Breathtakingly courageous, Nubes a Mi Alrededor, is the bilingual sister publication to Rikers Island’s Killing the Sky series. In this work, seven inmate students share their stories in their native Spanish and their second language, English. Readers are transported to their ‘hoods and corner delis, and the streets of other countries. The students paint a picture drawn of many shades of grey, releasing both writer and reader from stereotypes about criminals and “troubled kids.” Like coal compressed into diamonds, their lessons-learned-the-hard-way become a glimmer of optimism and renewed perspective.
