Poetry, Drama, Film & Graphic Novels ~ The Rose That Grew From Concrete

Book Cover Photo Source, Barnes and Noble: http://search.barnesandnoble.com/The-Rose-That-Grew-from-Concrete/Tupac-Shakur/e/9780671028442/?itm=7&usri=tupac+shakur, accessed November 21, 2009. 

Bibliography

Shakur, Tupac.  1999.  THE ROSE THAT GREW FROM CONCRETE.  New York: Pocket Books.  ISBN 9780671028442

Critical Analysis

Written in his own hand from the time he was nineteen until the age of twenty-one, these seventy-two poems encompass the spirit and passion of an up and coming star.  The young rapper-to-be wrote poems of love, passion, depression and hope.  Some are angry, all are powerful.  The poetry is much more delicate than the rap lyrics that would make him famous.  Each poem is written in his own handwriting as well as in typeface, and ideographs are used throughout.  These characteristics will engage young readers from the start.  Broken up inot four parts, the love poetry is sensitive, often with responsibility as an underlying theme.  ""sex" only with my girl because i love her/ "babies" impossible I always use a rubber"  "What Can I Offer Her?" and "Government Assistance or My Soul" speak of unemployment and the title poem celebrates growth in spite of obstacles.  This small volume of poems of his youth were collected by his manager Leila Steinberg and published with the permission of his mother, who also writes the preface.  Readers will understand the helplessness the author felt as a young black male, wanting to become famous but not knowing how to make that happen.  Librarians and teachers should read Tupac's lyrics before recommending them to students and/or patrons.  They may be found at http://www.elyrics.net/song/t/tupac-shakur-lyrics.html.  After reading the lyrics of a selection of his raps songs, you realize, sadly, that this was a talent that died before his prime. 

Review Excerpts

SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL: "A collection of poetry written by the rapper between 1989 and 1991, before he became famous. The poems are passionate, sometimes angry, and often compelling. Selections are reproduced from the originals in Shakur's handwriting, personalized by distinctive spelling and the use of ideographs (a drawing of an eye for I, etc.), and complete with scratch outs and corrections."

VOYA: "When nineteen-year-old Shakur joined the writing circle of Leila Steinberg, as she relates in her introduction to this collection, he became its leading force. The young rapper-to-be wrote love poems, distressed poems, depressed poems. There is passion here, including anger, but this poetry is far more gentle, albeit less powerful, than the rap lyrics that would make him infamous."