Feel these words : writing in the lives of urban youth / Susan Weinstein.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

"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?