THE STUBBORN PARTICULARS OF GRACE. Wallace, Bronwen. Toronto, McClelland and Stewart, 1987. 112pp, paper. $9.95. ISBN 0-7710-8790-X. CIP Adult/Secondary Reviewed by Elizabeth Lockett Volume 16 Number 5 1988 September In this collection Bronwen Wallace uses everyday life as the inspiration for her poems. For me, "Idyll" is her most successful poem. The baby plays with an empty potato chip bag, the dog chews an old bone, the eight-year-old tries to stand on an inner tube, her brother fishes, the children pursue their own interests. . . And all the time, the adults keep on talking. Nothing stops them. "Idyll" is a fully rounded poem. Some of the other titles follow a less predictable path. "Burn-out" spells out the pain of a social worker suffering from too much stress. "Stunts" is inspired by the Guinness Book of World Records. "Appeal" recalls how it felt to be a child. These poems cannot be judged by the criteria of rhyme and metre. They are not easy to learn or to read aloud. They do encourage the reader to stop and think and view the world in a different way. This title would be useful in a library where teachers use modern poetry in their classes or where students read poetry for pleasure. Elizabeth Lockett, Niagara Falls, Ont.