Poetry by Kids — Just Because I'm Young — Michniak and Krissa

 

Just Because I'm Young

Written and Illustrated by Emily Michniak and Taylor Krissa

Bibliography:

Michniak, E., & Krissa, T. (2021). Just Because I’m Young. Self-Published.

Summary:

Just Because I'm Young is a poetry collection written by two teenage girls, Emily Michniak (17 years old) and Taylor Krissa (16 years old), that expresses their understanding of painful, traumatic, and deeply meaningful moments and emotions. 

Analysis:

The poetry in this collection is separated into four themed sections — You're Not Too Young to Have Heartache, You're Not Too Young to Have Sorrow, You're Not Too Young to Fall in Love, You're Not Too Young to Feel True Happiness. All of the poems are untitled and it is not specified which author wrote any of the poems or illustrated any of the drawings seen sporadically throughout the book. 

The writing quality itself is great, but it is clearly self-published as there are multiple typos and misspellings seen in many of the poems and in the final dedication. These errors are easy to overlook, though, when the meaning inside the words is so deep and relatable to the authors' peers and older readers. It is clear that this book was made with passion from two young girls who were fed up with not being taken seriously and wanted to encourage others to express themselves. I found myself relating to many of the experiences and emotions described. There is some usual teenage romantic angst found in the poems (this is said knowing that I, as an adult, have felt plenty of angst after my teenage years), but it is mixed with heartbreaking experiences that are beyond traumatic for anyone to go through. Michniak and Kriss delve into abuse, depression, body image issues, and more sorrowful thoughts, as well as the pure joy that can be felt at that age, from young romance to self-acceptance. 

The doodled illustrations sketched on the pages are reminiscent of little drawings in high school notebooks created out of boredom or lost thoughts. They are small and quaint — they don't take up much space on the page do not draw the eye away from the poems themselves. Overall, they compliment the poems well by reminding the reader that these emotions and experiences do, in fact, come from young authors, not adults, which cements the idea proclaimed by the title.  

Excerpt:

Below is at least one poem from each section. The poems do not have titles, so they are separated by extra spacing. The bolded lines are the section titles. 

YOU'RE NOT TOO YOUNG TO HAVE HEARTACHE

The punches you threw at me were covered up with makeup and flowers.

Forgotten by taking me out to dinner and buying me gifts.

Thrown away by movie nights and a ring.

You thought I would forget the abuse if you said I love you.

Please talk to me

I can feel you drifting away 

And there is nothing I can do to fix it

Our relationship is not a never ending waterfall

It is a little pond

And I am the only one filling it

You used me over and over again like how your dad used the word sorry to your mom

When you said you loved me I thought you meant me not my body.

My yelling is a whisper when it's the men that are listening

YOU'RE NOT TOO YOUNG TO HAVE SORROW

I was too scared to yell for help

I didn't want to cause a scene

Its like I am watching you fade away

Please try harder

Get your life together

God you are so lazy

I don't want you to end up in the streets

Think about your future

Not all is lost

Please try

If not for you then for me

YOU'RE NOT TOO YOUNG TO FALL IN LOVE

Every love story started somewhere

Some are poems

Some are books

Some are series

YOU'RE NOT TOO YOUNG TO FEEL TRUE HAPPINESS

You do not see how beautiful you look

How your eyes light up at sunsets. Puppies, or the smell of chocolates

You do not see how effortlessly gorgeous you look when you think no one is watching

You do not notice how everyone smiles when your laugh fills the room

So the next time someone tells you how beautiful you are, believe them

Activity Idea:

Using this book as an example would be a great way to have kids vent their frustrations for the things they're told they're too young to understand or to have experienced. Many teenagers have gone through traumatic events or live through daily struggles that the outside world paints as things only adults could possibly know. An appropriate activity would be to lead into the conversation discussing how teens are often overlooked as human beings and usually don't have their experiences taken seriously. This could get them thinking about the times they've faced this issue. Next, you would instruct them to turn those frustrations to the page and let out their thoughts in whatever form comes naturally — this could be structured verses, freeform, rhyme schemes, etc. — it's completely up to them. It would great to encourage them to share if they wish, but these topics could broach on deeply personal stories so it should be clear from the beginning that sharing their work is completely optional.