Black Enough: Stories of Being Young & Black in America
Description
Edited by National Book Award finalist Ibi Zoboi, and featuring some of the most acclaimed bestselling 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. A selection of the Schomburg Center's Black Liberation Reading List.
Black is...sisters navigating their relationship at summer camp in Portland, Oregon, as written by Renée Watson.
Black is...three friends walking back from the community pool talking about nothing and everything, in a story by Jason Reynolds.
Black is...Nic Stone's high-class beauty dating a boy her momma would never approve of.
Black is...two girls kissing in Justina Ireland's story set in Maryland.
Black is urban and rural, wealthy and poor, mixed race, immigrants, and more--because there are countless ways to be Black enough.
Contributors:
Justina Ireland
Varian Johnson
Rita Williams-Garcia
Dhonielle Clayton
Kekla Magoon
Leah Henderson
Tochi Onyebuchi
Jason Reynolds
Nic Stone
Liara Tamani
Renée Watson
Tracey Baptiste
Coe Booth
Brandy Colbert
Jay Coles
Ibi Zoboi
Lamar Giles
Product Details
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About the Author
Varian Johnson is the author of four novels, including The Great Greene Heist, a Publishers Weekly Best Summer Book of 2014. His novels for older readers include My Life as a Rhombus, named to the Texas Library Association Tayshas High School Reading List and the New York Public Library Stuff for the Teen Age list; and Saving Maddie, a Bank Street College of Education Best Children's Book.
Varian was born in Florence, South Carolina, and attended the University of Oklahoma, where he received a BS in Civil Engineering. He later received an MFA in writing for children and young adults from the Vermont College of Fine Arts. Varian now lives outside of Austin, Texas, with his family.
Liara Tamani lives in Houston, Texas. She holds an MFA in writing from Vermont College and a BA from Duke University. Calling My Name is her first book. www.liaratamani.com
Ibi Zoboi was born in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, and holds an MFA in Writing for Children & Young Adults from Vermont College of Fine Arts. Her writing has been published in The New York Times Book Review, The Horn Book, and The Rumpus, among others. She is the author of American Street, a National Book Award finalist, and Pride. She lives in Brooklyn with her husband and their three children. You can find her online at www.ibizoboi.net.
Brandy Colbert is an author whose novel Pointe won the 2014 Cybils Award for young adult fiction and was named a best book of 2014 by Publishers Weekly, BookRiot, and more. She is also the author of Finding Yvonne and Little & Lion, which was a Junior Library Guild and a Book of the Month Club selection.She was also chosen as a Publishers Weekly Flying Start author for spring 2014. She was born and raised in Springfield, Missouri, and earned a bachelors degree in journalism from Missouri State University. She works as a copy editor for magazines and books.
Nic Stone was born and raised in a suburb of Atlanta, Georgia, and the only thing she loves more than an adventure is a good story about one. She is a Spelman College graduate. After working extensively in teen mentoring and living in Israel for a few years, she returned to the United States to write full-time. Dear Martin, her first novel, is loosely based on a series of true events involving the shooting deaths of unarmed African American teenagers. Shaken by the various responses to these incidents-and to the pro-justice movement that sprang up as a result-she began the project in an attempt to examine current affairs through the lens of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s teachings.
Coe Booth was born and raised in the Bronx of New York City. She is the author of Tyrell, Kendra, Bronxwood, and Kinda like Brothers. She currently lives in the Bronx, working as a full-time writer and a part-time writing teacher at Vermont College of Fine Arts. Booth also volunteers for the NAACP ACT-SO program where she mentors teen writers.
Reviews
★ "The stories, all worth savoring, share a celebratory outlook on black teenagers fully and courageously embracing life."--Publishers Weekly (starred review)
★ Praise for AMERICAN STREET: "Mixing gritty street life with the tenderness of first love, Haitian Vodou, and family bonds, the book is at once chilling, evocative, and reaffirming."--Publishers Weekly (starred review)
★ Praise for AMERICAN STREET: "Filling her pages with magic, humanity, tragedy, and hope, Zoboi builds up, takes apart, and then rebuilds an unforgettable story. This book will take root in readers' hearts."--Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
★ Praise for AMERICAN STREET: "Zoboi's stunning debut intertwines mysticism and love with grit and violence...Fierce and beautiful."--Booklist (starred review)
★ Praise for AMERICAN STREET: "A breathtaking story about contemporary America that will serve as a mirror to some and a window for others, and it will stay with anyone who reads it."--School Library Journal (starred review)
Praise for AMERICAN STREET: "Will reach young readers regardless of their background."--Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books
Praise for AMERICAN STREET: "A poignant meditation on one girl's struggle to find her way in a new world."--Nicola Yoon, New York Times bestselling author of The Sun is Also a Star and Everything, Everything
Praise for AMERICAN STREET: "Brimming with culture, magic, warmth, and unabashed rawness, "American Street" is ultimately a blistering tale of humanity. This is "Manchild in the Promised Land," for a new generation, and a remarkable debut from Zoboi, who without question is an inevitable force in storytelling."--Jason Reynolds, award-winning co-author of All American Boys
Praise for AMERICAN STREET: "Zoboi's nascent storytelling gifts ensnare from page one. To this spellbinding voice of the next generation, I bow."--Rita Williams-Garcia, New York Times bestselling author and three-time winner of the Coretta Scott King Award
"Ibi Zoboi, author of National Book Award finalist American Street and Jane Austen update Pride, dazzles again with this stunning, marvelously diverse collection of 17 stories of the teen experience by black authors [writing] 'about teens examining, rebelling against, embracing, or simply existing within their own idea of blackness.'"--Buffalo News
★ "A poignant collection of stunning short stories by Black, rock star authors"--Booklist (starred review)
Praise for AMERICAN STREET: "Zoboi urges us to examine the American dream to see if there is room within it to hold the ones we love."--Ebony Magazine
★ "A breath of fresh air...nuanced and necessary."--Kirkus Reviews (starred review)