You don't know teenagers until you listen to them. I am a Puerto Rican woman, working in the Chicago School system since 1968. I have met thousands of students who have changed the way I teach, because of the way my students have affected me. As a Christian, I have embraced God's guidance and leadership, when working with the students He has given me to work with. Keeping it Real a Teacher's Stories, contains over sixty different stories, that highlight students from three inner city High Schools in Chicago. The stories reflect the young Hispanic youth of the 1970s to the 1990s. These students were struggling to survive Chicago streets within the educational system offered them, of that time. I write about the young gang kids, and the alternatives they have chosen, to change their lives. I write about students caught in the middle of High School life, with little alternatives for success. I have seen these students' strengths, fears and growth. I look forward to sharing these stories with my readers from my truths. I hope to bring support to the lives that are now reliving many of the stories I write. My students will always be Keeping it Real, as they developed into adult parents and community leaders.