To Save a Monster is a team piece performed by the poets of the Whitney M. Young Magnet High School Slam Poetry Team: seniors Essie Linzy, 18, and Jamar Wilson, 18, alongside junor Nina Posner, 16, and freshman Shelyse Opio, 15. This was the first year in the competition for Jamar and Shelyse, and the second year for Nina and Essie (who can also be heard performing here).

This chilling piece takes on the unusual topic of pedophilia, and the need for sympathy and compassion for those with the illness.

Though everyone knows “the points are not the point, the point is the poetry” – congratulations to Whitney Young High School, who successfully advanced to the Final round of competition, one of the top four teams in the 2012 Festival, out of a field of over 90 schools and community organizations who participated. 

The largest of its kind in the world, Louder Than A Bomb (LTAB) is Chicago’s rapidly-growing teen poetry festival, taking place February 18 - March 10, 2012, at various venues around Chicago. Aiming to bring teens together across racial, gang, and socio-economic lines, LTAB is a friendly competition that emphasizes self-expression and community via poetry, oral story-telling, and hip-hop spoken word.

Click here to hear all the other 2012 recordings, alongside nearly 200 Louder Than a Bomb Finalist pieces recorded by Chicago Public Media (WBEZ-Chicago) over the past eight years.