- “I’m telling you this because I wrote a book of poems with one foot in the past, one hand in the present, and a nose on the future. Because I want to be honest about how much I don’t know. Because, maybe, you too want to write your own book, but are worried that you don’t remember well enough”. This shows how authors struggle with stories as much as us.
2.” I didn’t want to write poems that moralized the issues of young people. I wanted to write poems that confronted the questions I felt as a teen. I wanted to write poems in a way that might give a young person in similar circumstances some comfort. I hoped my poems would be used to write new poems and to launch a million more stories.” I like how he is trying to relate to the readers and also how he wants his stories to create other stories from his readers.
3.”What I wanted and desperately needed in those moments was a book to help me make sense of all my questions. I didn’t need answers, but I really wanted to know that my family was not alone.” what I like about this quote is that he wanted to know more about his culture.
4.. “I didn’t know what a poetry slam was, but the first time I saw my classmates perform their poems, I felt something bloom within me. I leaned forward in my chair. I picked up my head and looked at my classmates. If it wasn’t for gravity, I might have started floating.” I like how well he describes how he feels about his first experience in a poetry slam.
5.” After I started writing, I stopped being interested in models of education that didn’t consider me an active participant. In class, I got in trouble for the first time. Some teachers complained that I talked too much. Other teachers reveled in my growth. It made school harder. When I passively accepted everything, I was taught as fact, school was easy for me.” I like how after he started writing his life started changing but in positive way school started becoming more easier for him. It eventually helped him out for the rest of his life
Really nice annotation, Jordan.