Well-read Black Girl: Finding Our Stories, Discovering Ourselves
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We read for many reasons. We read to detect adventure. We read to escape our issues. We read to acquire about others. We read to acquire new things. We read to be entertained. Perhaps near of all, we read to know nosotros are not alone. A well-written book tin can show united states of america who we are and can brand us feel nosotros belong.
It was a joy to read Well-Read Black Girl: F
"Myths tell united states what those like us take washed, tin practise, should do. Without myths to atomic number 82 the way, we hesitate to bound forwards." ~N.Thousand. Jemisen, Dreaming AwakeWe read for many reasons. We read to discover adventure. Nosotros read to escape our issues. We read to larn about others. We read to learn new things. We read to be entertained. Perhaps almost of all, we read to know we are non lonely. A well-written book can show u.s. who we are and can make us feel nosotros belong.
It was a joy to read Well-Read Blackness Girl: Finding Our Stories, Discovering Ourselves. Information technology is a collection of essays by African-American women detailing their own transformative experiences of finding themselves in a book. The feeling of belonging you get when you encounter someone just like you lot. The way information technology helps you understand your inner cocky more, and accept and beloved yourself for who you lot are. "White" culture is everywhere; "white" is often depicted as the norm, just equally "straightness" is depicted as the norm. Minorities are often left feeling similar they don't belong, like there is something inherently "incorrect" with and about them. It is heartening that there are ever more books and movies and television receiver shows depicting minorities. Everyone needs to know they vest, needs to see themselves in both fiction and non-fiction. Needs to feel validated in who they are.
I recall for minorities in particular, it is empowering to find ourselves in books. I remember coming across a book with a lesbian character for the get-go time in my teens. I remember my sense of anaesthesia, my feelings of connexion, my appreciation that I was not alone -- the sense of hope this engendered in me! This was 20+ years agone and I had lived a very sheltered life. And of course, there weren't all that many books about LGBQT+ people back and then. The book was The Color Purple and there was Celie, feeling most females the way I felt about them. There, staring dorsum at me from the pages, was somebody like me -- a girl who liked other girls.
The stories in Well-Read Blackness Daughter: Finding Our Stories, Discovering Ourselves are beautiful, heartfelt, and touching. Some of them made me laugh, others made me cry. They all made me appreciate books even more. After every 3 chapters, Glory Edim provides lists of recommendations for various genres of books written by Blackness women. This was unsafe for my TBR list which is now quite a bit lengthier than it was before I read this!
Well-Read Black Daughter is a book near book-lovers will appreciate and identify with!
"You recollect your pain and your heartbreak are unprecedented in the history of the world, only then you read." ~James Baldwin
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As I got older other women of the diaspora joined my literary canon: J. California Cooper, Sonia Sanchez, Alice Walker, Toni Morrison, Ntozake Shange, Sapphire . . .
They all came into my life when I need them the virtually.
In Glory Edim's much predictable album, Well Read Black Daughter, 21 Black women writers were asked about their early experiences with literature. When did they first run across themselves reflected back in the stories that they read? When did a protagonist beg of them to encounter more, feel more, be more? How did the absence of their experience - or inclusion in some cases - spur them on to write their own masterpieces? What role did their mentors and idols within the Blackness literary customs play in their decision to become writers?
Also getting a glimpse into the nativity of these authors' love of reading and writing, Edim has carefully selected and tucked between these pages recommended literary works by women of color.
Special thank you goes out to NetGalley, Ballantine Books and Glory Edim for access to this wonderful piece of work.
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Review shortly -
AMAZING… on sooooo many dissimilar levels.
I'm tardily to discovering this WONDERFUL TINY POWERFUL of a book!!!
I'd like to put it in the easily of every person I know —
As well as - (my wish)… it would exist called-equally a top contender to read in schools -
The value is endless ….
New added review:
I came dorsum to update my review- share a few things…
I'grand failing at promising to keep these reviews short though - ane day I might succeed….
But…
….to the thousands of readers - of all colors - wh
Review presently -
AMAZING… on sooooo many unlike levels.
I'm tardily to discovering this WONDERFUL TINY POWERFUL of a book!!!
I'd like to put it in the hands of every person I know —
As well as - (my wish)… information technology would exist chosen-as a top contender to read in schools -
The value is endless ….
New added review:
I came back to update my review- share a few things…
I'one thousand declining at promising to continue these reviews brusk though - one mean solar day I might succeed….
But…
….to the thousands of readers - of all colors - who have read this volume before me —
— to the authors who submitted stories - and read each other's —
I simply want to say 'give thanks you'. Its a corking honor to joined the of readers of those who came before me ….
THIS BOOK BONDS OUR HUMANITY. ITS As well THE PERFECT Gift Volume….(the physical book itself has magical love, health, and kindness powers every time you simply bear on it)….
and it's the blazon of book that keeps on giving….
…more books to entice the states to read…swell tips near writing & reading…family unit stories galore…new-compelling thoughts nigh identity …[compelling for blackness and white people]…and information technology'south a great-word volume.
"Well-Read Blackness Girl …..Finding Our Stories, Discovering Ourselves ….
….An Anthology…..is an exceptional community achievement….and well-nigh…
…..the stories are vigorously wonderful and deeply affecting.
I first listened to the library-Audiobook….(in one twenty-four hour period)….merely and then was so moved - I 'had' to buy the concrete volume — and it's even better than I thought.
Inside these 238 pages - are stories that are not only enjoyable - and real….but if y'all happen to be white - like me — yous begin to think dorsum virtually your own coming-of-age —whiteness was taken for granted…..
The Donna Reed Show, Father Knows Best….(white every bit can be)….
We are all enlightened today…
but
…..did you always really recollect nigh all the children's books and teenage books that were lacking in Blackness literature? I doubt information technology. I didn't ….
Heck, getting me to read as a child was similar pulling teeth in the first place.
Author Dhonielle Clayton wrote a story in hither called:
"The Demand for Kisses"….
I thought information technology was an outstanding heart-opener. Dhonielle was a bookworm child… her father populated her bookshelves with dandy black children's books: Virginia Hamilton, Julius Lester, Walter Dean Myers's, Mildred Taylor, and more than…..
All with great intentions….
Merely the book that she always remembered most as a child was called
"Coffee Will Make Yous Black", by Apr Sinclair. Information technology tells the story of a young girl growing up in the 1960s Chicago as she navigates getting her. her starting time kiss and exploring her budding sexuality.
Books about love - hormones - sexual identity and intimacy — just was soooo darn hard to fine….
Dhonielle valued and appreciated reading Black stories near her history and slavery simply my god, she wanted to find books to assist her understand herself…..
other Black women who had feelings for both women and men. She wanted to see them getting kissed. Where were those books?
Each story had something I resonated with or admired….
Many of these great Blackness women authors shared a strong link with their female parent —
FILLED with messages….from many different paths of life….
It's just soooo practiced —I want to buy more copies to give to others.
I hope - that anyone who is a reader - volition take the time to read this book —-
Every in one case in awhile - I feel and then stiff virtually a book to put in the easily of others — (dear when other readers do that for me besides)….
and this is THAT BOOK …..
Purchase YOURSELF A Concrete COPY….from offset to finish - at that place is not a dull story.
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Glory Edim has created a phenomenon that started with conversations around a tee shirt she was wearin
I love reading books about reading. It's ever inspiring to hear most what books loomed big in a person's life. And it's doubly heady when those looking dorsum are authors giving insight to the texts that spurred them to write their own stories. I also genuinely respect the manner women are able to connect with one some other in a fashion men can't, (won't?). It's really something to see. I'm envious.Glory Edim has created a phenomenon that started with conversations around a tee shirt she was wearing. Well Read Black Girl was the printed tee shirt message. That has turned into a popular presence on social media, a book festival and at present this wonderful work. Kudos to Glory. "The essays in the post-obit pages remind us of the magnificence of literature; how information technology can provide us with a vision of ourselves, affirm our talents, and ultimately help us narrate our ain stories."
In overseeing this piece of work a mutual theme is representation. Many women annotate here on the lack of representation they felt, even years earlier they had the linguistic communication to express that lack, that's why books are important. That became nearly a mantra for me as I read through these story essays. Oft after reading someone's testimony, I would silently say to myself, that'south why books are important! Jamia Wilson writes, "Nikki gave me a sense of identify that was grounded in my experience as a black child during a time when it felt like almost of the books in my school library represented everyone else only me." She is referring to poet Nikki Giovanni. Books have been an anchor for some, a mirror for others, a crystal brawl for a few. In all stories, books affair, words comfort, inspire. And this essay collection insures the clarity of that message and it is ane you'll want to share with others and also frequently return to for its strong references, not only in the various narratives but for the many book recommendations sprinkled through out the text.
This passage from Rebecca Walker, is representative of the entire book, "I still and will e'er believe that representation of all kinds is essential. My work—the memoirs, anthologies, novels, television pilots, magazine articles—is just ane long attempt to brand sure that people from dissimilar backgrounds are seen and heard, particularly people who are in some practical way challenging the status quo, and offering different interpretations of what it means to be a human beingness right now." It is admittedly necessary to compile these types of essays to keep spreading the transformative ability of literature. A tremendous win for Glory Edim to accept her name at the helm of this drove that will exist bandied nigh for years to come up. Thanks to Netgalley and Ballantine Books for an advanced DRC. Book will drop Oct. xxx, 2018.
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"When did y'all offset come across yourself in literature?"Thus are the ingredients of the book. Xv current Blackness female au What a brilliant concept and gem of a book! A thoughtful partner gave Glory Edim a T-shirt for her birthday that said "Well Read Black Girl" and listed her favorite authors like Morrison, Walker, Angelou etc. The T-shirt garnered attention when lots of women wanted one too and it spawned a book club (Well Read Blackness Daughter) in NYC. Edim (founder of said book club) poses a question:
"When did y'all first come across yourself in literature?"Thus are the ingredients of the book. Fifteen current Black female authors write an essay that sprung in many ways from this question. These are authors of every genre including fiction, scientific discipline fiction, poetry, nonfiction etc. Interestingly enough, none of the essays are repetitive or overlap. Information technology's a really brilliant array. Non every essay is well-nigh seeing yourself in literature. Some of them are well-nigh what books they enjoyed as children that inspired them, moved them, divers them. It was a fascinating drove. At the end of every 3 essays, Edim recommends books in various genres. Needless to say my tbr filled upwards. But what was of most interest to me was what went on inside the minds of these writers.
I loved the book and information technology got me to thinking well-nigh my own life. I've been a voracious reader well-nigh of my life. When I thought about the beginning fourth dimension saw myself in literature, sadly the reply was in my mid 20s. I didn't read any African American themed books in the public school system. In the 80s, many of the classics had yet to be written or even acknowledged and frankly had to exist introduced to me by my parents (who were not the readers that my sister and I became). My parents had Invisible Man and The Burn Next Time but didn't really encourage us to read them. Roots: The Saga of an American Family was out but to me it was a huge volume I wasn't' going to tackle. I was reading things like E of Eden and A Tale of Two Cities in loftier schoolhouse. My first foray into African American books was The Autobiography of Malcolm Ten. I read it in my gratis time during basic preparation in the armed services. It felt rebellious and it was the first time I had read a book that had voices that related to my experiences. My commencement Toni Morrison novel was Song of Solomon. It was the first book that reminded me of family unit members. And Terry McMillian Waiting to Exhale was one of the first books in which I read characters that had elements that I saw in myself. I was at least 25 past the time that happened. I don't think I had an identity crunch back then; but these days some xxx years after, I'g able to run into myself in abundance. I am loving the variety of books for all ages that are available. These days it is worldwide.
My favorite of these essays was written past a woman who has written a book only is more known for her acting, Gabourey Sidibe. But they are all good and all inspirational and interesting. Considering of the nature of the current ingather of authors (and I mean electric current in more than ways than one), information technology is my hope that Edim intends to publish more of these books every 10 years or and so. This was great! Definitely recommended!
four.five Bright Stars
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Well-Read Black Daughter: Finding Our Stories, Discovering Ourselves is a beautifully curated anthology. It reflects the vast differences that make up Black women'due south experience with literature. From seeing representation at an early age, to discovering true representation later on in life, to questioning your view of society or sexuality or what it means to exist a woman and Blackness. That's what I dearest well-nigh this book. Not only is information technology filled with essays by adult female I admire and respect merely their vulnerability and honesty on the page is invigorating. The stories they chose to share, all inspired past a literary work or works that affected their lives, gives the reader an in depth await at their lived experiences. Each essay is beautifully written and and so reflective on who they were while reading and how that has affected the woman they've become. So much growth inside these pages.
I really enjoyed this collection as a whole. I knew while reading that this is something I would want to beautify my shelves, something I would reverberate on and read again in the future. Information technology's also a resource. Edim made a really smart decision by list different types of books throughout this album. I will now take a curated list of books from different genres by Black women that I can read, which is something I hadn't expected merely was very glad to see. This anthology is something that I believe every well-read Black daughter can relate to, considering nosotros've all had that moment when we've read a book that has changed us. It'due south beautiful to read a book where other Black women are sharing their experiences likewise. I requite this 5 out of 5 stars.
Thank you lot Netgalley for this book in exchange for an honest review.
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Contributors include Jesmyn Ward (Sing, Unburied, Sing), Lynn Nottage (Sweat), Jacqueline Woodson (Some other Brooklyn), Gabourey Sidibe (This Is Just My Face), Morgan Jerkins (This Volition Be My Undoing), Tayari Jones (An American Marriage), Rebecca Walker (Black, White and Jewish), and Barbara Smith (Home Girls: A Black Feminist Anthology). <-- I copied this list from Audible.
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"Reading allows us to witness ourselves. Being a reader is an incredible souvenir, providing me with a lens to interpret the world. About important, information technology has invigorated my imagination and allowed me to cull which narratives I want to ce
This book was inspiring. This volume was promise. This book was encouragement down deep that I didn't realize I needed. This book, a drove of essays, heart changing essays, written by various black women writers showed the importance of seeing ourselves in literature."Reading allows us to witness ourselves. Beingness a reader is an incredible gift, providing me with a lens to interpret the world. Most of import, information technology has invigorated my imagination and allowed me to cull which narratives I want to heart and hold shut."
I have come up away with then many volume recs that I'm so excited to read, that it will have me all of 2021 to read them. I honey how a light was shone on some of the best blackness female authors, poets, and writers in the world. I am beyond proud to be a blackness adult female, and humbled past those that have gone earlier me, and those that are even "walking" along side me on this route called life. We're in this together.
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What a brilliant collection of essays past black women. I love books about books, readers and writers and Well-Read Black Girl covered all three. I adore so many of the writers who contributed to this collection, information technology is no wonder I devoured this volume because I wanted to know more than almost
Beingness a reader is an incredible gift, providing me with a lens to interpret the world. Near important, information technology has invigorated my imagination and allowed me to choose which narratives I want to center and agree shut.What a bright drove of essays by black women. I honey books most books, readers and writers and Well-Read Blackness Daughter covered all three. I admire so many of the writers who contributed to this collection, it is no wonder I devoured this book considering I wanted to know more nearly them and who influenced their writing. And so many of the things they made references to I felt:
1. Growing upwardly and reading books where the main grapheme didn't look like them.
2. Beingness readers, to the bespeak where their parents forced them to get out and play
3. I dearest how each could think how addicted they are of reading and when they first discovered a character that spoke to their soul.
Glory Edim did an exceptional job of pulling together strong black women who are burdensome it in their field. I loved reading almost some of my favorite author'due south groundwork and the women who influenced them.
Thoroughly enjoyed this collection
Essential Reading For Blackness Girls
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I loved reading these ladies' stories. Highly recommend the audiobook if y'all tin get your hands on it. Also throughout the book are recommendations then have a paper and pen handy.
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This essay collection is pure gold, my reading friends. An anthology of works about books and reading past some of the most prominent Black female writers today, these essays divulge a vast assortment of texts that inspired and shaped each author.
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As a school librarian I have always firmly believed that there is no childhood canon that will reach all children, necessitating broad-ranging collections bachelor to all. This book solidified that conventionalities.
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We have no thought what work will conne ✨ literary spark
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This essay collection is pure gold, my reading friends. An album of works about books and reading past some of the most prominent Blackness female writers today, these essays divulge a vast array of texts that inspired and shaped each author.
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As a school librarian I take e'er firmly believed that at that place is no childhood canon that volition reach all children, necessitating wide-ranging collections available to all. This book solidified that belief.
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We have no thought what work will connect with each child ~ in these essays, the authors continued with specific books based on shared trauma, race, family similarities and more. One author connected with a specific type of volume because of aspirations to be like the characters in the volume, rather than who she really was.
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The diversity in the books that shaped these authors blew me away ~ proof that every book has the power to be deeply meaningful to even one reader. Nosotros need to ensure that every child has access to as many different stories as possible. The race of a character or author is not the 1 and but cistron that provides those windows/mirrors etc nosotros like to talk about all the time. It'due south then much more nuanced than that.
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Whew. I could go along for days about how these essays and book lists touched me, merely I won't because so many other people have thoughts on it too!
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Bottom line: if you are a reader who loves to read virtually reading and explore the literary world, add this to your TBR immediately. I ordinarily don't say this, but this really is one to buy rather than infringe so you tin can use the lists within for a lifetime of volume choices.
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Seems appropriate that my first read of the year is #diversespines book of the month Well Read Black Girl by Glory Edim. I enjoyed this drove of essays that mirrored some of my own experiences growing upward as a lover of books. I must say the two essays that stood out the most were Gabourey Sidibe'south "Gal: A Hard Row To Hoe" and N. Thou. Jemisin'southward "Dreaming Awake." They were both brutally honest and funny.
It felt like information technology should exist as easy and simple for me to write nigh a volume I love so much and one in which so many unlike complex yet simple aspects of myself are represented and laid bare as information technology is for me to betoken out (or try) when something isn't quite working for me in a volume or there's something amiss, only I plant the reverse to be true here, like when I'thou working on a novel or story and I'thou likewise close to a character or a scene, there's too much recognition emotionally, so I tin can't actually logically figure out how to describe information technology with language. Some things demand to be felt first.
So it was with the bibliomancy I institute reading Well-Read Black Girl: Finding Our Stories, Discovering Ourselves. When I was reading it the first fourth dimension, I remembered how I felt the day that Solange'south anthology, A Seat at The Tabular array came out. I was still working in government but in the final days and another weary black woman got on the elevator with me and -- totally out of character -- I leaned over to her and said, "Yous should listen to Solange, she'll assistance you lot feel ameliorate."
If this anthology had/has a soundtrack, I know Solange is on it, singing, "this shit is for usa."
And by us, Glory means Black women. The specificity of that love is what I hateful by bibliomancy, why I view this as a sacred text, for me. Why it is healing. Black women are e'er watched, policed, hunted, burdened. But nosotros are rarely served, gifted, celebrated, lifted with joy, with recognition, with space that acknowledged that nosotros are our own best matter, that we are more than shadows of the experiences of others who are more ofttimes deemed universal. Just in this album, I recognized a pocket-sized, sweet point, which is this: Information technology is rare for us to cultivate exclusive space for the Sisterhood equally it is called where others are not looking or eavesdropping or watching for things to appropriate or steal from united states and call theirs. Reading and writing community, alongside real life events and activities, remain the sole acts of resistance to these demands from others that Black women give over even aspects of our inner, emotional, imaginative and mental lives to those who desire everything most usa positioned and turned toward their edification.
Celebrity writes in the introduction that Maya Angelou and the other authors she encountered "have taught me that, as Black women, we define ourselves for ourselves. We are not looking for anyone else to give united states validation; because we have each other...Instinctively, Black women writers have e'er had to take care of ourselves. Creating our own limitless boundaries, whether nosotros explore taboos, stereotypes, the theoretical idea of love, or the literary canon itself. Nosotros are writing ourselves into spaces that neglect or ignore us. Headstrong. A necessary quality to withstand the losses and celebrate the victories."
I could write much much more here, but I desire to elaborate more on my own platform, which I'll do. Each author -- from Veronica Chambers to Dhonielle Clayton, Tayari Jones to Jacqueline Woodson, North.K. Jemisin and Barbara Smith and Rebecca Walker and Jamia Wilson -- offers deep insight into their evolution every bit a reader, writer and artistic. For many of them, this begins with titles and the start mirrors of themselves, of blackness girls or people seen in a positive light or any lite at all; for some it was not necessarily representation but the way our foremothers similar Toni Morrison offered united states of america new information and linguistic communication for being in relationship to ourselves and others, how Nikki Giovanni offered u.s.a. poesy of joy, bell hooks & Alice Walker offered us feminism that had our whole selves in it, Apr Sinclair gave us infinite, finally, to explore sexuality outside of the confines of heterosexuality for Black girls and on and on.
If you're reading this review, yous're likely someone who loves and knows Celebrity Edim, and is part of the Well-Read Black Daughter fan club anyway. Only I recommend that you pass on this love to the other Blackness girls and women in your life who are not yet convinced of the serenity, steady healing ability that resides in picking upward just ane of the books recommended here, reading just one essay at a time over the class of nevertheless long. It is a souvenir. It is the rare gift that is condign less rare and will increasingly go less rare, as what Glory calls a continuation of our "literary inheritance" and legacy. It's existence and publication whispers to us, "You lot deserve your own story. Your ain chapter. Your ain book. Here. Come come across. Then pass it on." ...more
Information technology's a privilege that's non generally afforded to people of colour, but we're snatching it left, right and center. We're telling our ain stories and there are and so many OGs/legends who shared their/our stories for our pleasure, and so that we could have a place. They carved out a space for us, the Toni Morrisons, the Nikki Giovan
Beautiful. There'due south magic in finding yourself. At that place's something powerful about seeing your confront in the stories around you on television, in picture, in the media, in books, etc.It's a privilege that's not by and large afforded to people of colour, but nosotros're snatching information technology left, correct and center. We're telling our own stories and in that location are and so many OGs/legends who shared their/our stories for our pleasure, and then that nosotros could accept a place. They carved out a space for u.s.a., the Toni Morrisons, the Nikki Giovannis, the Maya Angelous, their writing fabricated the states real.
I loved the premise of this volume and it expanded my read list 10 fold. And then many great recommendations and selections.
My favourite two stories of authors finding themselves in literature around them were: Legacy by Rebecca Walker and Space to Move Around In past Renée Watson. Ii highly relatable pieces. Check them out!
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This anthology is a wonderful ode to Black sisterhood and to reading. Each contributor'due south accept on reading/writing/existing as a Black woman in this world felt similar periodical entries laden with affirmations to the reader and themselves. To have and so many established writers contributing in this collection is an honor I'm certain
I'm so glad I finally picked this up from my bookshelf, considering my reading slump was soooo deep! This collection has taken me out of my slump and imbibed me with new inspiration.This anthology is a wonderful ode to Black sisterhood and to reading. Each contributor's have on reading/writing/existing as a Black adult female in this world felt like journal entries laden with affirmations to the reader and themselves. To accept then many established writers contributing in this collection is an honour I'thou sure Glory is forever proud of.
My favorite essays were past- Renée Watson, Stephanie Powell Watts, Bsrat Mezghebe, Mahogany L. Browene & Kaitlyn Greenidge's many recommendations at the end were amazing.
Volition elaborate more than in a total review, soon - africanbookaddict.com
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Well-Read Blackness Girl is a fascinating drove of essays edited by Glory Edim, who created the Well-Read Black Girl community. These essays are by women from different walks of life who all adore reading. They talk near when they commencement found themselves in books, authors and books they connected with, and how reading inverse their lives. If yous are a book lover, your hear volition exist touched by hearin
"Reading for me was a vehicle for self-exploration when existent life wasn't prophylactic." -Dhonielle ClaytonWell-Read Black Girl is a fascinating drove of essays edited by Glory Edim, who created the Well-Read Black Daughter community. These essays are by women from dissimilar walks of life who all adore reading. They talk about when they first plant themselves in books, authors and books they connected with, and how reading changed their lives. If you are a book lover, your hear volition exist touched by hearing nearly these moments for other people whose lives take been changed by reading.
This book led me to reverberate on my ain privilege of being able to see myself in books from day i. I never felt excluded, and never questioned it when I was younger. This is why diverse books are so of import. Everyone deserves to have characters to connect with in easily accessible books. Readers / reviewers, delight read & promote various books so that this doesn't take to happen.
I love that Well-Read Blackness Girl gives practical solutions - at that place are so many amazing volume lists in here, and at the end, at that place's a large list of every book mentioned in this volume. Lists are given inside specific genres in the book - after one of the writers talks about verse, a list of blackness female poets is inserted correct afterward her essay.
Cheers so much to Random House for sending me this ane to review. I enjoyed it very much, and now I have a lot of new books to check out. I admire the honesty of the women in this volume, and I am thankful that they shared their stories.
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As a self proclaimed " Well- read Black Girl" myself, I could relate to many of the stories that were told throughout. This book really fabricated me reverberate back on some of my own reading habits likewise equally think back to the how, why, a
"Well- Read Black Girl" is an album of essays by various authors such equally Tayari Jones (An American Marriage ), Jacqueline Woodson (Brown Girl Dreaming ), Jesmyn Ward (Sing, Unburied, Sing ) and many others. This book was an amazing feel of Black Girl Magic.As a self proclaimed " Well- read Blackness Girl" myself, I could chronicle to many of the stories that were told throughout. This book really made me reflect dorsum on some of my ain reading habits as well as think back to the how, why, and wheres of when I fell in honey with reading. Various books are super of import. I really appreciated how they compiled a list of all the books that were discussed and put information technology in the back for easy reference. My to-read listing has grown tremendously with the recommendations establish in this book. Overall, this book was simply inspiring.
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The only affair wrong with this book is that I don't know when I will have the
A book about reading books with essays written past Black female person authors and how they plant representation in literature. This album had been thinking about my reading life when I was younger and I wish I was exposed to more authors who looked similar me and shared similar experiences of a Black daughter coming of historic period in America. Instead I spent my time reading VC Andrews, Dean Koontz, Christopher Pike and Sugariness Valley High.The but thing wrong with this book is that I don't know when I volition take the time to read all of the mentioned books listed at the end.
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It'south the retro reads, the ones that are hard to discover that are my favorite. I have two coming in the postal service any minute now!
I love reading lists! This book, with all of its contributors fix me new goals and provided me with new authors to read. Off to ebay, Amazon, Abebooks, Scribd and the library I get with my new list.It's the retro reads, the ones that are hard to observe that are my favorite. I take two coming in the postal service any minute now!
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My dog ate…no, wait. I got a flat tire when…oh. Aye, that doesn't piece of work.
So now I have to tell the truth, having failed miserably, every bit I unremarkably practise, at lying. Hither information technology is. About a month later I received the galley to this book, courtesy of Net Galley and Random House, national news and social media went into a virtual frenzy discussing cultural appropriation. And I froze. I started examining everything I did through that
Ahem. Yes, I am in fact, over two years tardily with this review. I can explain.My domestic dog ate…no, wait. I got a flat tire when…oh. Yeah, that doesn't piece of work.
And so now I have to tell the truth, having failed miserably, as I ordinarily do, at lying. Hither it is. About a month after I received the galley to this book, courtesy of Net Galley and Random Business firm, national news and social media went into a virtual frenzy discussing cultural cribbing. And I froze. I started examining everything I did through that lens, and I may accept gone overboard. I looked at this galley and I idea, I have no right to review this affair. And when I read the introduction anyway, I feel it fifty-fifty more than so. Not written with me in mind, was it? Was this the literary equivalent of reading someone else'due south post? Then I did the piece of cake thing, which was to shove it onto the back burner and read something else. Repeatedly.
Several months later, information technology occurred to me that nobody would fifty-fifty have to know if I were to sneak it out of my files and but read the article by Jesmyn Ward, which was actually why I had originally requested it. Ward is on my read-anything listing. I read it, and I liked it, and then I shuffled information technology dorsum into the file. No damage done.
This spring, as the world tentatively emerges, 1 hopeful toe at a time, from the isolation imposed on all of u.s.a. past the horrific pandemic, I realize what I should have known all along: that everyone can read annihilation, and form an opinion almost it; and that since I was granted the galley, I really owe a review. I straightened my spine, dusted myself off, and sat down to read it. There was no blinding light or thunder from the heavens. Nothing smote me. I read it, and I lived to tell the tale.
Most of the authors hither are new to me; in improver to Ward, I also know Jacqueline Woodson's work a bit, generally from my years teaching language arts, when I used her YA book. Everyone here included in this compendium is a strong author, and they are largely preaching to the choir, since the audience are also bibliophiles. Merely the common thread, the point they bulldoze home—and rightly so—is the importance of finding literature near girls that expect like themselves. They speak of it every bit empowerment and validation.
Back in the stone age, when this reviewer was enrolled in a teacher instruction plan, nosotros were likewise taught the importance of inclusive literature. It seemed so obvious to me, this obligation teachers surely accept to make sure all of their students are represented in the books their students read, or accept read to them. I figured it was a no-brainer. But when I arrived at my starting time teaching position in elementary school, (heaven help me and those children both,) I was shown the supply closet and there were the classroom book sets. The main characters were Caucasian boys; Caucasian boys and girls; fluffy woodland animals, more often than not male; and more Caucasian boys. I sadly examined my dilapidated Visa carte and drove to the bookstore to order amend books. And I was further amazed to learn, later, that my colleagues, all of whom were Caucasian, believed that the school's volume collection was terrific. Their students loved those books, and that included the children of color that made upwardly approximately half of the population at that place, they told me.
Sure they did.
The essays in Well-Read Black Girl are a much-needed reminder that racism isn't e'er overt; sometimes racism is exclusionary, unintentionally so. And what silences young voices, and what teaches children that books, and life in general, are not virtually them, worse than discovering that they are not important enough to exist included in books?
When I moved to secondary didactics, where I belonged, I visited the book room in that location, and I found a fix of books about African-American boys, simply the message inherent was that they are constantly exposed to drugs and gangs, and it volition be hard as heck non to be drawn in. And again, I scratched my head. These Blackness kids, virtually of them were from centre form homes, or loving, well supervised working class homes. Drugs? Not so much. And what did these books teach their Caucasian classmates about Black people? I sighed and got dorsum in the automobile, already apologizing silently to my Visa again.
This collection of essays is important, not because of any detail brilliance in composition; they are well written, just not memorable for the writing itself. Instead, they are the primal to understanding, from chief sources, why Blackness girls need books that draw Black girls and women in a positive light.
I've assigned four stars to this book for general audiences, but for teachers in training, it is five stars. Every instructor training program should include these essays as required reading. We have to read information technology until we get it right.
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Thanks to NetGalley and Random House for the opportunity to read it prior to publication.
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Source: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/38255372-well-read-black-girl