Pieces of Me: The Voices of Writegirl

by Keren Taylor

Poetry. Fiction. Cultural Writing. Original poetry, essays, stories, scenes and lyrics of teen girls and women writers on love, family, identity, community and society. Chapters include: My Self, My... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0974125113
• ISBN13: 9780974125114
• Release Date: June 2004
• Publisher: Writegirl Publications
• Length: 199 Pages
• Weight: 1.50 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 8.0" x 9.9"
• Age Range: 13 to 17 years
• Grade Range: Grades 8 to 12

Customer Reviews

Inspiring! Uplifting!

This anthology is at the forefront of grass roots creativity. It is the heartfelt work of teenage girls and their female writer mentors. Read it and you will hear the voices of the future of our nation. Buy it and you will add your voice in support of a worthy project that changes lives.

Nice work, good ideas

This book not only has thought-provoking pieces from many young women, it is also a source for great writing exercises. The pieces have short intros telling how they came about as part of a mentorship program. The same exercises the mentors and mentees use would be fun for any writer to use to get the juices flowing.

BEAUTIFUL, BEAUTIFUL

Instead of putting their hearts on their sleeves, it's in these pages, in black ink for all the world to see. Want to know what goes on in teenage girls' minds? Then get PIECES OF ME, and you'll want to give a piece of yourself.

Let Your Voices Be Heard!

This is an excellent read. Thought-provoking, emotional and extremely inspirational. Every new story/poem/thought brought on a new emotion in me. I did not want to put this book down until I read every entry. When is the next one coming out?!

The Power of Girls and Their Pens

Pieces of Me by the women and girls of WriteGirl is an inspiring look at how writing can catch the many moods and experiences of women. From the foods that they savor to the neighborhoods and families they share in vivid words, this attractive volume reminds us that the power of "putting it into words" can place teens and their adult mentors on equal footing. There really isn't much of clash between what the professional women writers express and the words of the young teens who are much less schooled and experienced in the "art" of writing. There is a feeling of truth throughout in descriptions of girls applying makeup in high school restrooms, key chains shaped like Gumby, eating too many jelly beans, or watching fathers make fish soup. The ingredients are eclectic, as diverse as the girls and women who attend the monthly writing workshops of WriteGirl in Los Angeles. Their childhoods may have been in Korea, El Salvador, downtown Los Angeles's grittier streets or on an Indian reservation in Alaska, but their stories each share a respect for memory and the courage to do the precise work of capturing it in words. At the top of most pages the women and girls share how the piece of writing came about. Many times the writing is prompted by an exercise from a writing workshop or a one on one mentoring session. These behind the scenes glimpses make the volume a potential "write along" experience with prompts and challenges that would keep many journals overflowing with words. The book is a celebration of writing and, deeper than that, a celebration of life. The girls aren't expected to have "pretty" feelings or to ignore the power of the boys and men in their lives. But you do wonder if they would have had the fierce independence to say "I've got myself. Okay, maybe guys don't really want me as much as I want them, but so what? I don't care. I don't mind pretending to get lost, and accidentally walking on the basketball court while a game is going on because I want attention." - if they weren't in the company of a band of women exhorting each other to "Be brave and write loud!!!" That is another charming element of the book, the thoughts and quotes written on index cards and reproduced throughout the book that are an appreciation of writing and a cheerleading chorus telling the other women writers about the joys and the advantages of getting it down on paper. Do writers need company? Do they need encouragement? Do they need a vital community? WriteGirl has been providing this through creative programming and committed volunteers. But you can partake my buying this volume and keeping it for yourself if you like to read and write or better yet by giving it to a girl you know who needs encouragement and initiation into the community of women writers. Who knows? Your payment might come in the form of poetry, an essay, or even some song lyrics.