Feel these words: writing in the lives of urban youth

"I am me but who am I?": presenting the writers

"You never let me speak": power, language, and learning

"Questioning myself and the people around me": identifications and communality in imaginative writing

"You gotta be a writer to get in the game": understanding rap as a literate discourse

Pregnancy, pimps & "clichéd love things": writing through gender and sexuality

"My work sparked an interest in someone else": the pleasures of imaginative writing

"I'm book smart, street smart & everything in between": writing, literate identity, and academic achievement

"If you can't write you can't succeed": changing attitudes among educators and youth

Epilogue: where are they now?