Youth Justice Set by Free Minds Writers
Youth Justice Set by Free Minds Writers
Get the full set of books by Free Minds incarcerated writers. These books feature poetry, essays, and personal stories written by incarcerated young people.
This set includes:
The Untold Story of The Real Me is a collection of poems written by young people who were charged and incarcerated as adults at the age of 16 or 17.
They Called Me 299-359 is an anthology of poetry and essays written, edited, and compiled by incarcerated youth who are Free Minds Book Club members, held both at the DC Jail and in adult federal facilities across the country.
When You Hear Me (You Hear Us) is an anthology of poetry and personal stories centering the voices of those directly impacted by the incarceration of young people in the United States.
Curriculum is available for these titles!
Books In This Set
#1 on the Top Ten Books for 2022 In The Margins Book Award
They Called Me 299-359 is an anthology of poetry and essays written, edited, and compiled by incarcerated youth who are Free Minds Book Club members, held both at the DC Jail and in adult federal facilities across the country. Through moving personal testimony, these young writers explore the challenges and pain of incarceration as well as family, forgiveness, redemption, and dreams. Their book is used as a tool for violence prevention and healing in Free Minds’s youth violence prevention initiative “On the Same Page,” and is also taught as part of college curricula at several universities. This 10th anniversary edition includes updated forewords from Free Minds poet ambassadors as well as from award-winning formerly incarcerated poet Reginald Dwayne Betts.
ISBN: 978-1-950807-15-4
Age: 12+
Lexile: NP
Page Count: 120
Published: Fall 2020
Honorable Mention for the 2016 'In the Margins' Nonfiction award.
“The pieces showcased here are moving and real.”
— George Pelecanos, novelist and writer/producer of The Wire
The Untold Story of the Real Me is a collection of poems written by young people who were charged and incarcerated as adults at the age of 16 or 17. All poets are members of the Free Minds Book Club and Writing Workshop; many are currently incarcerated in the DC Jail or federal prison. Their work explores themes of parenthood, love, pain, identity, race, and freedom in voices both raw and powerful. This collection also features individual profiles of Free Minds members who are home from prison and serving as Poet Ambassadors in the violence prevention initiative, “On the Same Page.” Already being used in classrooms across the country to start conversations around youth violence and the justice system, The Untold Story of the Real Me provides a new take on the power of one voice to speak truth to pain, to seek redemption and healing.
ISBN: 978-0996927444
Age: 12+
Lexile: NP
Page Count: 159
Published: 2015
Recognition & Impact
When You Hear Me (You Hear Us) won the 2022 Independent Press Award in Social Political Poetry
When You Hear Me (You Hear Us) was recommended by Kirkus Reviews on their list of Nonfiction titles for Young Adults.
When You Hear Me (You Hear Us) earned a Gold Standard Selection from Junior Library Guild.
Kirkus Reviews called When You Hear Me (You Hear Us) “A powerful, devastating, essential read for anyone who believes in true justice for all.”
The Untold Story of the Real Me received an honorable mention in the category of Nonfiction in the 2016 In The Margins Book Awards
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This set includes:
Bright Before Us, Like a Flame
A landmark anthology spanning ten years of Shout Mouse Press with memoir, poetry, fiction, comics, and children’s literature from underrepresented youth authors, offering both a retrospective and a call to action for a new generation of writers as well as teachers.
The Light Looks Like Me: Words on Love from Queer Youth
A stunning, affirming collection of poems, stories, art, and comics by queer youth authors that celebrates love, identity, and self-expression in all its forms.
Passing the Mic: Building a Poet-Athlete City
A powerful portrait of Washington, D.C., this collection showcases three decades of DC SCORES poet-athletes who use soccer, poetry, and service to imagine and build a better future.
Stock your classroom with 20 copies of this powerhouse anthology and teaching tool. Or give it as a gift to a teacher or class! Even better — pair it with the Bright Before Us Inspiration Set!
By the Young Writers of Shout Mouse Press
For ten years, Shout Mouse Press has championed the voices of young writers, publishing their authentic and necessary stories. Now, this landmark anthology of youth writing celebrates a decade of storytelling—and invites readers to pick up their pens and write the path ahead.
Spanning memoir, poetry, fiction, comics, and children’s literature, Bright Before Us, Like a Flame is more than a retrospective—it’s a creative writing resource and a call to action. Taking its title from Langston Hughes’ poem “Youth,” this collection ignites both hope for the future and the power to shape it. Through stories of immigration, identity, social justice, and resilience, young authors confront today’s most urgent topics with insight and empathy. Their words challenge, inspire, and invite readers to add their own voices to the conversation.
ISBN: 978-1-950807-82-6
Age: 12+
Page Count: 304
Get the complete set of books featured in Bright Before Us, Like a Flame. A perfect classroom companion or a gift for a teacher. Pair it with the Bright Before Us Classroom Set.
Curated by your favorite authors and SMP Megaphone Board members, Jason Reynolds, Clint Smith, Elizabeth Acevedo, Hena Khan, Meg Medina, and Wendy Shang, this set contains books for young people ages 12+
Get the full set of books by Beacon House teen writers. These books contain middle grade and young adult fiction centering the stories of Black youth.
This set includes:
Black Boys Dreaming, a collection of illustrated stories written in poetry and prose by four middle middle school Black boys. Over the course of a historic year characterized by the COVID-19 pandemic, Black Lives Matter protests, and widespread social reckoning, these authors from Beacon House came together virtually, to dream.
The Day Tajon Got Shot, an extraordinarily brave multi-perspective novel about prejudice and police brutality by ten teen girls from Beacon House.
Trinitoga, a novel-in-stories by middle-school authors of Beacon House. These young writers created a fictionalized neghborhood and populated it with an endearing and heartbreaking cast of characters, not unlike people they have encountered in their own lives.
Curriculum is available for these titles!
Voices on Youth Incarceration
A Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection
Foreword Indies Finalist
Independent Press Award Winner
“A powerful, devastating, essential read” - Starred review in Kirkus Reviews
When You Hear Me (You Hear Us) is an anthology of poetry and personal stories centering the voices of those directly impacted by the incarceration of young people in the United States. Compiled by Free Minds Book Club & Writing Workshop, this rich collection includes firsthand accounts from both the young people charged and incarcerated in the adult criminal legal system and from the community at large: the mothers, the loved ones, the correctional staff, public defenders, prosecutors, and others harmed and left with unhealed trauma. These critical voices, uniquely combined, illustrate the ecosystem that surrounds youth who are incarcerated--and expose the ripple effects that touch us all. This book challenges us to hear these voices calling out for accountability, transformative justice, and healing. Together, they demonstrate the collective impact of the prison system, and our collective responsibility to create a society where every one of us can thrive.
ISBN: 978-1-950807-34-5
Age: 12+
Page Count: 288
Published: Fall 2021