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A review by katsbooks
Black Enough: Stories of Being Young & Black in America by Ibi Zoboi, Coe Booth, Tracey Baptiste
emotional
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
“Your grandma used to always tell me that just because something is over doesn't mean it wasn't successful. All things end at some point.”
“Being in a shadow is never just as simple as stepping out of it. Shadows can camouflage a lot of things.”
“Blackness is indeed a social construct. Within the context of American racial politics, there can be no Black without white. No racism without race. But the prevalence of culture is undeniable.”
I really enjoyed this anthology. I've read from Ibi Zoboi before and loved her work. I've also read from a handful of these authors before and haven't had anything bad to say about them either.
Like a lot of anthologies, some of the stories were more forgettable than others but some were absolutely fantastic. I think some of my favorites were Out of Silence, The Trouble with Drowning, Black Enough and Wild Horses, Wild Hearts.
I really liked how these stories really showed the breadth of what it's like to be a young, black person in the United States. There were immigrant stories, queer stories, stories about colorism and a whole lot more. I'm sure some perspectives were left out but I, ultimately, think Zoboi did a good job of representing as many different voices as she could. My book club picked this out and I'm really glad we did. We focus on picks that are diverse so we've read quite a few books about the black experience. While individual stories can carry a lot of nuance and multiple perspectives, anthologies always make really good picks because you get so many more perspectives.
I listened to a lot of this and I would absolutely recommend it as a physical book or an audiobook. The narration of each of the stories was done so well. Each of the stories was a good length, not too long or too short. I'd honestly love to put it in my classroom.
“Being in a shadow is never just as simple as stepping out of it. Shadows can camouflage a lot of things.”
“Blackness is indeed a social construct. Within the context of American racial politics, there can be no Black without white. No racism without race. But the prevalence of culture is undeniable.”
I really enjoyed this anthology. I've read from Ibi Zoboi before and loved her work. I've also read from a handful of these authors before and haven't had anything bad to say about them either.
Like a lot of anthologies, some of the stories were more forgettable than others but some were absolutely fantastic. I think some of my favorites were Out of Silence, The Trouble with Drowning, Black Enough and Wild Horses, Wild Hearts.
I really liked how these stories really showed the breadth of what it's like to be a young, black person in the United States. There were immigrant stories, queer stories, stories about colorism and a whole lot more. I'm sure some perspectives were left out but I, ultimately, think Zoboi did a good job of representing as many different voices as she could. My book club picked this out and I'm really glad we did. We focus on picks that are diverse so we've read quite a few books about the black experience. While individual stories can carry a lot of nuance and multiple perspectives, anthologies always make really good picks because you get so many more perspectives.
I listened to a lot of this and I would absolutely recommend it as a physical book or an audiobook. The narration of each of the stories was done so well. Each of the stories was a good length, not too long or too short. I'd honestly love to put it in my classroom.