ISBN:978-1952197123

Onein 14 children in the United States has a parent who has been inprison.

Have you ever wondered how these youngsters feel abouthaving a parent in prison? Many are depressed, showing lowself-esteem. Withdrawing from family and friends is not uncommon.Isolation, bullying, fear, and guilt are prevalent among theseyoungsters. They may exhibit obnoxious behavior in school orelsewhere. There is also a higher chance of delinquency and/orcriminal behavior in the future.

POPS the CLUB, a fantasticnonprofit organization that stands for Pain of the Prison System, hasbeen invaluable in assisting these young people affected by aparent's incarceration.

Amy Friedman and Dennis Danzigerlaunched the nonprofit in 2013.

POPS creates a safe,empowering space for these youth through arts-based programs,transforming stigma into hope and dignity so they can thriveacademically, socially, and emotionally now and as adults.

DearFriends: Pops the Club Anthology is the eighth publication puttogether by POPS the CLUB members and friends.

The anthologycontains 277 pages of beautiful art, powerful poems, and fantasticphotographs. They cover a total of 277 pages.

The collectionwas compiled by students from California, Georgia, New York, andPennsylvania.

These well-thoughtful reflections demonstratehow a parent's incarceration significantly impacts theirchildren.

Writings and other forms of expression connect adiverse group of creators dealing with the effects of having a parentincarcerated in their lives.

Throughout the pandemic, thesechildren collaborated on their work, divided into eleven sections inthe anthology.

Jessica De La Mora's Note to God is one suchpiece of writing, in which she expresses her strong feelings aboutGod in the first stanza:

“AsI write to you,

Ibeg for forgiveness.

Iask for help, I need you to hear me out, listen to my voice.

Thepain in my voice.

I’mscreaming for help, but nobody is listening.

Ishout your name, but you do not care.

Ineed you to take this pain away, I can’t take it anymore.”

Thefeeling of confusion is expressed by Imari Stevenson who writes:

“Iwake up every morning wondering how my day will go.

Willit be a good day or a dreadful day.

Mostdays I end up just wanting to give up.

Butthen I realize that I was placed on earth for some type of reason.

Nowit’s our job to find meaning for being birthed

intothis place called earth.”

Scatteredthroughout the anthology are several self-portraits and art workconfirming the old adage that a picture is worth a thousand words.

Ifyou are wondering who are these authors, the last few pages of thebook introduce us to each one.