Concrete kids

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Concrete kids

Title:

Concrete kids

Author:

Leon, Amyra,

Uniform Title:

Poems. Selections

Publication Information:

New York : Penguin Workshop, 2020.

ISBN:

9780593095195

Physical Description:

96 pages ; 16 cm.

Series:

Pocket change collective

Language:

English

Abstract:

"Concrete Kids is an exploration of love and loss, melody and bloodshed. Musician, playwright, and educator Amyra Leaon takes us on a poetic journey through her childhood in Harlem, as she navigates the intricacies of foster care, mourning, self-love, andresilience"-- Provided by publisher.

Subject Term:

African Americans -- Poetry.

American poetry.

Geographic Term:

Harlem (New York, N.Y.) -- Poetry.

Genre:

Children's poetry, American.

Holds:

Available:*

Library	Material Type	Shelf Number	Copies	Item Notes	Status
Searching... Prescott Valley Public Library	Book	811.6 LEON	1	.SOURCE. BAKER & TAYLOR	Searching... Unknown

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Summary

Pocket Change Collective is a series of small books with big ideas from today's leading activists and artists.

Concrete Kids is an exploration of love and loss, melody, and bloodshed. Musician, playwright, and educator Amyra Le n takes us on a poetic journey through her childhood in Harlem, as she navigates the intricacies of foster care, mourning, self-love, and resilience. In her signature free-verse style, she invites us all to dream with abandon--and to recognize the privilege it is to dream at all.

Reviews (3)

School Library Journal Review

Gr 7 Up--The "Pocket Change Collective" series invites passionate, diverse voices to share stories of social justice. Musician, playwright, and activist León's compelling free verse memoir bursts at the seams with despair, determination, and hope. Drawing on her personal experiences, León gives a voice to the foster care system, systematic racism, and what it means to be a Black girl moving through the world. The text centers on her childhood as a mixed-race girl in Harlem after being removed from the care of her white biological mother. The poems explore the joy of finding a loving adoptive parent, the trauma of watching a Black boy get shot and killed from her own stoop, and the bittersweet rituals that surround the mourning of Black people who died of "unnatural causes / That we rarely discuss." Though the format feels somewhat contrived and may pose circulation challenges for libraries, this title packs a mighty punch in a small package. VERDICT A raw and complex free verse exploration of self-love, Blackness, womanhood, and healing. A timely, essential purchase for all young adult collections.--Allison Staley, Lake Oswego P.L., OR

Kirkus Review

A beautiful, heart-rending poetry collection about a childhood steeped in loss and love. Using free verse and her own lived experience, León tells readers a story through the lens of a mixed-race girl, from her years as a young child to being a teenager, going from life with her White birth mother--never having met her Black father--to being in foster care, getting adopted by her Puerto Rican mother, and moving to pre-gentrified Harlem. Captured in this collection is the sense of community among people bonded by a shared culture as much as by proximity and class. Captivating descriptions of rituals celebrating the living and mourning lives gone highlight the resilience needed in order to not just move on, but survive. León describes with gripping honesty the heartbreak of being separated from one's mother, the trauma of enduring violence at the hands of those who are supposed to care for you, and the bittersweet feeling of being adopted and finding a sense of belonging outside of one's biological parentage. Readers will be left feeling sorrowful and yet hopeful by this story of how to live when death surrounds you and how to define and dream of freedom when freedom seems like a privilege bestowed on others who don't look like you. A moving, inspiring love letter to and about "the concrete kids. The kids with a melanin kiss." (Verse memoir. 12-18) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Booklist Review

The Pocket Change Collective series (2 new titles) invites young activists to share their stories, their causes, and, in many cases, their art with teen readers. Poet, playwright, and singer Amyra Leon, 26, infuses her work with her experiences rooted in Black womanhood, raising awareness through her words and performances. With Concrete Kids, she utilizes poetry to tell the story of her childhood, touching on the foster care system, abuse, poverty, racism, and gun violence--yet still finding beauty in herself, her community, and the love of her found family. Leon's powerful book will embolden readers find their own ways of speaking out against injustice. These slim, pocket-sized paperbacks--both penned by women of color--contain volumes, and teens will soak up the passion spilling from their pages.

Excerpts

concrete kids For Harlem & its angels This is for the concrete kids. The kids with a melanin kiss. The kids drenched in poverty. The kids who are told to cut their hair, to tame their tone. The kids who are told to shorten their names and disappear their tongues. The kids who are told they will amount to nothing. The smart kids who are told they are problematic. The problematic kids who are told they are stupid. The kids who are taking care of their families in between extracurriculars. The kids who cannot go to extracurriculars because they are taking care of their families. The stoop kids. The hungry kids. The thirsty kids. The foster kids. The kids who aged out of the system. The missing kids. The homeless kids. The kids in jail. The kids awaiting trial. The innocent kids. The kids who never got to be kids. The kids navigating the violence of hands. The kids who are being taught to fear themselves. The kids who refuse. The kids in gangs. The kids thinking about joining gangs. The kids who started them. The adults they became. The adults who wait for the blood to dry out in the sun with the laundry. The kids who bury the adults. The adults who bury the kids. The angels they became. The angels they will become. More specifically--this is for the boy in the white tee and the breath I saw escape him. gardenias The thing about things that drown Is that they never learn to breathe right No one ever told them Of a life Without strain A constant choking Begging for permission To remain Limbless in limbo Calling on the Good Lord For some ease A terrifying permission Comes with youth The way our bodies Selflessly unfold Before the altar A sacred celebration Of gardenias in bloom Eden welcoming the ruin I was born somewhere in New York City on May 15, 1992. I do not know the time of day or recall the scent of birth, but I am sure I arrived screaming like everyone else. pigment All of me is brown My eyes, my hair My skin I do not know My father The source is a figment of melanin of imagination I have never met him Barbie looks like my mother Who does not look like me Blond hair blue eyes And a White body My reflection Betrays easily As I yearn for pieces of her To stare back at me there is love there is love there is love there is questioning There are no Black Barbies My mother hand paints them brown I do not know If this makes me Feel better There's no way to Fabricate reality So we might as well Let barbie be Barbie kelly be Kelly & ken be Ken I do not Need to Be White Like her, like them To love the skin That I am in Excerpted from Concrete Kids by Amyra León All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.