Plain old rock -- Instructions for the earth's dishwasher -- Continental promises -- Wyoming layer cake -- Dizzy wind -- Living with lava -- Michigan sahara -- Glacial pace -- QuartzQuartzQuartz -- Crumble! -- Alaskan stream -- Earthshake -- River meets crack in the earth -- Hill named Kao-ling -- Obituary for a clam -- "Earth charged in meteor's fiery death" -- Recipe for granite -- Pumice stone seeks work -- Don't eat it -- Polar confusion -- Yellowstone whale -- Ripples -- Endnotes.

Presents twenty-two poems about geology. End notes provide information about the earth's surface and interior, types of rocks, and how volcanoes, glaciers, and erosion modify the landscape. What secrets is Earth hiding? These twenty-two poems leave no stone unturned in exploring the world's natural wonders. Crack this book open and watch geology sparkle. Lisa Westberg Peters has had a life-long obsession with geology, especially after she did a ninth-grade science project on continental drift. "It knocked my socks off to learn that the continents moved around," she says. She always looks at rocks and landforms wherever she goes, seeing their beauty and power, but also finding the humor in them.