TELL THE WORLD

This collection of poems from urban teens shows a wide range of life experiences and worldviews. Participants in the WritersCorps program are asked to “tell the world” where they’re from, what they love, why they hope and so forth, answering questions that lead to poems that explain their thoughts and feelings. They write about family, politics, their heritage, love and many other topics that affect all teens, not just those in urban areas. All of the poems are written with passion, but their maturity level, fluency and ability to convey the writer’s ideas without resorting to cheap emotional manipulation vary. As in many collections of teen writing, the poems are mostly ordinary, written with good intentions but an obvious lack of experience. Included in some chapters are essays from WritersCorps teachers that chronicle their journeys as readers and writers and what it’s like to be a part of the organization. Although the poems aren’t Shakespeare, teens who are assigned to read poetry or have an interest in creating it may want to see their peers’ approaches. (Poetry anthology. 12 & up)