I’ve been doing a little time travelling in my reading life lately. I have travelled to the late 1800s, the 1960s and the 1990s. I love reading stories set in the past just as much as I love stories in the present and the future. There is nostalgia and a rememberance of perhaps a simpler time, or at least a time without so much technology. In These are Not the Words, Amanda West Lewis takes readers to New York City in the 1960s through poetry and prose.

Missy lives in Harlem with her mom and Pops. She’s twelve and Pops is introducing her to the world of Jazz but things are starting to unravel. Pops can’t seem to leave the music, using pills and alcohol to soothe some dark recesses of his mind. When things get out of control, Missy and her mother leave East 14th Street and make a new home on East 17th Street.

Amanda West Lewis’ story is semi autobiographical, drawing from the people, places and happenings when she lived in New York City. However, Missy’s story is not Amanda’s story. Amanda West Lewis takes readers on a journey through her sparse text, sometimes in verse. We fall into the Jazz scene of the 1960s. We are introduced to early forms of psychiatric treatment and rehab. We learn the devastating effects on a family from drug and alcohol abuse. It’s a coming of age story in a turbulent time.

The story is ripe with emotion. With the sparse text comes the need to ensure each word makes an impact. Readers cannot help but fall into Missy’s world. We feel her fear, her pain, her anger. An honest and open story about life that may help many young readers know that their experiences are not singular.

These Are Not The Words is a small, compact story that packs a whole lot of punch.