I was excited to read the one book that has been on the reading list for several semesters without being replaced. I wanted to try to figure out why it would be so important to read and would I think that this would be important for teens to read.
After reading the works in The Rose That Grew From Concrete, I feel like I can understand the answers to both my questions. Again, this work would have some of the appeal that Freedom Writers did. Tupac Shakur writes the poetry during his teen years, expressing the feelings that a teenager would experience during that time in their lives. Obviously, there are going to be things that make Tupac different from teens because of where he grew up and how. I think this would be true of any teens work. Life is different for everyone, but there are also similarities that are true for most humans. I do like that each poem is written in his hand complete with random designs and markings along side a typeface version of the same poem. The handwritten portion makes the book feel like it is someone’s private diary and thoughts, almost like I’m invading Tupac Shakur’s privacy. The typeface version made me feel like it was ok to read this, someone had given me permission to enter Tupac Shakur’s world. Also, his use of numbers in place of words pre-dates the language of text messaging, but like Naomi and Ely’s No Kiss List, I feel like the language is familiar to teens that would be reading it today.
Poetry is something that most children are introduced to early in life with nursery rhymes, children’s songs, Dr. Seuss and other forms that parents encourage the children to read or listen to. Shel Silverstein and authors like him somewhat bridge the gap between pre-school when we are drowned in poetry and jr. high and sr. high school when poetry becomes William Shakespeare, Walt Whitman, Emily Dickinson, William Blake for kids in their teen years because of school curriculums, but he can become a guilty pleasure or too young for the reader. Poetry suddenly becomes all about iambic pentameter and rhyme schemes and the mechanics of poetry rather than the feelings behind the poems. The Rose That Grew From Concrete is a poetry collection that could be and should be taught in the classroom. It is well written poetry that explores many of the mechanic of poetry teachers would like a student to understand when it comes to poetry, like rhyme schemes and such.
I tried finding similar books that could accomplish most or all of what The Rose That Grew From Concrete does, but I was unable to. There are other places where teens can find poetry that they may be able to relate to better than the poetry they are fed in school like Teen Ink Magazine and their book series, or books written in verse like Girl Coming in For a Landing by April Halprin Wayland or A Wreath for Emitt Till by Marilyn Nelson. I was unable to find a book of collected poems that I thought was a good as this book or that I thought teens would enjoy as much.
