Young Adult Books with Black Characters

[queerbychoice]

From Jayelle:

My just-turned-11-year-old TutorKid wants books. That's good, 'cause he needs help reading (it's the reason he's my TutorKid!) He's black. He would like some young adult books with black characters who are not, in his words, "running away from some slavemaster or living in the 50s." That sounds like such a *little* request, right? Except apparently, it's not. I just spent 15 minutes on the phone with a lady at Books-A-Million (evil corporate bookstore, I know) who couldn't find anything and has decided to make it a personal quest. I couldn't find anything at Amazon. Urban Think, non-evil and non-corporate, has very few kids' books at all. I can now understand completely why he's frustrated!

There must be somebody reading my journal who can offer suggestions here.

*EDIT* Wait, I remember there's one by Philip Pullman titled The Broken Bridge. Well, and there's at least one by M. E. Kerr, but M. E. Kerr kind of . . . tries too hard to put really simplistic P.C. messages into the stories, so I'm not really comfortable recommending that one. Philip Pullman's characters are much more human and much less, "LOOK EVERYBODY! It's a Token Black Main Character!"

Hmm, what else?

Comments

[elfbabe.livejournal.com]

1) For an 11-year-old, that is a very mature and insightful sort of request.
2) I am also stumped. Hmmmmm...

[jonesyak.livejournal.com]

I must admit that this young man has made me look at my fairly extensive book collection in a new light. My apartment is packed with texts of all kinds, but I don't have a single one with a strong black character that would be suitable for a younger audience. Lots for older audiences, but for kids ...? Hmm. I'll have to keep on the lookout.

[lique.livejournal.com]

Walter Dean Myers books come to mind, though I'm not sure if his style matches the kid in question's reading level. I'd probably just going poking around in lists people have pulled together on Amazon, myself, such as one person's Best Books for the Adolescent Black Male (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/listmania/list-browse/-/1KRKJ9MMMJLUL/qid=1040245957/sr=5-2/ref=sr_5_2/102-1130376-8042502), and see what seems appropriate.

[giza.livejournal.com]

Whoa, I never thought of that before. That's fascinating.

I wonder if anyone's written papers about the representation (or stereotyping, as the case may be) of black people in literature. Hmm...

[heronblue.livejournal.com]

Many, many papers on that subject. I had to deal with the topic some myself when I was working in a children's bookstore.

[sapphiretrance.livejournal.com]

Permit me to recommend The Cay, which was required reading at my Elementary School. It's a marvellous little tale that I have never regretted being forced to read. ;)

~sapphiretrance

[freeze-dried.livejournal.com]

Give these URLs to your friend, yo.

Black Books Galore (http://www.blackbooksgalore.com)
Black Library (http://www.theblacklibrary.com)
Cush City (http://www.cushcity.com)
Black Expressions (http://www.blackexpressions.com)
Angel's Book Store (http://www.angelsbookstore.com)
The Black Bookshelf (http://www.theblackbookshelf.com)
Black Literature Online (http://www.blackliterature.com)
Sammie's YRC (http://www.thesistahcircle.com/sammieyrc.htm)
Kulture Zone Kidz (http://www.kulturezone.com)
G.R.I.T.S Kidz (http://www.gritskidz.com)
Black Butterfly Press (http://www.maxinethompson.com)

Hope these help!

[amanda-mary.livejournal.com]

Bud Not Buddy (author's name escapes me)

To put it succinctly, this book kicks ass.

[heronblue.livejournal.com]

Christopher Paul Curtis. And yeah, that book rocks.

[heronblue.livejournal.com]

Jaqueline Woodson is really good-- she's written a number of shortish books for middle readers/young adults, and almost all her protagonists are black. All of the books deal with racial issues in one way or another.

Edward Bloor works, too... his books deal with racial/ethical issues, even though the protagonists are white.

Virginia Hamilton also writes books with african american characters, but I've never liked her writing as much.

I'm not absolutely certain, but I think the three boys in David Gerrold's science fiction books "Jumping off the Planet" and "Bouncing off the Moon" are black. Those books are a lot of fun.

There have got to be others... those are the ones that spring instantly to mind, though. I used to work at a children's bookstore. I'll speak up if I think of anything else. But Jaqueline Woodson. She's really good.

[violin.livejournal.com]

Through Google search (http://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient&q=%22young+adult%22+books+%22black+characters%22), I found this article (http://www.africana.com/Articles/tt_625.htm), with this highlight: "In fiction, Walter Dean Myers, Louise Meriwether, June Jordan, and Rosa Guy were among the many authors who began writing young adult novels set against a contemporary urban background."
Also, from that article, "In 1969 the Coretta Scott King Book Award was established to honor African American authors and illustrators for outstanding contributions to children's literature." A web page for the award is here (http://www.ala.org/srrt/csking/).

[violin.livejournal.com]

oops. "Through this Google search," rather.

[transientdyke.livejournal.com]

Wow, I had the same exact conversation with a customer in the kids section today. She was looking for books with a black protagonist, but not something history related. Just a regular African American girl doing regular teenage stuff.

I couldn't find anything.

It made me really angry.

[heronblue.livejournal.com]

Jaqueline Woodson, "Last Summer with Maison", "Maison at Blue Hill".

[mobledqueen.livejournal.com]

The Friends by Rosa Guy-- this is a bit of a girly book, and may possibly take place in the 50's, but It's a really good book.

[lm.livejournal.com]

L. J. Smith's The Forbidden Game trilogy features a black female lead and her Hausa grandmother prominantly. The books are girl-oriented, but I have more than a few male friends who enjoyed them.

I'm sure I know of more than that. I just can't think of them right now. Hm.

Thanks to everyone!

[princesswitch.livejournal.com]

I'm about to report this in my own journal, but I couldn't find anything. I went to another corporate bookstore and found one called "Scorpions", about a black kid named Jamal who's being pressured to sell crack in da inna city...um...and one of the two main characters in Captain Underpants is black. Guess what? I got him a Calvin and Hobbes book, since he constantly wants to borrow mine.

I wish I'd posted about this earlier, because that collection of links in particular looks very promising.

Thank you all for taking this challenge on!!! Thank you, Gayle!

[kynn.livejournal.com]

Milestone Media produced some great comics in the 90s featuring a multicultural cast created by a wide diversity of creators at a black-owned comics company. You can get Icon and Static trade paperbacks these days, although if you have problems finding them, let me know.

For more information, see Milestone founder Dwayne McDuffie's web site (http://www.dwaynemcduffie.com).

--Kynn