The 15 stories and poems of this middle grade collection celebrate some of the many aspects and experiences of being a Black girl—and as one might expect from an anthology edited by Leah Johnson (You Should See Me in a Crown, Ellie Engle Saves Herself), there is queer representation in it.
There are stories set in contemporary American communities as well as ones in magic-infused worlds (like Roseanne A. Brown’s magical baking school story, “Crème de la Crème” and Dhonielle Clayton’s vampire tale, “First Bite”). Some explore near-universal experiences, like the shifting friendships of this transitional period of life; others focus on experiences more specific to being a Black girl (though without seeing these experiences as a monolith), as in Ibi Zoboi’s “Rice & Beans, Rhythm & Beats,” which looks at both step dancing and some of the varied foods of the African diaspora.
Kalynn Bayron’s “Auntie Ro” has a protagonist who (spoiler alert) grows up to be a queer mom; Kekla Magoon’s “The Sleepover” has a protagonist who might be on the ace/aro spectrum and has two moms; Natasha Díaz’s “One of Those Days” includes an older two-woman couple; and in Johnson’s own “Brave,” the protagonist gets harassed about not being a “real girl” because she plays hockey. (A friend advises, “Gender is whatever you want it to be. Whatever feels right.”) The queerness is not the point of any of these stories—but by including it, the authors give us a broader look at the lives of Black girls today.
The depth and variety of these stories, showing creativity, inspiration, humor, and heart, makes this a highly recommended collection for both homes and libraries.
Content warning: In Sharon M. Draper’s “The Last Chocolate Cookie,” the protagonist’s brother dies in a bicycle accident that the protagonist witnesses.
