Review: Black Boy Joy, edited by Kwame Mbalia
Quick Info:
Book type: Chapter Book—Short Stories
Target Age: 9-12 years old
Recommended Age: None
Plot: 17 short stories from different male and non-binary identifying authors on “Black Boy Joy”
Review:
Of the 17 stories I really found 5 of them to be interesting and unique and 2 almost good. Which left 10 as mediocre or just not good. There was a lot of magical and sci-fi elements in a lot of the stories which was a bit surprising because I expected it to lean more on a realistic point of view about “boyhood”. The actual writing of some of the stories was a bit clunky and felt like they shoehorned in the concept of “joy” at the end to remind you what book you were reading. Frankly, a lot of the dialogue and writing kind of felt like the authors were trying hard to be cool. Only a few of the stories were able to make the slang feel natural and meaningful.
Of the short stories, I really liked The McCoy Game, The Definition of Cool, But Also Jazz, and Perceval and The Jab. However my favorite was First-Day Fly a story following a boy putting together his outfit for the first day of school. It got a few chuckles out of me. Percival and the Jab could honestly be a whole series and I would read it. The mythology and story was really interesting and fun.
Opinion:
Some of the short stories on their own were wonderful; however—all and all—not really what I expected and not a book I would recommend.
Content:
7 out of the 17 stories had characters or themes related to the LGBTQ+ (lesbian, gay, bisexual characters)
One of the stories follows a child’s coming out story as non-binary
Many of the stories have topics or themes of romance/crushes
Music and concerts are painted in a positive light
Minor degrading language (ex: stupid)
Excerpts:
Excerpts from books are a glimpse of the content that is found and are not every instance of un-Islamic and/or “iffy” content.
Context:
This story is about a sports game at a family function. The main character’s brother is speaking about his boyfriend who is attending.
Context:
This story is about a boy trying to prepare for a game at school surrounding superhero knowledge. His brother’s girlfriend is visiting and is wearing a jean jacket with the pin “Love is Love”—a slogan coined by LGBTQ+ activists.
Context:
This story follows a curious boy who loves learning about animals. The main character’s older sister takes him to the museum with her girlfriend.
Context:
This story follows a character overcoming his fear after a skateboarding injury. Haru is the main character’s friend who goes by they/them pronouns.
Context:
This story is about a boy who is nervous for his baking competition because he wants to win but also because he has a crush on his male competitor. He confides in his grandmother about his feelings and she tells him about her past romance with a girl.
Context:
This story follows a young boy who decides to come out as non-binary on his 13th birthday. At the party he decides to wear a half-tux-half-dress outfit (it’s a little hard to visualize). Additionally, he speaks about coming out as gay “a couple of years ago”, meaning he came out as an Elementary aged student. A conversation happens between the main character and his grandmother about his gay uncle. Additionally, he has a female best friend who makes comments about how attractive his father is—which is weird. The gallery below contains excerpts from this story.
