{"product_id":"concrete-kids-isbn-9780593095195","title":"Concrete Kids","description":"\u003cb\u003eA Goddard CBC's Social Justice Prize Nominee • A YALSA Amazing Audiobook for Young Adults\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"I will close my eyes and disappear into the pages of this book for many years to come.\"--Hanif Abdurraqib (\u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003e bestselling author of \u003ci\u003eGo Ahead in The Rain: Notes to A Tribe Called Quest\u003c\/i\u003e)\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Amyra's wondrous awe for life in all its terror and splendor is inspiring to witness.\"--Rosario Dawson (award-winning actor, singer, and activist)\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"A moving, inspiring love letter to and about 'the concrete kids. The kids with a melanin kiss.'\"--\u003ci\u003e Kirkus Reviews \u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Leon's powerful book will embolden readers find their own ways of speaking out against injustice.\" -- \u003ci\u003eBooklist\u003c\/i\u003e, Starred Review\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"A raw and complex free verse exploration of self-love, Blackness, womanhood, and healing. A timely, essential ­purchase for all young adult collections.\" --\u003ci\u003e School Library Journal\u003c\/i\u003e, Starred Review\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn\u003ci\u003e Concrete Kids,\u003c\/i\u003e playwright, musician, and educator Amyra León uses free verse to challenge us to dream beyond our circumstances -- and sometimes even despite them.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ePocket Change Collective is a series of small books with big ideas from today's leading activists and artists. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eConcrete Kids\u003c\/i\u003e is an exploration of love and loss, melody and bloodshed. Musician, playwright, and educator Amyra León takes us on a poetic journey through her childhood in Harlem, as she navigates the intricacies of foster care, mourning, self-love, and resilience. In her signature free-verse style, she invites us all to dream with abandon--and to recognize the privilege it is to dream at all.Amyra León is an author, musician, playwright, and activist. Her work transcends genre and medium, and focuses on Black liberation, politics, and communal healing. She believes that the art of listening and honest conversation are the primary tools for lasting change. Her aim is to empower communities to believe in the significance of their individual stories. The conversation has just begun.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAshley Lukashevsky is an illustrator and visual artist born and raised in Honolulu, Hawaii, currently based in Los Angeles. Ashley uses illustration and art as tools to strengthen social movements against systemic racism, sexism, and anti-immigrant policy. She aims to tear down these systems of oppression through first envisioning and drawing a world without them. Her clients include Refinery29, Broadly, \u003ci\u003eThe Washington Post\u003c\/i\u003e, Planned Parenthood, Girls Who Code, \u003ci\u003eGOOD\u003c\/i\u003e magazine, \u003ci\u003eBrooklyn\u003c\/i\u003e magazine, ACLU, Red Bull, Snapchat, Air Jordan, and Logo TV. Ashley is also the illustrator of the best-selling \u003ci\u003eAntiracist Baby\u003c\/i\u003e, by Ibram X. Kendi.\u003cb\u003econcrete kids\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003ci\u003eFor Harlem \u0026amp; its angels\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThis is for the concrete kids. The kids with a melanin kiss. The kids drenched in poverty. The kids who are told to cut their hair, to tame their tone. The kids who are told to shorten their names and disappear their tongues. The kids who are told they will amount to nothing. The smart kids who are told they are problematic. The problematic kids who are told they are stupid. The kids who are taking care of their families in between extracurriculars. The kids who cannot go to extracurriculars because they are taking care of their families. The stoop kids.  The hungry kids. The thirsty kids.  The foster kids. The kids who aged out of the system.  The missing kids. The homeless kids. The kids in jail. The kids awaiting trial. The innocent kids. The kids who never got to be kids. The kids navigating the violence of hands. The kids who are being taught to fear themselves. The kids who refuse. The kids in gangs. The kids thinking about joining gangs. The kids who started them. The adults they became. The adults who wait for the blood to dry out in the sun with the laundry. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe kids who bury the adults. \u003cbr\u003eThe adults who bury the kids.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe angels they became. \u003cbr\u003eThe angels they will become.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eMore specifically—this is for the boy in the white tee and the breath I saw escape him.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003egardenias\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe thing about things that drown\u003cbr\u003eIs that they never learn to breathe right\u003cbr\u003eNo one ever told them\u003cbr\u003eOf a life\u003cbr\u003eWithout strain\u003cbr\u003eA constant choking\u003cbr\u003eBegging for permission\u003cbr\u003eTo remain\u003cbr\u003eLimbless in limbo\u003cbr\u003eCalling on the Good Lord\u003cbr\u003eFor some ease\u003cbr\u003eA terrifying permission\u003cbr\u003eComes with youth\u003cbr\u003eThe way our bodies\u003cbr\u003eSelflessly unfold\u003cbr\u003eBefore the altar\u003cbr\u003eA sacred celebration\u003cbr\u003eOf gardenias in bloom\u003cbr\u003eEden welcoming the ruin\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eI was born somewhere in New York City on May 15, 1992. \u003cbr\u003eI do not know the time of day or recall the scent of birth, but I am sure I arrived screaming like everyone else.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003epigment\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAll of me is brown\u003cbr\u003eMy eyes, my hair\u003cbr\u003eMy skin\u003cbr\u003eI do not know        My father\u003cbr\u003eThe source        is a figment\u003cbr\u003eof melanin        of imagination\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eI have never met him\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBarbie looks like my mother\u003cbr\u003eWho does not look like me\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBlond hair blue eyes\u003cbr\u003eAnd a White body\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eMy reflection\u003cbr\u003eBetrays easily\u003cbr\u003eAs I yearn\u003cbr\u003efor pieces of her\u003cbr\u003eTo stare back at me\u003cbr\u003ethere is love\u003cbr\u003ethere is love\u003cbr\u003ethere is love\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ethere is questioning\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThere are no Black Barbies\u003cbr\u003eMy mother hand paints\u003cbr\u003ethem brown\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eI do not know\u003cbr\u003eIf this makes me\u003cbr\u003eFeel better\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThere’s no way to\u003cbr\u003eFabricate reality\u003cbr\u003eSo we might as well\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eLet barbie be\u003cbr\u003eBarbie\u003cbr\u003ekelly be Kelly\u003cbr\u003e\u0026amp; ken be Ken\u003cbr\u003eI do not\u003cbr\u003eNeed to\u003cbr\u003eBe White\u003cbr\u003eLike her, like them\u003cbr\u003eTo love the skin\u003cbr\u003eThat I am in","brand":"Penguin Workshop","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46300431122661,"sku":"NP9780593095195","price":8.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1842\/7735\/files\/9780593095195.jpg?v=1767724031","url":"https:\/\/k12savings.com\/es\/products\/concrete-kids-isbn-9780593095195","provider":"K12savings","version":"1.0","type":"link"}