Program Testimonials

  • "Wonderful, heartbreaking, hilarious, beautiful and so very alive. This is a treasure box of what is best in us."

    Junot Diaz, Pulitzer Prize winning author

  • "These beautifully written, compelling narratives tell us what it's like to be a young person in the difficult world we live in. We need to pay attention."

    Francine Prose, President of PEN American Center

  • "These student commentaries are both instructive and profound."

    Letitia James, Councilwoman, Brooklyn District 35

  • "These talented, ironic voices explode and set the pages on fire. Their emerging voices of truth, pain, and triumph are to be heard, cheered, but not denied. hear them."

    Rita Williams Garcia, young adult author

  • "These high school students contribute crucial expertise to the policymaking and practitioner communities. We ignore their voices at our own peril."

    Kathleen Cushman, author

  • "Such rigorous and authentic work is rare."

    Jacqueline Ancess, Co-director, National Center for Restructuring Education, Schools, & Teaching

  • "Those who seek to help young people avoid a life of frustrated dreams and unfulfilled potential will find wisdom in these words."

    Pedro Noguera, New York University, Steinhardt School of Education

  • "These essays are real, moving, true."

    Nick hornby, best-selling author

  • "This collection of essays will make you cry, laugh, reminisce, and mourn, but most importantly, it will remind you that when we share our stories, we tighten the threads of both commonality and humanity."

    Felicia Pride, author

  • "Reading these raw and unapologetic poems, I experienced the unflinching call to action by the youth to overcome the brutality and senselessness of community violence."

    Kelly Zen-Yie Tsai, spoken word artist

  • "The youth teach and remind us with their words that they will forge their own voices. We'd better facilitate them or be consumed in their wondrous fire."

    Roger Bonair-Agard, co-founder of the LouderArts Project

  • "If you want to feel optimistic about a future in which young people turn sensitive eyes to some of the toughest issues facing our society, read this book."

    Anthony DePalma, New York Times reporter

  • "The heart and soul that went into this book are apparent from the very first page... In Causing Effect, it's obvious that these students have been changed."

    Gerry House, President and CEO of the Institute for Student Achievement