City of One: Young Writers Speak to the World [Paperback]

Colette DeDonato (Author), Writers Corps (Author), Writerscorps (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 1, 2004

In this new collection from WritersCorps, more than 100 young writers express themselves through a common theme: peace. The exploration ranges from the personal to the communal to the political. These poets and authors have a lot to say about their communities, about the struggle for social change, and about peace in the world. They speak with the confidence of those who know that something very important is at stake and that their own words could make a difference. City of One is a testimony to a new engaged generation.

The project is funded by a Peace and the Written Word Award from the Isabel Allende Foundation. After the death of her daughter in 1992, Allende wrote Paula, a memoir. Paula Frias was a psychologist and educator who worked with the underprivileged. With the proceeds from the book Allende created the foundation in 1996 to support the kind of work to which her daughter was devoted. Allende will write the foreword for City of One.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 8 Up–This anthology celebrates the 10th anniversary of WritersCorps workshops, which bring creative-writing instruction to low-income kids from public schools, youth detention centers, halfway houses, and after-school programs. More than 150 young people ranging in age from 9 to 23 write about their lives and the state of the world. There are angry poems as in "Dear Mr. Bush": "…Dear Mr. Bush why can you go to war and not go/To prison yet we get 25 to life for killing each other/On the streets?" Desperate poems also appear, as in "Home": "My home is filled wit crack rocks and dope spots./My home is constantly invaded/by crooked cops whose purpose is to send my/people to jail instead of helpin' them." Reflective poems include "Deep Inside": "The best place I ever was is in my mind/…It's a place of peace and tranquility/where I take time to grow." Poems about family, freedom, inner peace, self-identity, and the writing process round out this remarkable anthology. Above all, these poems are about adolescence; the seething emotions as well as the incredible hope for the future are present.–Sonja Cole, Briarcliff Middle School, Mountain Lakes, NJ
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

Gr. 7-12. This moving anthology of young people's poetry is published to commemorate the tenth anniversary of WritersCorps, a San Francisco-based youth writing program. Focusing on the themes of peace and violence, the poems, divided into six chapters, include perspectives from international young voices speaking about the horrors and hope in their own streets and abroad. The range of talent is astonishing, and even within the same poem, the young writers combine childish imagery with riveting, sophisticated metaphors: "Sadness is Cookie Monster / without a cookie . . . Love is white / it can be silent or loud," writes a 10-year-old. Throughout, the direct simplicity is powerful: "Who do you love in the pit of your heart? Whose father did you kill in the war?" asks a 13-year-old. Raging, fearful, and full of hope, these young, multicultural voices describe piercing experiences of war and peace that teachers and students will want to share. Program supporter Isabel Allende contributes an introduction. Gillian Engberg
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 12 and up
  
• Paperback: 244 pages
• Publisher: Aunt Lute Books; First Edition edition (May 1, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1879960699
• ISBN-13: 978-1879960695
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.5 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,346,805 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Recommendation from one of the wriiters, June 18, 2004

By 

Armando (San Francisco) - See all my reviews

This review is from: City of One: Young Writers Speak to the World (Paperback)

My name is Armando I am 15, and I am a writer included in this book. This book is a compelation of writing about peace. It has empowered me and more than 150 other peers of mine to express themselves through the written word. I recommend this book to any body who wants to hear the voice of many kids who know what is happen in the world. Please support Writerscorps and the arts. Thankk you