Dear Hillary Clinton,
I feel so sorry that you did not become the future president of the United States. This is sad for me because I think that a woman should be president to show that women don’t just do the house jobs and to show that girls are the same as boys.
In my school at lunchtime, I sit with the girls and not with the boys. I am the only boy from the fifth grade that sits with the girls, and boys ask me, “Why do you sit with the girls?” I say it’s because they are the same. Plus, I don’t have many friends who are boys. I have more friends who are girls. That’s why I think that a woman should be president.
— Anonymous, Having to Tell Your Mother is the Hardest Part
Inspired by socially charged photojournalism and mentor texts that include Junot Diaz and Claudia Rankine, students spanning ages ten to sixteen tackle questions about who they are and the world they live in. Having to Tell Your Mother Is the Hardest Part is a collection of personal narratives that encompasses the fears, dreams, and hopes of young writers, ranging from concerns about immigration to soccer tournament victories to a community that unites after an earthquake to the story behind a name, as well as critical responses to the 2016 United States presidential election. Filled with joy and sadness, young writers reflect on the encounters between themselves and the world around them, musing over misunderstandings and broken connections, and parsing out the meaning of identity in a multicultural and multilingual world.
