Tuesday 15 January 2019

Black Enough: Stories of Being Young & Black in America edited by Ibi Zoboi

Synopsis (from Goodreads

Pages: 416 
Publisher: Harper Collin Children's Books 
Released: 8th of January 2019 

Edited by National Book Award finalist Ibi Zoboi, Black Enough is an essential collection of captivating stories about what it’s like to be young and black in America.
Black is male
Black is female
Black is straight
Black is gay
Black is urban
Black is rural
Black is rich. And poor
Black is mixed-race
Black is immigrants
Black is more

There are countless ways to be BLACK ENOUGH.

Featuring some of the most acclaimed bestselling American black authors writing for teens today, Black Enough is an essential collection of captivating stories about what it’s like to be young and black in America.

With an Introduction by June Sarpong, author of DIVERSIFY
Stories from: Renee Watson, Varian Johnson, Leah Henderson, Lamar Giles, Kekla Magoon, Jason Reynolds, Brandy Colbert, Tochi Onyebuchi, Liara Tamani, Jay Coles, Rita Williams-Garcia, Tracey Baptiste, Dhonielle Clayton, Justina Ireland, Coe Booth, Nic Stone and Ibi Zoboi

What I have to Say 

A wonderful anthology full of different ways to be black in America. I think it's so important with all the racial stereotyping in the world to show how many different ways there are to be black. It gives me so much hope that not only will it show the world how much diversity exists in just one part of the world, but also show black teenagers all over America that they are represented and that they are, as the title says, Black Enough. 

As with all anthologies, there were a range of stories on so many different topics. So many I loved and others I wasn't so keen on. Some of my particular favourites were: Half a Moon by Renée Watson, a lovely story about absent fathers and feelings between stepsisters, Samson and the Delilah's by Tochi Onyebuchi, a story about a boy meeting the girl next door and finding his true passion, despite what his parents want for him and Warning: Colour May Fade by Leah Henderson, a story about art and identity and breaking the mold at an exclusive private school. 

I love how anthologies share so many stories that you may not have picked up on your own and authors that you've never read before. It's a great way to showcase multiple authors and attract new readers. I'd love to see more by so many authors in these books and so I'll definitely see if I can find more by some of my favourites. 


My thanks go to Netgalley and Harper Collins for providing me with this copy for review. 

2 comments:

  1. I've had this one turn up to review and thought it sounded brilliant. I'm so glad to hear you think so too. It just seems like such an important book!

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  2. Ooooh, I definitely want to read this!

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