Tag: racial identity development

BONUS REVIEW: Snapped by Alexa Martin

BONUS REVIEW: Snapped by Alexa Martin

Posted on by Jaymie

[I received an electronic review copy of this book from Netgalley and Berkley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.]

Summary

Elliot “Elle” Reed is living her dream. She is the strategic communications manager for the Denver Mustangs. And she could only have been happier if her father had lived to see it. She loves football, and loves the Mustangs. And she’s thrilled to be part of the PR staff, helping the team and players with messaging and image.

Quinton Howard Jr is the Mustang’s star quarterback. The Denver team put him on their roster after he led another team to the championship  in his first year off the bench. And Quinton has decided to use his notoriety and his platform to speak up for issues in the league and in the world. So he takes a knee during the National Anthem. And Elliot is sent to manage the story – and Quinton.

After a few rocky conversations, Elle and Quinton eventually find a tenuous working relationship. But he’s brittle and abrasive. And she’s still trying to hold back her personal grief. Yet when a drunken kiss upends the fragile peace between them, it also just might be what they need to get them to open up to one another. But forces are at work that want to silence Quinton and put Elle in her place. Will they stand together or be torn apart?

Review

This is book four in the Playbook series after Intercepted (♥♥♥♥), Fumbled, and Blitzed. While I haven’t yet read book 3, right now this is my favorite book in the series.

The “Lady Mustangs” and Elle’s friends shine in this book. I adored the community Elle builds with her school friends and her new Mustangs-adjacent friends. They made for almost all of my favorite moments in the book. (Donny was in several of the others. What a hoot!) As always, the writing here is sharp and smart, and I loved it. Sections begged to be read aloud, and I laughed often in the first two-thirds of the book before things got more serious.

The piece that set this story apart for me was the focus on race, racial identity for Ella as a bi-racial woman, and racism both in some of the characters and also in the football league as an institution. The book raises excellent questions. And the author takes readers along as voices are raised and issues are spelled out. No miracle solutions are offered, but readers will enjoy excellent storytelling with a realistic bite. I loved the author’s note up front about the impetus for this story.

Series fans should not miss this one! And I think newcomers will be able to start here without any issues. This is a fantastic story that will stand on its own. The football pieces to this are not heavy handed, so if you aren’t a fan or don’t understand the game, it won’t be an issue. But once you meet the Lady Mustangs, you are going to want to pick up the rest of the series! (Language, sex)

Rating: ♥♥♥♥½*

*♥♥♥♥½= Loved it! Would re-read.

BONUS REVIEW: The Black Kids by Christina Hammonds Reed

BONUS REVIEW: The Black Kids by Christina Hammonds Reed

Posted on by Jaymie

[I received an electronic review copy of this book from Netgalley and Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.]

Summary

In the spring of 1992, Ashley is trying to endure the final days of her senior year. She’s a good student, and her parents’ hard work and success have given her opportunities she might not have had otherwise. She recognizes that being Black makes her perspective on things different from that of her while friends. But usually she tries to operate like it’s a non-factor.

Then the officers who beat Rodney King are acquitted, and her LA community explodes in anger and protest.

As her uncle’s store sits in the middle of the violence, and her cousin moves into their house for safety, and Ashley’s sister joins the demonstrations, Ashley tries to negotiate the ways the riots change her life and the way she thinks about herself, her friends, and her family.

Review

There’s a lot going on in this book. Ashley’s waiting to hear about college, she’s doing daily life with the white kids she’s grown up with. She and her family experience the same racist behavior as any other Black person in her community. Her fancy school, and her parents’ money, can’t protect them from those who only see skin color.  There’s relationship drama and prom and then rumors about one of the Black athletes at school. Ashley’s sister has eloped, which has only increased the tension between her and Ashley’s parents. The LA riots are a thread that runs through the story, but it’s one thread of many, and in some ways it seems more like a setting piece or part of the story’s context rather than a major part of the book itself.

This feels more like a cross-section of teen life than a story centered on the riots. Yes, Ashley is wrestling with her racial identity, and the wrestling is elevated by the Rodney King verdict. But there’s so much else going on. I struggled to hold onto a through line because I thought the riots were going to be that through line, and they weren’t for me. And at times, I also struggled with the timeline of passages of the book. A question might be raised, which would lead to backstory or fill-in details, but the answer for the question would come later or in the next passage. I found myself stopping and backtracking to see if I somehow missed the answer to the question. It’s a style choice that will work for some readers, but didn’t always click for me.

I think I would have gotten into the groove of this faster if my expectations were different. The materials I read leading up to starting the book left me with the impression that this would be more about the riots – something like I’m Not Dying with You Tonight – than it was. Instead, when you read this one, keep in mind that the riots are a backdrop for a more personal story about Ashley. This is really about her – her identity, her relationships, and the seismic shifts that come with graduation and with the impact of the riots on her family and community.

(Language, off-page sex, drug/alcohol/cigarette use, LGBTQ+: M/M couple, F/F flirting and kissing. TW: Abuse, suicide)

Rating: ♥♥♥½

REVIEW: Slay by Brittney Morris

REVIEW: Slay by Brittney Morris

Posted on by Jaymie

Summary

Kiera Johnson may seem like a typical teen – high school senior, math tutor, gamer. But she’s also the creator of the video game SLAY. After a lifetime of experiences of being in the minority, including being one of four Black kids at her high school, Kiera wanted a place where she didn’t feel like an outsider. So she built the game.

She doesn’t want anyone to know she is the developer. She’s always on her guard, hiding the game from her family and friends. If he knew, her boyfriend would probably dissect SLAY to see if it is authentic enough, and that’s only if he could get past the idea that gaming is a distraction to keep Blacks from achieving all they can in the world. Her sister would probably antagonize everyone in the game with her questions and opinions about every little thing. In a way, even in the world she created to celebrate Blackness, Kiera can’t just be completely herself when it comes to SLAY.

Then a kid is killed over something that happened in the game. The whole world learns about SLAY. Kiera, as her character Emerald, is under fire as the developer for creating this “violent” place with “gangs” and other misconceptions from outsiders, both White and Black. Reporters are debating the “racist” nature of SLAY because only Blacks are invited to join. And Kiera’s being harassed inside her own game by a new player who wants to tear down everything she has built. How does a 17-year-old high school student stand up under a firestorm like this?

Review

“All I ever wanted to do was escape into this magical world where for once I don’t have to act a certain way because I’m Black, and where I don’t have to answer certain questions because I’m the Black authority in the room, and where if I do something that’s not stereotypically Black, I’m different…. I think I love SLAY so much because we’re a mutually empathetic collective. As we duel, as we chat, there’s an understanding that ‘your Black is not my Black,’ and ‘your weird is not my weird,’ and ‘your beautiful is not my beautiful,’ and that’s okay.” pg 108-109, e-book

Oh my goodness, I loved this book!! I decided to share these quotes because I thought only Kiera’s words would do when talking about why she built SLAY and what it meant to her. I adored Kiera. And I felt her longing for a place where being Black was celebrated and not debated, where she could shed the tightly controlled facade she maintained in ALL her face-to-face relationships. My favorite thread of this whole book is this idea of finding (or in Kiera’s case, creating) and defending a space where you can be yourself. And I think that became extra special because I loved Kiera and wanted that space to be safe for her.

The gaming pieces of this are cool! Nothing too technical for a non-coder or non-gamer like me. I loved how the uninitiated adults discovered the richness of Black history Kiera built into the game. The dueling style was also fantastic. I have no clue if a dueling-style VR game exists now, but I enjoyed the fictional game play. But really, the game is just a vehicle for telling a richer, deeper story.

While tragic, the murder that pulls SLAY into the public eye isn’t the main story either. Kiera wrestles with her responsibility as the game developer, but ultimately those questions take a back seat to the racial and discrimination questions that are more central to the story.

The obvious question at the center of Slay is is it racist for Black gamers to have their own game, their own forum, where White folks aren’t allowed? And I was happy to see there weren’t any easy answers offered to this question. Readers will have to wrestle with that on their own. But there were just as many hard, nuanced questions about the Black community from within their own ranks. And that was part of the magic of this book for me. It showed me questions I couldn’t possibly know to ask as a white person. And it let me learn and question and wrestle as I read. And I loved every minute of it. This was engrossing and engaging and something I won’t soon forget! (Language)

Rating: ♥♥♥♥♥+++

REVIEW: Blended by Sharon Draper

REVIEW: Blended by Sharon Draper

Posted on by Jaymie

Summary

Izzy was caught off guard by her parents’ divorce. When her dad moved across the country, she missed him like crazy. But when he moved back to Ohio, the new shared custody plan had its own flaws. Izzy spends one week with her mom and then the next week with her dad. Different homes, different beds, different expectations – different Izzy?

And if the different expectations and rules weren’t jarring enough, the two houses make Izzy even more aware of being biracial. With her dad and his Black girlfriend, Izzy seems to visually “fit.” When she’s with her White mom and her boyfriend, she notices how people look at her as though trying to figure out how she goes with them.

Then, as Izzy is trying to figure out what she thinks about all these differences in her life, she and her friends are also getting older. They’re more aware of the history of race relations in America – and they learn that some people want to hang onto the prejudices of the past.

Review

I knew this book was going to deal with Izzy’s blended family as well as her blended racial identity. But I didn’t expect some of the other race-related pieces of the story. They were very well written and totally appropriate for a middle grade audience.  I was just surprised. I loved Izzy and her insightfulness and observations about life and people and her own situation.

There’s a LOT here that would make for excellent discussion for families, classrooms and book groups. The racial pieces are an obvious discussion point, but I thought the divorce pieces in the story were also strong.

I wanted more at the end, but it’s pretty brilliant that the author ended things where she did. I was caught completely off guard by the ending. And I’m itching to talk with someone about it. I think kids will feel the same way. This would be perfect for getting kids talking about what happened in the book and what they think might happen next. Highly recommend.

Rating: ♥♥♥♥

REVIEW: The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas

REVIEW: The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas

Posted on by Jaymie

Summary

Starr feels like two different people at times. There’s the person she is at home and in her neighborhood. That’s the most genuine version. Then there’s the person she is at her mostly-white, suburban school. There she works to always speak in full sentences and complete words – no slang, always “yes, ma’am” and “no, sir.” She reigns in her feelings so she can’t be accused of ever being too angry or having too much attitude.

One night at a party in her neighborhood, shots ring out. Starr’s childhood friend, Khalil, gets her safely away from the violence and the party. But on their way home, they get pulled over by a police officer. The officer is belligerent about pulling them over; Khalil is indignant. After the officer pulls Khalil out of the car to pat him down (three times) and goes to run his license, Khalil comes back to the car to check on Starr. Three shots are fired. Khalil dies in the street in Starr’s arms.

Suddenly everything in Starr’s life changes. She questions her relationships and her two personalities. She watches as her two worlds respond to the shooting, and she wonders what, if anything, she can do for Khalil, for his family, and for her community.

Review

Wow, this was so good. It was challenging, too. It challenged me to examine my biases and assumptions. There were cultural pieces and slang that I didn’t understand (not enough to impact my understanding of the story as a whole). And the topic itself – white officer kills unarmed black teen – is timely and difficult. But so important to think about and talk about.

I loved Starr. She’s not perfect. Her friends and boyfriend challenge her choices in the midst of her double life at home and school as well as the situation with Khalil. But she’s honest. She’s 16 and wrestling with big questions about home and identity. She wonders what her responsibility is to herself, her family, and her neighborhood. And there are no easy answers.

This is terrific food for thought – and discussion. If you are looking to add some diversity to your reading life or your high school classroom library, try this book. (language, violence)

Rating: ♥♥♥♥

REVIEW: Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria? by Beverly Daniel Tatum

Posted on by Jaymie

Summary

A fascinating look at racial identity development. Looks at a multitude of races – Black, White, Asian, Native American, Hispanic and Biracial identity.  There’s also discussion of the racial identity of Black children adopted by White parents. Examines the need for same race peer groups and mentors as well as looking at race at each age and developmental stage. This is a thorough examination of racial identity formation.

 

Review

The title of this book first caught my attention several years ago. As an elementary school teacher, I noticed this phenomenon with our older students but not usually the younger ones, and I did wonder what that was about. I wish I had read this book at the time because it would have enlightened me and changed my attitude about my observations.

This was fascinating and challenging reading. I loved the psychological aspect of this discussion of race. I had set a goal to read a book about race this year. This one was a perfect fit for me with the psychological pieces and the educational angle.

I think this is a great resource for a lot of people – teachers, school administrators, parents, professionals who work with kids, and anyone interested in improved relationships between people of different races.

The developmental pieces – how kids process race as preschoolers versus adolescents – are fascinating. And the book challenges the idea that it’s best to not mention race to kids so they won’t notice it. They already notice it! Our silence doesn’t help them process their observations in a healthy, and accepting way.

This book challenged me. It challenged my assumptions. I read things and felt myself start to get defensive. I was reading things slowly enough, though, that I noticed it and could stop and check myself and look at what preconceived notions were being challenged. This is not a book to be read quickly if you are reading it to learn and to grow in your own racial identity and in your understanding of the racial identity development of others. It’s also a very dense book. I don’t know that you could read it quickly and get much out of it. This is a book to be studied rather that a quick cover-to-cover kind of read.

I highly recommend this. This would be a terrific resource for teachers to read and discuss together. It would also be a great summer read for teachers doing professional development. There’s an extensive resource list and notes in the back matter that offer more information and other resources to investigate.

Rating: ♥♥♥♥