Advice to 9th Graders

Early in this volume of poetry, essays, stories, and wisdom from the youth of The PATHfinder Club and POPS the Club, Tamira Shany advises readers that we have just two options: “Take pride and fail or endure and succeed.” As you dive into Advice for 9th Graders (designed to guide 9th graders as they navigate high school but equally inspiring for the rest of us), we begin to understand that these young people, whose lives have been impacted by incarceration and other systems, are steering us toward endurance. As Rachael Galper’s photograph, Biased Comparisons, so beautifully illustrates, the best course is to find a way to express yourself without fear of judgment.