Anthology of teenage art and literature reflects on fears and dreams
Earlier this year, the Youth Literary Advisory Board of 826 Boston, the writing and literacy organization, put out a call for submissions from Boston high school students on the theme of giving a look at what’s churning and burning in the minds of teenagers right now. The resulting anthology, “Coming Up for Air: Reflections from the Teenage Mind” (826 Boston), is a powerful and varied portal into the questions, enthusiasms, fears, and dreams of people on the cusp of adulthood. Oriana Dunker writes of the moment a song on the throwback station conjures the image of her mom as a 16-year-old girl, “and she reminded me of myself.” These are works of people navigating their way into a new phase and a new world, in the potent and fraught in-between. “How do I explain to my life that I am preparing to live it?” asks Blessing Oyakhire. There’s darkness here, and discouragement, as when Miracle Ebbi laments a lack of change: “Nobody wants a woman to succeed in this society . . . . Who can change these societal norms when they can’t even change themselves?” The book, in poetry, prose, and artwork, holds an enormous amount of wisdom, too. Mariam Joumal writes, “I say focus on your body since it knows what’s wrong/ My mind should take notes from my body while my heart watches.”
Above: The 826
Boston Youth Literary Advisory Board.
Coming out
“Small Worlds” by Caleb Azumah Nelson
(Grove)
“Nothing Special” by Nicole Flattery
(Bloomsbury)
“The Librarianist” by Patrick DeWitt (Ecco)
Pick of the week
Kate F. at Trident Booksellers in Boston recommends “Eloquent Rage: A Black Feminist Discovers Her Superpower” (Picador): “Dr. Brittney Cooper writes in compelling, sometimes-colloquial, sometimes-academic language that makes for an engaging and digestible read. She combines personal experience with race theory and historical context to create a nuanced picture of how Black women experience race in America. Ultimately she suggests that women’s ‘rage’ can be a powerful tool not only in dismantling patriarchy, but in building something new. The book deals with race, gender, and religion, seeking to redefine feminism as intersectional.”