OTTAWA YOUTH SERVICES BUREAU DROP-IN ZINE

I can't remember exactly how I got a copy of this zine.  I might have picked it up when I was volunteering at the Mission in my mid-twenties.  Nevertheless, it is a unique zine, written by street youth for their peers.  It covers topics from AIDS prevention to tips on getting tattoos to sexuality.

Much of the zine is written by hand by a collective of street youth and feels very personal.  It is also full of original drawings, which I like. 

Overall, it is an excellent time capsule of Ottawa's street youth and reminds me of the time in my life when I myself had nothing.  My favourite line in the zine is the last bit of one of the poems: "When we tell our story/ We can tell them every side of hell."