A powerful, devastating, essential read for anyone who believes in true justice for all.
A collection of prose and poetry featuring the voices of incarcerated and formerly incarcerated youth and adults.
“I find myself growing up / in a judicial system / and not at home with my parents, / growing every day in prison / makes me feel less than human,” Carlos shares. Alisha writes, “I know how to count because I’m nine now / I’m counting four therapists, two psychiatrists, thirty days, eight needles, and one wish.” They are among the writers in this compilation who tell their heartbreaking stories, envisioning a brighter future for themselves and demanding changes to a broken, unjust criminal legal system. These compelling poems, essays, and interviews are the result of 20 years of outreach to over 1,500 incarcerated and formerly incarcerated youths and adults by the Washington, D.C.–based Free Minds Book Club & Writing Workshop, an organization founded to “fulfill the vision of Glen McGinnis, a young man who discovered his love for reading while on death row in Texas for a crime committed when he was 17 years old.” (McGinnis was later executed.) The graphic depictions of abuse, neglect, solitary confinement, suicidal ideation, and violence are unsettling and vividly convey the writers’ experiences. The perspectives of family members, a former prosecutor, a public defender, and a judge are also included, rounding out readers’ understanding of these issues. Photographs of many contributors enhance the text.
A powerful, devastating, essential read for anyone who believes in true justice for all. (Anthology. 13-adult)Pub Date: Aug. 13, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-950807-34-5
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Shout Mouse Press
Review Posted Online: Oct. 25, 2021
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
A fierce, penetrating, and empowering call for change.
Artist and activist Vaid-Menon demonstrates how the normativity of the gender binary represses creativity and inflicts physical and emotional violence.
The author, whose parents emigrated from India, writes about how enforcement of the gender binary begins before birth and affects people in all stages of life, with people of color being especially vulnerable due to Western conceptions of gender as binary. Gender assignments create a narrative for how a person should behave, what they are allowed to like or wear, and how they express themself. Punishment of nonconformity leads to an inseparable link between gender and shame. Vaid-Menon challenges familiar arguments against gender nonconformity, breaking them down into four categories—dismissal, inconvenience, biology, and the slippery slope (fear of the consequences of acceptance). Headers in bold font create an accessible navigation experience from one analysis to the next. The prose maintains a conversational tone that feels as intimate and vulnerable as talking with a best friend. At the same time, the author's turns of phrase in moments of deep insight ring with precision and poetry. In one reflection, they write, “the most lethal part of the human body is not the fist; it is the eye. What people see and how people see it has everything to do with power.” While this short essay speaks honestly of pain and injustice, it concludes with encouragement and an invitation into a future that celebrates transformation.
A fierce, penetrating, and empowering call for change. (writing prompt) (Nonfiction. 14-adult)Pub Date: June 2, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-593-09465-5
Page Count: 64
Publisher: Penguin Workshop
Review Posted Online: March 14, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2020
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