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A review by simkern
For Black Girls Like Me by Mariama J. Lockington
5.0
If you are a teacher or librarian or anyone in charge of curating young peoples' libraries, you need this book on your shelves. As a former middle school English curriculum director, I strongly urge you to teach this book in 7th-8th grade classrooms. Keda's voice is both vividly adolescent and wise beyond her years. She reveals her world through a variety of formally innovative structures, including song lyrics, dreams, letters and blog posts to her best friend. Keda's story tackles numerous vital themes for young readers--adolescence, adoption, racism, multi-racial families, mental illness, and feminism (white and otherwise)--all interwoven into a gripping family saga that is un-put-down-able (I binge-read it in a morning).
If, like me, the title does not describe you, and if that makes you uncomfortable, I'd double-down on saying you must read this book. Particularly if you're an educator. You're going to see reflections of yourself and your past in it, in ways that are not always comfortable, but are vital for unpacking white supremacy.
If, like me, the title does not describe you, and if that makes you uncomfortable, I'd double-down on saying you must read this book. Particularly if you're an educator. You're going to see reflections of yourself and your past in it, in ways that are not always comfortable, but are vital for unpacking white supremacy.