On Tuesday, Dec. 27, 2011 at 8 p.m., Books & Books (Coral Gables) hosts WordSpeak — Tigertail’s teen spirited, high-octane spoken word project, book launch and performance reading that is both fun and educational.

Showcasing the creative energy of the teen mind, WordSpeak encourages teens to do more than just speak out and speak up. WorkSpeak gives teens a platform to use the tricks of language — word play, irony, metaphor, assonance and consonance — to communicate big ideas.

Yes, WorkSpeak is always pure fun, but it is also educational, especially for the kids and teens in the audience. According to the University of Michigan, there are five skills essential for literacy. Two of those skills — phonemic awareness and phonics — involve hearing individual sounds of spoken words. So bring the kids, the neighbor’s kids and their parents, too.

Teen team members Alejandra Nunez, Leondra Hollingsworth, Gio Garced, Diego Leon Mosquera, Samantha Turner and Sarah Daut will, without a doubt, rock the bookshelves. See you there.

WordSpeak, free & open to the public, Location: Books & Books, 265 Aragon Ave., Coral Gables, Go to tigertail.org for maps and directions or visit booksandbooks.com. Signed books are available for purchase.