My Sisters' Voices: Teenage Girls of Color Speak Out

by Iris Jacob (Editor)

In the tradition of the bestselling Ophelia Speaks , a collection of provocative essays by teenage girls of color

My Sisters' Voices is a passionate and poignant collection of writings from teenage girls of African American, Hispanic, Asian American, Native American, and biracial backgrounds. With candor and grace, they speak out on topics that are relevant not only to themselves and their peers but to anyone who is raising, teaching, or nurturing young women of color.

As adolescents, women, and minorities, these young authors represent a demographic that has had no voice of its own, a group often spoken for but rarely given the opportunity to be heard. Now these young women have a chance to stand up and be counted, to present their own unique perspectives in fresh and astonishing ways. Here you'll find a Native American girl writing about the bumps in her relationship with her best friend, who's white; a Korean American girl who wishes she could help her mother understand that it's okay to socialize with boys as well as girls; and a biracial girl who feels she must be the designated spokesperson for blacks when she's around whites, for whites when she's around blacks, and for biracial people around everyone. These personal and inspiring stories about family, friendship, sex, love, poverty, loss, and oppression make My Sisters' Voices essential reading for young women of all backgrounds.

Genres: Nonfiction, Memoir, Poetry, Education

246 pages, Paperback

First published September 5, 2000

Reviews

[Serena Mihalek · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reading this book is an amazing way to extend your knowledge on the perspectives of people of color. The book includes a large variety of different life experiences from different people and it was fascinating to read about what these people are going through because of the detail and vivid stories that were included. There should be more books like this to open the eyes of audiences to what some lives are like for people of color.

[Jolynne · Rating 5 out of 5]

When I was told to write anything I wanted for a chance to have it entered in a book, I never dreamed that I would be chosen. Many years later and this book is still influencing people who are my age at the time that I submitted my work. I wish that a book like this had come my way back then. I'm glad it is still making an impact.

[Jess · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book and I would highly recommend it to everyone. It gave me a look into the many different lives and the hardships that all of those women went through. It was really inspiring and it gave me the inspiration to write a creative piece on it. I liked the way it was written. It was very different from anything I have ever seen and it was very nice.

[Taylor · Rating 5 out of 5]

I originally had to read excerpts from this book for one of my classes, but I enjoyed reading them so much that I had to read through it completely. All of the pieces featured in this book are beautifully written. I really like how there are writings for many different experiences that these girls went through.

[Sumayyah · Rating 4 out of 5]

I give this book of poems and essays 4.5 out of 5 stars. Excellent resource. I do wish that it covered just a few more topics; however, the topics that are covered make this an important book for young women of color. I just wish there had been something like this available when I was a teenager.

[Yoonmee · Rating 5 out of 5]

We need more books like this. This book is such a treasure filled with essays and poems by teenage girls of color. I encourage all adults who work with teens of color to read this book. I just wish a book like this had been around when I was a teenager.

[Ashanti Harris · Rating 5 out of 5]

My sister's voice is a nonfiction book, this book is a series of multiple collections of writings the book is 245 pages long and has a mixture of both easily worded and also challenging some. To guide the reader's about the Author, they must know the Author sharing the personal issues she faced and struggles of women of color. This book is similar to other books in the same genre because other books talk about the same issues but this book is different in a unique way, this book share stories writings,poetry,and art by Women of Indigenous Backgrounds. This book is both written in a formal and informal sense of style and the language is remarkable by actual things people face in society. This book is geared to the age group of young adults who might have experienced some of the issues they've shared. The book is written in our normal prose, poetic form with poetry that rhymes.

Iris Jacob address conflicts in diversity of all different ethnic backgrounds of women who speak out on those issues of biracial backgrounds, family,loss, insecurities, and issues with peers. The main Characters are the teenage girls including Irish J. What makes this book interesting are the Conflicts these girl all have shared are relatable because I have been in the same Situations as Most of them. My sister's voices are chapters of conflicts for example of 12 year old girl poem “You Are You but I am black”, her poem talks about being black but being seen as nothing more than your skin.

My sister's voice our Stories full of trees in writing about personal conflicts women of color face including racism ,self-love, insecurities, and Society. The idea behind every story is to embrace themselves as who they are and what makes them all the same because their sharing their stories. The theme of The Story shows facing their fears to be finally be hurt the book is totally worth reading because these are conflicts women across everyday and it will also change your personal perspective on how you view others of A different race but breaking stereotypes a particular line in the book that has strike me as meaningful was Iris reviewing of Jasmine Kolu Zazaboi’s poem where Iris discusses her poem betraying the feeling of being seen only as a person of color but not really a person destruction is Meaningful because I have always felt as if everyone has saw me as an African American Girl and nothing less but my Skin color.

I personally think others will like this book I feel as if though the book has sad parts. From this book I learned that I should never feel ashamed to be black and I should a embrace the color of my skin, Self-love is key. I thought this book was interesting because this was the first book I've read where I could relate to 100% of the way but also the first book I haven't given up on. I would definitely read this book again. I would read other books by the same author or on the same subject. My favorite Part of My Sisters’ Voices is Iris Jacob’s personal opinion about every writing that was read.

[Linda · Rating 2 out of 5]

I picked this up for my multiracial granddaughter when she started high school. It's a rehash of the Chicken Soup for the Soul series, though a little less creative.