Birds sing outside cages: Overall hopeful selections inspire a desire to rethink justice and enact change.
An inspiring collection of teen-created poems, prose, and artwork that elucidates the hidden world of young adults living in a carceral state.
Created by members of the POPS the Club, a national organization for high school students who have been impacted by incarceration (as the children or other loved ones of the incarcerated), the pieces are emotive but not resigned. Readers will connect to many of the major themes, including navigating change, overcoming adversity, advocating for social justice, and questioning one’s place in the world. Divided thematically into 12 sections, the entries show the daily realities and struggles of the student writers as they deftly navigate multiple spaces. Many of the teens’ challenges present as ordinary angst, like navigating school, while others point to deeper traumas, like parents with substance use disorders. Overall, their contributions are lyrical, haunting, and poignant, and the anthology marches toward hope. While the execution of some reflects the contributors’ youth, others, like “Me Nombraron Después de Ella” (“They Named Me After Her”) by Donaji Garcia, stand out for their mature use of metaphor, language, lyricism, movement, and pacing. Other pieces are a call to action, directly confronting the impact of incarceration on families and challenging adults to fix a justice system that is overburdened with imprisoned people while neglecting children’s emotional health.
Birds sing outside cages: Overall hopeful selections inspire a desire to rethink justice and enact change. (Anthology. 12-18)Pub Date: Jan. 12, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-952197-06-2
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Out of the Woods Press
Review Posted Online: Oct. 11, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2020
Small but mighty necessary reading.
A miniature manifesto for radical queer acceptance that weaves together the personal and political.
Eli, a cis gay white Jewish man, uses his own identities and experiences to frame and acknowledge his perspective. In the prologue, Eli compares the global Jewish community to the global queer community, noting, “We don’t always get it right, but the importance of showing up for other Jews has been carved into the DNA of what it means to be Jewish. It is my dream that queer people develop the same ideology—what I like to call a Global Queer Conscience.” He details his own isolating experiences as a queer adolescent in an Orthodox Jewish community and reflects on how he and so many others would have benefitted from a robust and supportive queer community. The rest of the book outlines 10 principles based on the belief that an expectation of mutual care and concern across various other dimensions of identity can be integrated into queer community values. Eli’s prose is clear, straightforward, and powerful. While he makes some choices that may be divisive—for example, using the initialism LGBTQIAA+ which includes “ally”—he always makes clear those are his personal choices and that the language is ever evolving.
Small but mighty necessary reading. (resources) (Nonfiction. 14-18)Pub Date: June 2, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-593-09368-9
Page Count: 64
Publisher: Penguin Workshop
Review Posted Online: March 28, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2020
Brief yet inspirational, this story will galvanize youth to use their voices for change.
Testa’s connection to and respect for nature compelled her to begin championing animal causes at the age of 10, and this desire to have an impact later propelled her to dedicate her life to fighting plastic pollution. Starting with the history of plastic and how it’s produced, Testa acknowledges the benefits of plastics for humanity but also the many ways it harms our planet. Instead of relying on recycling—which is both insufficient and ineffective—she urges readers to follow two additional R’s: “refuse” and “raise awareness.” Readers are encouraged to do their part, starting with small things like refusing to use plastic straws and water bottles and eventually working up to using their voices to influence business and policy change. In the process, she highlights other youth advocates working toward the same cause. Short chapters include personal examples, such as observations of plastic pollution in Mauritius, her maternal grandparents’ birthplace. Testa makes her case not only against plastic pollution, but also for the work she’s done, resulting in something of a college-admissions–essay tone. Nevertheless, the first-person accounts paired with science will have an impact on readers. Unfortunately, no sources are cited and the lack of backmatter is a missed opportunity.
Brief yet inspirational, this story will galvanize youth to use their voices for change. (Nonfiction. 12-18)Pub Date: Oct. 13, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-593-22333-8
Page Count: 64
Publisher: Penguin Workshop
Review Posted Online: July 26, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2020
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