In this book, I've decided to embrace and own all of me. The progression of the poems are a reflection of glowing up from a darker past to a lighter present that enables me to be more fully human. The poems in this book describe how I grew up versus how I live now, which is a fusion of hood shit and more intellectual shit; blending them together allows me to create my own path. Identifying as a hood-lectual means allowing myself to unapologetically express the presentable and not so presentable sides of Jessica.