Concrete Kids

Musician and playwright Amyra León opens up about her tumultuous childhood in Harlem where she learned the true meaning of perseverance.

“Amyra’s wondrous awe for life in all its terror and splendor is inspiring to witness.”—Rosario Dawson, award-winning actor, singer, and activist

“A raw and complex free verse exploration of self-love, Blackness, womanhood, and healing. A timely, essential ¬purchase for all young adult collections.”—School Library Journal, starred review

We write our names in the concrete, dreaming of the day we are finally free . . .

Concrete Kids is an exploration of love and loss, melody and bloodshed. Musician, playwright, and educator Amyra León takes us on a poetic journey through her childhood in Harlem, as she navigates the intricacies of foster care, mourning, self-love, and resilience. In her signature free-verse style, she invites us all to dream with abandon—and to recognize what a privilege it is to dream at all.

In today’s world, we are searching for voices of clarity, innovation, and change. Welcome to the Pocket Change Collective, small books with big ideas from today’s leading activists.

A Goddard CBC's Social Justice Prize Nominee