What The Kids Say

We’ve just received a copy of a terrific anthology highlighting 21 of the stories and artwork Newark students aged 8 to 18 created in a Covid 19 Stories and Artistic Expressions project. Published by our Newark Public Library with funding from the New Jersey Council for the Humanities, the students capture how deeply Covid 19 affected their lives and show the individual and collective spirits that helped Newark’s young people get through their days of pandemic.

Our Philip Roth Personal Library wants to celebrate these student writers and artists, remembering similar admiration and gratitude for the more than 200 high school- aged youth who submitted stories about living in Newark for our writing contest this past winter.

In the new anthology, students tell of sudden separation from school and friendships. They learn to cook, hold their family members close, put up a Christmas tree.  Their sleep patterns suffer. They play board games and eat ice cream, become bored with social media, become depressed. Students struggle to keep learning, find a way to be with their teachers online. They feel hopeful seeing hungry people get help, no longer take things for granted. They learn of George Floyd’s murder. A grandfather dies; a brother and sister survive.

“Their voices are important and needed to be heard and shared,’’ says Sharon Owens, who oversaw the project and is manager of Newark Public Library’s Springfield Branch.  “This project is important to me because our youth are our future, they need our love, understanding and support. Our Newark students shared poignant stories and poems. Their artistic expressions are realistic and meaningful. I am so appreciative, proud and humbled by the work they shared.”