Spanish Steps in Rome, steps of love, death, faith, immigration, and much more.  Mixed in with her poems are pictures of steps of various size, strength, and life. Each picture tells the story of what was, what is, and what can still be.

THOUGHTS: Although this book of poetry is very specific to Pittsburgh and the experiences of poet Paola Corso, it also takes readers on a journey around the world and connects one with the hardships and joys of life through the mundane: steps. This is a wonderful addition to school library collections in and around Pittsburgh and those looking to broaden their poetry collections. It is also a great text for teaching creative writing and using images with writing. My only disappointment with this text is how it is printed. The print makes some of the photographs hard to see and/or appear blurry. I would have liked glossy pages for the photos to bring them alive.

811 Poetry          Erin Bechdel, Beaver Area SD

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