You hear me? : poems and writing by teenage boys

Title:

ISBN:

9780763611583

9780763611590

Edition:

1st ed.

Publication Information:

Cambridge, Mass. : Candlewick Press, 2000.

Physical Description:

xv, 107 pages ; 21 cm

Contents:

Time somebody told me / Quantedius Hall -- Topic 1: Introductions / Thomas Andrade -- Front seat rider / Triston L. Dunnett -- Just because I love darkness ... / Marcel Mendoza -- Joker / Michael Tobias Bloom -- Dark cellar / Joshua White -- He shaved his head / Rene Ruiz -- Broken glass / Joshua Bonds -- Instructions for life / Brando -- The torch / Michael R. Jackson -- My pockets ain't that phat / Shysuaune T. Taylor -- Ode to my hair tail / Rigo Landin -- Being beat up / Nick Sletten -- I am / James Balzer -- Carabao dreams / Timothy Arevalo -- Just like me / Lawan Mitchell -- Out of my life / Corey Edge.

Sleep / Kyle Blanchard -- I hate school / Kenny Weiss -- I never told this to anyone / Maurice Beaman -- I'll be here / David Ho -- Faces / Dan Gallagher -- In this darkness, I stand still ... / Jared Ryan Jackson Lowry -- Me / Jared Ryan Jackson Lowry -- Chant / Tommie Spivey -- Black boy blues / Shysuaune T. Taylor -- There's a Harlem renaissance in my head / Maurice E. Duhon, Jr. -- What I am (in the eyes of my father) / Dwight Beavers -- Ode to caring / Benjamin D. Martin -- Sometimes ... / Michael Tobias Bloom -- Does my mother look like this? / Seth Chappell -- Words on hands / Shysuaune T. Taylor -- My dad and me / Jaime Daryl Marconette -- I refuse / Steven Hill -- What happened papa ... / Joshua Bonds -- Ascension / Biko Eisen-Martin -- I don't ... / Chorus Bishop -- The bus stop / Fred Brown -- People got more / Fred Brown.

I want / Troy Williams -- Envy / Kyle L. White -- My life / DeQon L. Abner -- Bumming through Pittsburgh? Maybe not / Anthony E.W. Kirkland -- Neighborhood watch / Troy Williams -- The best Christmas of Onasis Rodriguez / Onasis Hafid Rodriguez -- Tripod / Michael Kinsey -- First love / Stephan Johnson -- Foul / Hussian Fry -- I love to hear / Tito D. Tate -- The girl I like / Ronnie Ross -- Love between two cultures / Juan C. Medina Arias -- Sunlight bouncing from hair ... / DTB -- I watch you ... / Bryan Phillips -- Satisfaction of an orange / Benjamin D. Martin -- Me and woman kind / Samuel Fox -- A kiss ... / Scott Baker -- So what's up between us? / Thomas Andrade -- "Julia" / Todd VanDerWerff -- "Dana" / Todd VanDerWerff -- Of earthworms and you / Todd VanDerWerff -- Sort of a fly ... / Ward Hoelscher -- An easy clean-up ... / Todd VanDerWerff.

Guts / Kevin N. Gabayan -- Mail / Emmanuel E. Carter -- Floating / Stephan Johnson -- I need to do something ... / Thomas Andrade -- Song for my father / Stephan Johnson -- The baby she loved too much to keep / Todd VanDerWerff -- Time lost forever? / John H. Taylor -- Dear God / John Merrell -- A poem for us / Timothy Arevalo -- The elements are at their peak ... / Kyle Blanchard -- A feeling ... / dr.

Reading Level:

NP L Lexile

Subject Term:

Adolescence -- Literary collections.

Youths' writings.

Genre:

Youths' writings.

Young adult nonfiction.

Literature.

Added Author:

Franco, Betsy.

Local Subject:

Teen nonfiction collection.

Summary:

An anthology of stories, poems, and essays by adolescent boys on issues that concern them.

Holds:

Available:*

Library	Call Number	Status
Searching... R.H. Stafford Library (Woodbury)	TEEN 809.89 YOU	Searching... Unknown

Bound With These Titles

On Order

Summary

More than 70 poems and essays by boys, ages 12-18, collected from around the country.Allows the disenfranchised, the misunderstood, the stereotyped, the feared, the villianized -- the adolescent boy -- a chance to speak and be heard above the din of news stories, magazine articles, sociological analyses, and talk shows that attempt to dissect and sum up his character.Like Chicken Soup for the Teenage Soul, this book speaks straight to the heart on issues and emotions kids grapple with every day. Some of the topics included are masculinity; sexuality; relationships with family, friends, or lovers; sports; self- silence; school; hair; clothes; music; poverty; adoption; loss; confusion; addiction; parenthood; dreams and goals.Honest, hard-hitting, funny, poignant, sad, angry, tragic, strong, celebratory, optimistic, hopeful.After reading this book, you will find a complexity and fragility in teenage boys that you may not have previously recognized. May this book help you to see more clearly and listen more carefully.

Reviews (3)

School Library Journal Review

Gr 7 Up-Through these mostly free-verse lines, the hopes, dreams, fears, and desires of young men from different cultures and backgrounds shine through. They pull no punches with their words in these openly honest, raw, and sometimes tender selections. They talk about what you'd expect-drugs, girls, AIDS, sex, parents-sometimes in unexpected ways. For example, 12-year-old Quantedius Hall's first stanza-"Time Somebody Told Me/That I am lovely, good and real/That I am beautiful inside/If they only knew/How that would make me feel." What do these boys want? "I want to live my life/through peace and knowledge./-I want to wake up/to clean, fresh air/blowing in my face," says 14-year-old John Merrell. Others speak of the fear of alternately being abandoned and loved, of being shunned or ridiculed. Obviously, there's some harsh language and tough situations but they add to the believability and timeliness of the words. You Hear Me? is a fresh approach to hearing what today's youths have to say, and it's refreshing that the words came straight from them.-Sharon Korbeck, Waupaca Area Public Library, WI (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Horn Book Review

The poems and occasional brief essays in this volume--all written by boys aged twelve to twenty--concern issues of identity; relationships with parents, friends, and girlfriends; sexuality (often frankly described); and emotional maturation. Though some of the frequently downbeat poems are well written, many are amateurish or self-consciously literary. Still, teenage poets may find the book inspirational. From HORN BOOK Spring 2001, (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Booklist Review

Gr. 7^-12. With more urgency than many YA novels, the poems and brief prose pieces in this fine anthology speak directly in teen voices about boys coming of age. They talk about love and anger ("I woke up pissed this morning"); about sex ("some good pussy") and jealousy ("You fell for gelboy and his hair"); about the "monster" drugs, family warmth, rejection; conformity, and bullying; about being gay ("queer is more than / cocks and A.I.D.S.") and accepting that your father is gay. The poetry is rooted in a wide range of neighborhoods, families, and classrooms, and the language is direct and frank, with a rhythm ("I'm / not a / hip hop / Dred / retro / 4-pierced brother") and a physical immediacy in the imagery. Some voices are more private, about secrets, sadness, the weariness of the blues, and the loneliness when a girlfriend leaves ("the photograph torn in half"). In one of the best pieces, a boy thinks about his birth mother ("What if . . . ?"). There are no intrusive illustrations, just the images and music of the words, and lots of white space that makes it easy to browse. Many teens will recognize their search for themselves. --Hazel Rochman

Available:*

Bound With These Titles

On Order

Summary

Summary

Reviews (3)

School Library Journal Review

Horn Book Review

Booklist Review

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