Category: Identity

Frizzy

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Side view of a Latine pre-teen girl with beautiful, bountiful curly hair, with city buildings the background.(Updated)

How can a girl love her hair when no one else around her does?

Marlene is at her least favorite place – the hair salon. She has beautiful, thick, curly hair, but according to everyone around her it needs to be tamed. Marlene’s visit to the salon is a weekly ritual, but this day is special, because she’s getting her hair done for her cousin’s quinceañera. It hurts Marlene both physically and emotionally to have her curls forced into submission. Her mother tells Marlene repeatedly that anything other than straight hair is unacceptable, and that natural hair is bad hair. Reverence for straight hair has been passed down for generations in Marlene’s family as well as in their Dominican community. The compliments she gets on her straightened hair don’t make her feel any better. Even when having fun, Marlene is reminded of the problem – she dances joyfully at the quince but she sweats and her hair goes back to its natural, curly state. This upsets her mother even more. Supported by her best friend Camila, Marlene tries unsuccessfully to wear her curls, but gets bullied at school and punished by her mother. Marlene finally finds an ally in her Tia Ruby – but will it be enough to overcome generations of valuing “good hair”?

This graphic novel is more than a story of a girl learning to care for her hair. It addresses the generational damage the concept of “good hair” has done to so many communities. Importantly, it does not shy away from the fact that it is rooted in anti-blackness. The lessons Tia Ruby gives Marlene are a good real-life guide for curly-haired readers. The wonderful art showing Marlene’s hair in various stages of curliness are distinct and accurate. Facial expressions and body language showing the range of emotions everyone experiences are powerful. Despite her struggles, there is a lot of fun in this book as we watch Marlene dare to accept and celebrate her curls.

Find Frizzy at your local bookstore or comic book shop.

Frizzy

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Side view of a Latine pre-teen girl with beautiful, bountiful curly hair, with city buildings the background.How can a girl love her hair when no one else around her does?

Marlene is at her least favorite place – the hair salon. She has beautiful, thick, curly hair, but according to everyone around her it needs to be tamed. Marlene’s visit to the salon is a weekly ritual, but this day is special, because she’s getting her hair done for her cousin’s quinceañera. It hurts Marlene both physically and emotionally to have her curls forced into submission. Her mother tells Marlene repeatedly that anything other than straight hair is unacceptable, and that natural hair is bad hair. Reverence for straight hair has been passed down for generations in Marlene’s family as well as in their Dominican community. The compliments she gets on her straightened hair don’t make her feel any better. Even when having fun, Marlene is reminded of the problem – she dances joyfully at the quince but she sweats and her hair goes back to its natural, curly state. This upsets her mother even more. Supported by her best friend Camila, Marlene tries unsuccessfully to wear her curls, but gets bullied at school and punished by her mother. Marlene finally finds an ally in her Tia Ruby – but will it be enough to overcome generations of valuing “good hair”?

This graphic novel is more than a story of a girl learning to care for her hair. It addresses the generational damage the concept of “good hair” has done to so many communities. Importantly, it does not shy away from the fact that it is rooted in anti-blackness. The lessons Tia Ruby gives Marlene are a good real-life guide for curly-haired readers. The wonderful art showing Marlene’s hair in various stages of curliness are distinct and accurate. Facial expressions and body language showing the range of emotions everyone experiences are powerful. Despite her struggles, there is a lot of fun in this book as we watch Marlene dare to accept and celebrate her curls.

Find Frizzy at your local bookstore or comic book shop.

Cool. Awkward. Black.

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Four Black teens surrounded by swirling, glowing books, ufo's and masks, all indicating something magical is happening.Cool. Awkward. Black: this collection of eighteen stories confirms that yes, you can be all three. Some of the best writers of young adult books have come together to prove it. Into cosplay? Cool. Play videogames? Nice. Enjoy fantasy role playing games? We got you. Do you craft? You’re not alone! Do you love LARPing? We see you!

The genres include fantasy, horror, science fiction and more, often with a bit of romance. You’ll meet teens who hunt UFOs, others with surprising mystical powers, many who dare to live their authentic, nerdy selves. Ibi Zoboi’s “Earth Is Ghetto” explores how people can feel like aliens on earth and questions whether there are answers off planet. “Requiem of Souls” from Terry J. Benton-Walker is straight up horror  – with music. Roseanne A. Brown’s “Wolf Tracks” shows how love can be transformative on multiple levels. If you’re looking for adventure, in “Drive Time” by Lamar Giles, two teens who start out taking a “behind the wheel” lesson suddenly find themselves forced to be their instructor’s getaway drivers.

I have to admit, this book grabbed me from the first entry. In “Our Joy, Our Power” by Julian Winters, two young men meet and make a sweet connection at a Comic-Con like gathering – one of my favorite places to be! A nice thing about this collection is that it’s kind of meta – not only do the stories reflect the interests of different nerdy Black teens, these are also the kinds of stories that nerdy Black teens like to read.  There is so much variety here, anyone who picks up the book will find something to enjoy.

Find Cool. Awkward. Black at your local bookstore.

Whiteout

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Two Black teens are kissing against a backdrop of a city skyline and falling snow; it looks like they're in a snow globe.Scientific Question – Can you outromance the most romance-obsessed girlfriend in the world?

Stephanie “Stevie” Williams has to answer this question – and fast. Her girlfriend Sola planned a special dinner to introduce Stevie to her family. Stevie screws up royally and turns the night into a disaster. Sola is heartbroken and has given Stevie a deadline to make things right. Stevie, a scientific, logic-driven person, calls on her network of friends to help her create a grand gesture to win Sola back. They all want to help but it won’t be easy. Each of them are in the midst of dealing with their own romantic issues. To make things more complicated, all the plans get tossed in the air because a snowstorm has hit their city of Atlanta, making it almost impossible to get anywhere.

As the teens’ stories are explored we get to enjoy favorite romance tropes, from “do I dare admit my feelings?,” to “can we get past this misunderstanding?,” to “is my ex is your ex?” Queer romances are front and center serving up plotlines that will appeal to many teens. All the teens are Black but they come from a variety of backgrounds including Nigerian, Muslim, Afro-Latino, and Jewish. Rather than shallow mentions, their assorted cultures are important to the narrative. Collectively their stories blend vulnerability, bravery and swoony affection in a way that feels honest. The teens are all relatable as young people trying to figure things out. Whiteout is written by the same lineup of award winning young adult authors that brought us Blackout. This time around Nicola Yoon, Nic Stone, Angie Thomas, Ashley Woodfolk, Tiffany D. Jackson and Dhonielle Clayton only give clues to who wrote which storylines. In the end it doesn’t matter. The authors work cohesively to bring Stevie, Sola and their friends together in a warm embrace of romance.

Find Whiteout at your local bookstore.

 

Swim Team

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Black tween girl wearing blue and yellow swimsuit and goggles backed by blue water in a swimming pool.Bree Hanley is a seventh grader who faces a host of obstacles when she and her father move to Florida from New York. Her dad works two jobs so he isn’t around much to offer support as she struggles to make friends at her new middle school. Bree’s new home, Palmetto Shores, is obsessed with competitive swimming. Bree’s first choice elective, Math Puzzles, is full and the only activity with space is Swim 101. Bree struggles with anxiety, so having to participate in the spotlight sport – while navigating the challenges of being the new girl at school – proves to be overwhelming. Despite these hurdles she makes a bold move and agrees to join her friends on the swim team. Can new friends and a surprising connection to her town’s last championship swim team help her get through?

Vibrant colors bring the lively characters and settings to life. Issues of racism and classism are communicated well in both art and text, which is well-suited for the intended middle grade audience. Bree’s struggles with anxiety are powerfully illustrated with dark clouds spelling out her fears. They contrast with the colors of the world outside of her head, showing how oppressive those thoughts can be. Most of the characters are Black, which opens up the conversation about how a history of segregation prevented Black people from accessing public pools and beaches. The inclusion of resources to learn more about these issues is a bonus.

This comic is relatable to a wide audience, regardless of any connection to middle school or swimming. Many of us in new, uncomfortable situations have experienced anxiety. The narrative shows that finding support in friends and community can be the first steps on a path to healing.

Find Swim Team at your local bookstore or comic book shop.

Mirror Girls

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MirrorGirls_CVR_Sketch.inddMirror Girls deftly blends historical fiction with the supernatural in this story of twin girls and the powerful forces affecting their lives. Soon after Charlene (“Charlie”) and her twin Magnolia were born, their Black mother and white father were murdered. Daring to be an interracial family in Georgia in 1936 was unacceptable and met with extreme violence. Upon their parents’ deaths, fair-skinned Magnolia was spirited away by her paternal grandmother and raised in Georgia as a white Southern belle. Brown-skinned Charlie was taken to New York and raised by her maternal grandmother Jeannette.

The girls’ separation broke a powerful spiritual bond leaving them cursed. Before taking infant Charlie to New York, Jeannette visited a man who had the power to appease the spirits who could undo the curse. She makes a devastating sacrifice to set in place a way to heal the broken bond and save the girls.

In 1953, Jeannette is nearing the end of her life and takes Charlie back to Georgia to reunite with the sister she didn’t know existed. At virtually the same moment, Magnolia’s grandmother is on her deathbed and she tells her granddaughter the truth about her parentage  She demands that Magnolia keep this secret so she can marry well and preserve the family status.

Charlie, wanting nothing more than to get back to New York, and Magnolia, reeling from the news of her true identity, finally meet. As they try to set things right, they are forced to confront powerful spiritual and social forces both pushing them together and pulling them apart. Growing conflicts between the Black and white communities make it even more difficult. Grandma Jeannette paid a heavy price to heal Charlie and Magnolia’s bond; the cost of failing to heal it will be even higher.

Once I started Mirror Girls I could not put it down. This is a tightly wound story with no shortage of twists and turns. The horror rises as much from people’s actions as from anything otherworldly. The characters and situations feel so real, the fantastical elements are also believable. Though issues of racism, social strictures, family secrets and supernatural powers are at the forefront, other potent forces come into play. This compelling story will keep you on the edge of your seat – don’t sleep on this one.

Find Mirror Girls at your local bookstore.

Allies: Real Talk About Showing Up, Screwing Up and Trying Again

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allies

Allies: Real Talk About Showing Up, Screwing Up and Trying Again is the guide we all need to help us do better. Though written for preteen and teen readers, adults will also get a lot from this book. As we head into the new year, we continue to face social, political and medical challenges. While there are many things we can’t control one thing we can do is take better care of each other. Who doesn’t want to be an ally? A better question is, how do we do it right?

This collection contains essays and one comic from a diversity of authors telling their own true experiences with allyship, whether from the perspective of needing allies or being allies. They’re honest about their own mistakes, offering a non-judgmental look at how even with the best of intentions we can (and probably will at some point), get it wrong. It provides insights on what to do to get it right.

Brendon Kiely, who co-authored “All American Boys” with Jason Reynolds, admits that he was once the “@$&” and reveals how he learned to stand up for people – even when they aren’t in the room. Shakirah Bourne writes about “glitches in the Matrix.” These are times when we gaslight ourselves because facing the reality of what we’re experiencing is too painful. Adiba Jaigirdar tells about how people who believed themselves to be powerful allies didn’t even recognize how dismissive they were of her experiences. I.W Gregorio, a doctor and author, writes about her evolution from ally to co-conspirator with intersex people. Marietta B. Zacker writes from the other side by talking about what it means to have someone stand up for you. One of the most fascinating essays is from Kayla Whaley. As a child she was featured on Jerry Lewis’s telethon for muscular dystrophy. Even then she understood how important it was to be both charming and strategic in how she answered questions when being interviewed on TV. Looking back on that time she considers whether she was acting as an ally (raising funds for research), an exploiter (manipulating the audience) or the exploited (used as a visual aid to help generate cash.) As she thinks through these questions she raises issues we all should consider.

The book also contains practical advice and a wide variety of resources, including websites, books and podcasts, all recommended by the authors. I was surprised at how many different experiences and situations the book covered, all presented in a relatable and informative manner. Allies deserves a place on every bookshelf.

Find Allies at your local independent bookstore.

Artie and the Wolf Moon

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ArtieGet ready for a horror story with a heart.

Eighth grader Artemis “Artie” Irvin is one of the few Black people at her school. She gets picked on but doesn’t care. Artie immerses herself in her favorite activity, old school film photography, a hobby she picked up from her late father. She wants to go out at night and take pictures under the full moon, but her mother Loretta says no, worried about Artie’s safety. Of course, Artie sneaks out any way. She sees a wolf and runs home, terrified. The wolf ends up at Artie’s door – and transforms into her mother! Artie demands answers. Loretta explains that yes, she’s a werewolf. Being a werewolf is an inherited trait, but since Artie’s late father was human (making her bi-mammalian), Loretta isn’t sure if Artie will become one. Artie is excited about the idea that she could become an apex predator, but her mom warns her – werewolves are not the scariest things out there.

When Artie’s abilities do emerge she and her mother go to a nearby community of werewolves where Artie learns more about her heritage and how to manage her powers. Finally, she’s in a place where she fits in and is accepted. She even finds romance with Maya, a werewolf she meets there. Things get complicated and scary when Artie learns secrets about her family’s past and how vampires threaten not just the werewolf community, but Artie’s family in particular.

The narrative weaves deftly through time – from the origins of werewolves during slavery, to Artie’s parents’ courtship, to Artie’s coming of age in the werewolf community. Artie and Maya’s queer romance is sweet. The conflicts between werewolves and vampires are dramatic and scary. The art integrates with the story beautifully; color is used skillfully to set time, place, and ominous moods. The werewolves are all Black and the vampires are light skinned.

I enjoyed this graphic novel so much! The narrative and art successfully blend heritage, horror and love into a compelling story.

Find Artie and the Wolf Moon at your local bookstore or comic book shop.

 

Don’t Hate The Player

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dont hate the playerDon’t Hate the Player is a fantastic read that explores the challenges a young woman of color faces when she enters the world of competitive videogaming while trying to keep the rest of her life on track.

Emilia Romero has her post-high school future planned with laser precision. She earns top grades, plays the right sports and participates in the right extracurriculars. She even dates the right boy, just to make the package complete. But all this serves as cover for her real passion – Emilia is an elite videogamer who plays for a championship e-sports team. In her game, Guardians League Online, she serves as the team’s DPS, responsible for damaging and killing the enemy. Going against the stereotype that female players should be healers, Emilia takes pride in being the destroyer. She has to keep this hidden; her family would see it as a distraction from her college goals and her friends would never understand. Things get dicey when Jake Hooper transfers to her high school. Emilia and Jake met as 4th graders at a videogame arcade at a mutual friend’s birthday party. They’d meet up at other parties over the years and game together but they never stayed in contact. Jake is the only person who knows both sides of Emilia’s life but he swears to keep her secret. That becomes tricky when Emilia’s team earns a space in a public, high stakes e-sports championship competition. Jake is now both her confidant and competitor, making things even more complicated.

This book is so much fun to read.

Emilia’s struggle to keep the demands of both parts of her life afloat is intriguing. Her relationship with Jake evolves into romance slowly and realistically. All of the teen characters are interesting and do more than just prop up Jake and Emilia’s storyline. Emilia and Jake’s parents are well fleshed out and bring more depth to the story. Overall, it’s a compelling (and funny!) exploration of relationships between friends, complicated romance, and complex family dynamics.

Jake is white, Emilia is Puerto Rican, and their teammates and friends are a mix of BIPOC, queer and trans folks. I appreciated the narrative’s direct confrontation of the harassment players with the latter identities face in the real world of online gaming. They are often the target of sexual and racial harassment, rape threats, and other forms of abuse. The abuse sometimes even comes from their own teammates. Sadly Emilia finds this situation similar to what she experiences at her elite private school, where she has to be “unassailably great” just to be in the same room with mediocre males.

The videogame sequences are fun and exciting. The outstanding descriptions of the in-game action are detailed, cinematic and engaging; they’re enjoyable regardless of your own level of involvement with videogames. Don’t be surprised if you become inspired to pick up a game controller yourself!

Find Don’t Hate the Player at your local independent bookstore.

 

Last Night at the Telegraph Club

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Lily is a queer Chinese American teen living in San Francisco’s Chinatown in the 1950’s. Although she has friends in her close knit community, her dreams take her elsewhere. Lily is one of only two girls in her high school’s advanced math class; she wants to go to college and become a “computer” at the Jet Propulsion Lab in Pasadena, CA like her Aunt Judy.

The other girl in the math class, Kathleen Miller, wants to be a pilot. Lily connects with Kathleen and slowly discovers they are both interested in math, science – and each other. She and Kathleen cautiously move toward facing, examining and understanding the feelings they have. Lily is curious about The Telegraph Club, where male impersonator Tommy Andrews performs. Kathleen takes her there; for the first time Lily connects with women who aren’t afraid to express themselves and their queerness. Lily decides that, although it will be hard, she will fight to live her truth.

The narrative is well plotted and does not gloss over the racism, homophobia and sexism rampant at that time. Lily’s friends, family and the women she meets at the club all have depth, representing a variety of life experiences and points of view. The backstory of some of Lily’s older relatives provides a historical look at the many legalized forms of anti-Asian discrimination her community faced. Several incidents at The Telegraph Club show the harm done by homophobia, particularly as practiced by the media and legal system.

In the Author’s Note, Malinda Lo shares the extensive (and fascinating!) research she did into life in San Francisco’s Chinatown in the 1950’s, and into life for queer women of color at that time. I appreciated her choice to use language –  Orientals, Negroes, etc.- to solidify the setting, even though those words are awkward now. Chinese dialog written with traditional characters brings us further into Lily’s world. Lo bases some characters on real people in an effort to highlight queer Chinese American women whose stories have been erased. A list of visual and print resources provides information for those who would like to learn more.

It’s interesting to reflect on what has changed and what hasn’t since Lily’s time. It’s a good reminder that just because we make some progress, it doesn’t mean the fight is over.

Find Last Night at the Telegraph Club at your local bookstore.

BONUS: If you really want to sink into the story, find the Spotify playlist Malinda Lo created, which contains music found in the book and inspired by the story. Listen while you read!