This latest story by Danielle Jawando blew me away.
This author has never shied away from meaty, current, and underrepresented topics, and If My Words Had Wings was no exception.
Ty is a young Black man from Manchester, serving a sentence for his part in an armed robbery that went wrong.
He's consistently been let down by the authorities and the services that should have provided support for young people. He came from a family where he was a witness to DA, went off the rails educationally, and ended up in a PRU.
However, this story takes place towards the end of his sentence, when he is due to be released, and the aftermath of his release, including his feelings and struggle to show his honest intentions in a world that has a pre-judged view of boys 'like him'.
During his stay, Ty discovers poetry and spoken word, as written by many poets from backgrounds similar to his own. He finds a way to convey his thoughts and feelings in a way that feels authentic.
I don't think it is that well documented enough just how awful young offender institutes and prisons can be for those incarcerated, and Jawando shines a light on many issues, including the way POC can be prejudged and all rolled together, purely for looking a certain way.
This is a raw, hard-hitting book covering systematic racism, PTSD, mental health, self-harming and suicidal thoughts, all covered sensitively but so needed.
If My Words Had Wings is another of her books that should be on the National Curriculum. Thousands of youngsters would benefit from reading this, recognising themselves within the story.
Highly recommended!
Many thanks to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for an ARC.

I thought this was extraordinary particularly with regards to the insight it gave me as a reader to what life is life for some young black men and the discrimination and prejudices they face every single day.

Headlines:
Injustice prevailing
Survival
Coping mechanisms

This heart-stopping story brings the reader into a world few of us will have experience of. Tyrell was a young man in a prison for young offenders, he committed a crime but the payment was heavy. The first half of the book centred on the latter part of his incarceration and the second half centred on life afterwards; neither of those experiences were easy, far from it.

Through Ty's eyes I learnt more about joint enterprise and how black young men are targetted by police and the word 'gangs' is thrown about easily and often unnecessarily. The gang matrix was a new concept to me and I looked up more information on this, I was pretty incredulous. These facts translated to characters in this story and Dadir absolutely pulled at my heart. At the end, as attached as I was to Ty, Dadir had all my questions, much of my compassion and angry tears.

Life behind bars for Ty was one big adrenaline surge to stay safe. The sense of tension he held at all times was palpable. I was looking over Ty's shoulders for him but it didn't help. Ty's outlet through this book was a talent he found in words on a page that translated into spoken word. There were some great advocates in this book and we needed to see those chinks of hope for Ty. I loved Malik and Becky's empowerment.

Family relationships were both complicated and frustrating. Reading Ty's connection with his brother and how that eventually played out brought a new set of tears. Ty was a young man with integrity, a crime is not everything about an identity even though society loves to see it that way. The Ty we met had emotional intelligence, an evolving ability to make decent decisions but some of his decisions had me figuratively reading through my fingers.

I'm left thinking, what about all the Dadirs??

Danielle Jawando brought this story to life with heart, empowerment and hope. Her words have wings and she gave them to Ty.

I read an early copy of this book but it did not influence by honest opinion.