Lockers Speak : Voices from America's Youth
Brenda Mahler
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First Published on Jul 05 2021
Key
NoneSome
Lots
Explicit
Fiction
Short Story
Young Adult | Adult
Synopsis
Lockers Speak occurs as the students exit the school to begin summer break. They leave behind the lockers who personify their thoughts and emotions. As an administrator walks the empty halls, she reflects on the events of the school year. The voices whispering, sometimes screaming from the lockers share stories of friendship, academic struggles, death, abuse, celebrations, and basic human experiences.
This book is a compilation of students’ thoughts. The words presented through verse stand-alone but together intertwine to create a glimpse of society. Youth bring to school more than their backpacks. They hold a unique perspective because with them they carry memories, aspirations, and dreams as well as every emotion, event, and person who influenced their identities, complicated by issues that may not be new to their generation but are enhanced by the 24/7 broadcasting of news and social media.
Public schools present a microcosm of society. The voices on these pages provide snapshots of teens growing up in modern society. Collectively, they share the story of our culture. Sometimes the speakers blatantly state facts without realizing the secrets they reveal; others share little directly. With each student, a story evolves like a puzzle, and with each voice the pieces assemble to provide a glimpse into their realities.
Lockers Speak emerged from the voices of these students. Though the individuals are fictional, the events and emotions reflect experiences from the author’s thirty-four-year career in public education. With the desire to use writing as a tool for students to understand themselves and their world, the author prompted students in her classrooms to write about personal adversity. The students became excited to tell their stories, knowing someone was going to listen. Those essays became the catalyst for this text.
Locker’s Speak provides adults: parents, educators, counselors, anyone invested in America's youth a glimpse into their minds. The words also provide a means for teens to hear from others that they are not alone as it shares the everyday, common experiences that provide life joy while challenging survival. Through students’ voices, it reveals the commonalities of life’s experiences.
This book is a compilation of students’ thoughts. The words presented through verse stand-alone but together intertwine to create a glimpse of society. Youth bring to school more than their backpacks. They hold a unique perspective because with them they carry memories, aspirations, and dreams as well as every emotion, event, and person who influenced their identities, complicated by issues that may not be new to their generation but are enhanced by the 24/7 broadcasting of news and social media.
Public schools present a microcosm of society. The voices on these pages provide snapshots of teens growing up in modern society. Collectively, they share the story of our culture. Sometimes the speakers blatantly state facts without realizing the secrets they reveal; others share little directly. With each student, a story evolves like a puzzle, and with each voice the pieces assemble to provide a glimpse into their realities.
Lockers Speak emerged from the voices of these students. Though the individuals are fictional, the events and emotions reflect experiences from the author’s thirty-four-year career in public education. With the desire to use writing as a tool for students to understand themselves and their world, the author prompted students in her classrooms to write about personal adversity. The students became excited to tell their stories, knowing someone was going to listen. Those essays became the catalyst for this text.
Locker’s Speak provides adults: parents, educators, counselors, anyone invested in America's youth a glimpse into their minds. The words also provide a means for teens to hear from others that they are not alone as it shares the everyday, common experiences that provide life joy while challenging survival. Through students’ voices, it reveals the commonalities of life’s experiences.
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