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- Dear Friends: Pops the Club Anthology Reviewed by Norm Goldman of Bookpleasures.com
Dear Friends: Pops the Club Anthology Reviewed by Norm Goldman of Bookpleasures.com
- By Norm Goldman
- Published March 21, 2022
- GENERAL FICTION REVIEWS
Norm Goldman
Reviewer & Author Interviewer, Norm Goldman. Norm is the Publisher & Editor of Bookpleasures.com.
He has been reviewing books for the past twenty years after retiring from the legal profession.
To read more about Norm Follow Here
ISBN: 978-1952197123
One
in 14 children in the United States has a parent who has been in
prison.
Have you ever wondered how these youngsters feel about
having a parent in prison? Many are depressed, showing low
self-esteem. Withdrawing from family and friends is not uncommon.
Isolation, bullying, fear, and guilt are prevalent among these
youngsters. They may exhibit obnoxious behavior in school or
elsewhere. There is also a higher chance of delinquency and/or
criminal behavior in the future.
POPS the CLUB, a fantastic
nonprofit organization that stands for Pain of the Prison System, has
been invaluable in assisting these young people affected by a
parent's incarceration.
Amy Friedman and Dennis Danziger
launched the nonprofit in 2013.
POPS creates a safe,
empowering space for these youth through arts-based programs,
transforming stigma into hope and dignity so they can thrive
academically, socially, and emotionally now and as adults.
Dear
Friends: Pops the Club Anthology is the eighth publication put
together by POPS the CLUB members and friends.
The anthology
contains 277 pages of beautiful art, powerful poems, and fantastic
photographs. They cover a total of 277 pages.
The collection
was compiled by students from California, Georgia, New York, and
Pennsylvania.
These well-thoughtful reflections demonstrate
how a parent's incarceration significantly impacts their
children.
Writings and other forms of expression connect a
diverse group of creators dealing with the effects of having a parent
incarcerated in their lives.
Throughout the pandemic, these
children collaborated on their work, divided into eleven sections in
the anthology.
Jessica De La Mora's Note to God is one such
piece of writing, in which she expresses her strong feelings about
God in the first stanza:
“As I write to you,
I beg for forgiveness.
I ask for help, I need you to hear me out, listen to my voice.
The pain in my voice.
I’m screaming for help, but nobody is listening.
I shout your name, but you do not care.
I need you to take this pain away, I can’t take it anymore.”
The feeling of confusion is expressed by Imari Stevenson who writes:
“I wake up every morning wondering how my day will go.
Will it be a good day or a dreadful day.
Most days I end up just wanting to give up.
But then I realize that I was placed on earth for some type of reason.
Now it’s our job to find meaning for being birthed
into this place called earth.”
Scattered throughout the anthology are several self-portraits and art work confirming the old adage that a picture is worth a thousand words.
If you are wondering who are these authors, the last few pages of the book introduce us to each one.