“A Blade So Black” Is a Fantastic Take on “Alice in Wonderland”
Alice in Wonderland always struck me as a really dreamy metaphor for coming of age.
The versions of Alice in Wonderland I know best are from the video game Kingdom Hearts and the 2010 live-action Disney film. Both media have their protagonists growing as heroes and as people as they journey through Wonderland. In L. L. McKinney’s A Blade So Black, the heroine comes of age beautifully through trials based in reality as well as fantasy.
Alice Kingston, the book’s protagonist, is a Black teenager living in Atlanta, Georgia, and a warrior known as a Dreamwalker. Together with her mentor, Addison Hatta, she fights Nightmares, creatures that serve as the embodiment of human fear. When Hatta ends up poisoned, Alice must journey deep into Wonderland to search for a cure and face a darkness that threatens Wonderland and the real world.
One of the first things that appealed to me about the book is its striking cover. Designed to look like an ace of spades, it features a dark-skinned Black girl literally poised for battle with her daggers. This cover told me that the heroine was going to kick butt and do some growing, and I had to know what her story was.
Once I started reading the book, Alice won me over as the lead character. Her grief at losing her father, her nervousness and excitement about venturing into Wonderland, and her casual display of her inner fangirl were so relatable. Not to mention that the way she speaks sounds true to life. One of my favorite lines of dialogue goes, “You play too much. Talkin’ ’bout some ‘you’ll have to be specific’. Specific deeze.”
The majority of the secondary cast of characters was enjoyable, too. Addison Hatta struck me as a British, loveable rogue. Alice’s mom will resonate with anyone who has loved and gotten in trouble with a Black parent or family member. Lady Xellon is a noble knight with a soft, protective side, while Odabeth is a princess who humbles graciously. The only characters I didn’t like were Courtney and Chess, who didn’t seem as interesting as the Wonderland characters.
In addition to the characters, the real and fictional settings of Atlanta, Georgia, and Wonderland were memorable. Given that I live in Georgia and have some experience with metro Atlanta, I could easily imagine Alice living around that area and experiencing some supernatural shenanigans. The book’s prologue was especially notable in this regard, as Alice experiences her first supernatural encounter a little ways from Grady Memorial Hospital.
Meanwhile, Wonderland is just as vivid and dangerous as I imagined it would be. McKinney’s world-building and physical descriptions of Wonderland let you see it in your mind’s eye as the story unfolds. Wonderland is particularly stunning when Alice visits it for the first time, and her sense of joy and wonder is sure to be reflected in the reader.
Although Wonderland and ATL are interesting settings on their own, they are even more interesting when they overlap and affect each other. At one point, it is explained that Dreamwalkers are immune to the physical and emotional effects of Nightmares unless the fear is personal. One of Alice’s personal nightmares is becoming a victim of police brutality.
In a couple of paragraphs, the author makes police brutality a literal and metaphorical nightmare. When a black girl named Brionne Matthews is shot and killed by police, the fear that results from her death causes two Nightmare creatures to appear and show Alice the cold reality of having special abilities even as her life is at risk in the real world. Alice wonders, “She’d protected this world, but would anyone protect her?”
Despite her fears of losing her life and losing those she loves, Alice manages to take the first steps to becoming the hero she can be. By focusing her Muchness, the part of her that believes in herself the most, she wields her daggers and a sword to slay Nightmares in a way that is empowering. In a creative nod to Lewis Caroll’s poem “Jabberwocky,” Alice’s heroic journey reaches its climax with the lines, “She left it dead, and with its head, she went galumphing back.”
All in all, A Blade So Black is a fantastic, grounded twist on Alice in Wonderland. With a compelling heroine, a quirky cast of characters, and thought-provoking world-building, A Blade So Black brings adventure, heart, and Black Girl Magic. Whether or not a sequel is in the works, this book alone breaks new ground for retellings and urban fantasy.
The Afro YA promotes black young adult authors and YA books with black characters, especially those that influence Pennington, an aspiring YA author who believes that black YA readers need diverse books, creators, and stories so that they don’t have to search for their experiences like she did.
Latonya Pennington is a poet and freelance pop culture critic. Their freelance work can also be found at PRIDE, Wear Your Voice magazine, and Black Sci-fi. As a poet, they have been published in Fiyah Lit magazine, Scribes of Nyota, and Argot magazine among others.
"Piecing Me Together" Is a Gorgeous Collage of Self-Discovery
As a Black non-binary queer person, my life and my identity are made up of a variety of experiences and influences.
While I’m more aware of who I am now, there was a time when I just wasn’t sure about it. In Renée Watson’s beautifully written book Piecing Me Together, the main character Jade creates a collage out of her experiences to figure out who she wants to be.
The world told me that Black people couldn’t be geeky, sensitive, and emotionally vulnerable.
Out of all the ideals of respectability and success, the idea that a Black person needs to escape their “bad” living areas in order to be successful is one of the most pervasive. It is this idea that Jade combats in the book, even as she yearns to travel the world and speak Spanish. Since Jade sees the beauty in her friends, family, and her neighborhood of North Portland, she uses those influences to define herself in a positive way and make her collage art.
Not only does Jade undergo self-discovery with her present day life, but she also uses historical influences from the past. One day, she learns about York, a Black slave who went on the Lewis and Clark expedition. She is drawn to his story because he was having his identity and personal story defined for him. Jade also learns about Black collagists like Romare Bearden and Mickalene Thomas later in the book. Once Jade finally starts speaking up with her actual voice and honing her artistic voice, she combines the past and present for her art and for herself.
Once Jade finally starts speaking up with her actual voice and honing her artistic voice, she combines the past and present for her art and for herself.
Through lived experience, art, and learned history, Jade literally puts together the pieces of who she feels she wants to be. As an artist, daughter, student, and more, Jade refuses to let others define who she is as a Black girl. Jade is a collage worth seeing in all its pieces and glory, and that makes her story powerful.
The Afro YA promotes black young adult authors and YA books with black characters, especially those that influence Pennington, an aspiring YA author who believes that black YA readers need diverse books, creators, and stories so that they don’t have to search for their experiences like she did.
Latonya Pennington is a poet and freelance pop culture critic. Their freelance work can also be found at PRIDE, Wear Your Voice magazine, and Black Sci-fi. As a poet, they have been published in Fiyah Lit magazine, Scribes of Nyota, and Argot magazine among others.
Listening to these mentors, I feel like I can prove the negative stereotypes about girls like me wrong. But when I leave? It happens again. The shattering. And this makes me wonder if a Black girl’s life is being stitched together & coming undone.
These lines made me really connect to Jade as a character because of similar feelings I had as a teenager. Like Jade, I felt like my identity was constantly under attack by expectations and preconceived notions of what a Black person is like. The world told me that Black people couldn’t be geeky, sensitive, and emotionally vulnerable so I learned to hate myself. Unlike Jade, I didn’t have the self-worth and knowledge to define myself on my own terms until my twenties.
Another thought about Jade defining herself on her own terms is expressed when she says,
Sometimes I just want to be comfortable in this skin, this body. Want to cock my head back and laugh loud and free, all my teeth showing, and not be told I’m too rowdy, too ghetto…. Sometimes I just want to let my tongue speak the way it pleases, let it be untamed and not bound by rules.
While I have never been called too rowdy or ghetto by others, these lines made me think of the ideals of respectability that I unconsciously learned from various media and my own parents. I was expected to go to college, get the right degree, and not be too influenced by “bad” Black kids who got pregnant in high school or dropped out. At one point, I was also told not to watch too much BET and not speak too much slang when I wasn’t around my peers.
The world told me that Black people couldn’t be geeky, sensitive, and emotionally vulnerable.
Out of all the ideals of respectability and success, the idea that a Black person needs to escape their “bad” living areas in order to be successful is one of the most pervasive. It is this idea that Jade combats in the book, even as she yearns to travel the world and speak Spanish. Since Jade sees the beauty in her friends, family, and her neighborhood of North Portland, she uses those influences to define herself in a positive way and make her collage art.
Not only does Jade undergo self-discovery with her present day life, but she also uses historical influences from the past. One day, she learns about York, a Black slave who went on the Lewis and Clark expedition. She is drawn to his story because he was having his identity and personal story defined for him. Jade also learns about Black collagists like Romare Bearden and Mickalene Thomas later in the book. Once Jade finally starts speaking up with her actual voice and honing her artistic voice, she combines the past and present for her art and for herself.
Once Jade finally starts speaking up with her actual voice and honing her artistic voice, she combines the past and present for her art and for herself.
Through lived experience, art, and learned history, Jade literally puts together the pieces of who she feels she wants to be. As an artist, daughter, student, and more, Jade refuses to let others define who she is as a Black girl. Jade is a collage worth seeing in all its pieces and glory, and that makes her story powerful.
The Afro YA promotes black young adult authors and YA books with black characters, especially those that influence Pennington, an aspiring YA author who believes that black YA readers need diverse books, creators, and stories so that they don’t have to search for their experiences like she did.
Latonya Pennington is a poet and freelance pop culture critic. Their freelance work can also be found at PRIDE, Wear Your Voice magazine, and Black Sci-fi. As a poet, they have been published in Fiyah Lit magazine, Scribes of Nyota, and Argot magazine among others.
Listening to these mentors, I feel like I can prove the negative stereotypes about girls like me wrong. But when I leave? It happens again. The shattering. And this makes me wonder if a Black girl’s life is being stitched together & coming undone.
These lines made me really connect to Jade as a character because of similar feelings I had as a teenager. Like Jade, I felt like my identity was constantly under attack by expectations and preconceived notions of what a Black person is like. The world told me that Black people couldn’t be geeky, sensitive, and emotionally vulnerable so I learned to hate myself. Unlike Jade, I didn’t have the self-worth and knowledge to define myself on my own terms until my twenties.
Another thought about Jade defining herself on her own terms is expressed when she says,
Sometimes I just want to be comfortable in this skin, this body. Want to cock my head back and laugh loud and free, all my teeth showing, and not be told I’m too rowdy, too ghetto…. Sometimes I just want to let my tongue speak the way it pleases, let it be untamed and not bound by rules.
While I have never been called too rowdy or ghetto by others, these lines made me think of the ideals of respectability that I unconsciously learned from various media and my own parents. I was expected to go to college, get the right degree, and not be too influenced by “bad” Black kids who got pregnant in high school or dropped out. At one point, I was also told not to watch too much BET and not speak too much slang when I wasn’t around my peers.
The world told me that Black people couldn’t be geeky, sensitive, and emotionally vulnerable.
Out of all the ideals of respectability and success, the idea that a Black person needs to escape their “bad” living areas in order to be successful is one of the most pervasive. It is this idea that Jade combats in the book, even as she yearns to travel the world and speak Spanish. Since Jade sees the beauty in her friends, family, and her neighborhood of North Portland, she uses those influences to define herself in a positive way and make her collage art.
Not only does Jade undergo self-discovery with her present day life, but she also uses historical influences from the past. One day, she learns about York, a Black slave who went on the Lewis and Clark expedition. She is drawn to his story because he was having his identity and personal story defined for him. Jade also learns about Black collagists like Romare Bearden and Mickalene Thomas later in the book. Once Jade finally starts speaking up with her actual voice and honing her artistic voice, she combines the past and present for her art and for herself.
Once Jade finally starts speaking up with her actual voice and honing her artistic voice, she combines the past and present for her art and for herself.
Through lived experience, art, and learned history, Jade literally puts together the pieces of who she feels she wants to be. As an artist, daughter, student, and more, Jade refuses to let others define who she is as a Black girl. Jade is a collage worth seeing in all its pieces and glory, and that makes her story powerful.
The Afro YA promotes black young adult authors and YA books with black characters, especially those that influence Pennington, an aspiring YA author who believes that black YA readers need diverse books, creators, and stories so that they don’t have to search for their experiences like she did.
Latonya Pennington is a poet and freelance pop culture critic. Their freelance work can also be found at PRIDE, Wear Your Voice magazine, and Black Sci-fi. As a poet, they have been published in Fiyah Lit magazine, Scribes of Nyota, and Argot magazine among others.
In order for Jade to figure out who she is, she has to wade through experiences and perceptions that allow others to define her.
In order for Jade to figure out who she is, she has to wade through experiences and perceptions that allow others to define her. The main focus of the book is Jade’s experiences with the mentor program Woman to Woman and her Black upper-class mentor Maxine. Jade feels that Maxine is treating her like someone who needs to be fixed. Since Jade is a thick-bodied, dark-skinned, Black girl from a working-class family, she is considered to be an “at-risk” teen in danger of becoming a statistic.
While Jade spends time with Maxine and Woman to Woman, she also encounters other significant experiences in her personal and student life. At her elite high school St. Francis, she befriends a white female student named Sam and learns how their racial backgrounds cause them to be seen differently. Walking alone on the street, men harass her because of her body and their sense of entitlement. When an incident of police brutality occurs in a nearby neighborhood, Jade feels compelled to take action even though she feels helpless.
These experiences make Jade feel that she is constantly coming apart because of how other people see her. She sums it up best with the following lines:
Listening to these mentors, I feel like I can prove the negative stereotypes about girls like me wrong. But when I leave? It happens again. The shattering. And this makes me wonder if a Black girl’s life is being stitched together & coming undone.
These lines made me really connect to Jade as a character because of similar feelings I had as a teenager. Like Jade, I felt like my identity was constantly under attack by expectations and preconceived notions of what a Black person is like. The world told me that Black people couldn’t be geeky, sensitive, and emotionally vulnerable so I learned to hate myself. Unlike Jade, I didn’t have the self-worth and knowledge to define myself on my own terms until my twenties.
Another thought about Jade defining herself on her own terms is expressed when she says,
Sometimes I just want to be comfortable in this skin, this body. Want to cock my head back and laugh loud and free, all my teeth showing, and not be told I’m too rowdy, too ghetto…. Sometimes I just want to let my tongue speak the way it pleases, let it be untamed and not bound by rules.
While I have never been called too rowdy or ghetto by others, these lines made me think of the ideals of respectability that I unconsciously learned from various media and my own parents. I was expected to go to college, get the right degree, and not be too influenced by “bad” Black kids who got pregnant in high school or dropped out. At one point, I was also told not to watch too much BET and not speak too much slang when I wasn’t around my peers.
The world told me that Black people couldn’t be geeky, sensitive, and emotionally vulnerable.
Out of all the ideals of respectability and success, the idea that a Black person needs to escape their “bad” living areas in order to be successful is one of the most pervasive. It is this idea that Jade combats in the book, even as she yearns to travel the world and speak Spanish. Since Jade sees the beauty in her friends, family, and her neighborhood of North Portland, she uses those influences to define herself in a positive way and make her collage art.
Not only does Jade undergo self-discovery with her present day life, but she also uses historical influences from the past. One day, she learns about York, a Black slave who went on the Lewis and Clark expedition. She is drawn to his story because he was having his identity and personal story defined for him. Jade also learns about Black collagists like Romare Bearden and Mickalene Thomas later in the book. Once Jade finally starts speaking up with her actual voice and honing her artistic voice, she combines the past and present for her art and for herself.
Once Jade finally starts speaking up with her actual voice and honing her artistic voice, she combines the past and present for her art and for herself.
Through lived experience, art, and learned history, Jade literally puts together the pieces of who she feels she wants to be. As an artist, daughter, student, and more, Jade refuses to let others define who she is as a Black girl. Jade is a collage worth seeing in all its pieces and glory, and that makes her story powerful.
The Afro YA promotes black young adult authors and YA books with black characters, especially those that influence Pennington, an aspiring YA author who believes that black YA readers need diverse books, creators, and stories so that they don’t have to search for their experiences like she did.
Latonya Pennington is a poet and freelance pop culture critic. Their freelance work can also be found at PRIDE, Wear Your Voice magazine, and Black Sci-fi. As a poet, they have been published in Fiyah Lit magazine, Scribes of Nyota, and Argot magazine among others.
As a teenager and budding poet, the very first verse novel I can recall reading is Bronx Masquerade by Nikki Grimes.
Told from the point of view of many diverse high school students in a slam poetry style, it wasn’t hard for me to enjoy. However, the brief glimpses into the characters’ personal lives weren’t enough for me to completely love the book. After finishing Elizabeth Acevedo’s The Poet X, I feel like it filled the gaps that Bronx Masquerade had.
The Poet X tells the story of Xiomara, an Afro-Latina teen who feels suffocated by her mother’s strict religious parenting and frustrated by the way the world perceives her as a brown girl with burgeoning sexuality. For a while, she writes down her truest thoughts in secret, convinced that no one will want to hear them. After being severely punished for daring to explore her sexuality and attraction to her male classmate Aman, she decides to join her school’s slam poetry club and finds the courage to express herself.
For a while, she writes down her truest thoughts in secret, convinced that no one will want to hear them.
One of the first things about the book I noticed was Xiomara’s poetic voice. Even prior to joining the poetry club, it is very distinctive, powerful, and vivid. In the early pages of the book, there is a page called “Names” in which Xiomara explains the origins of her name and the impact of it, evoking the image of a defiant warrior. Her personality is summed up in the following lines: “My parents probably wanted a girl who would sit / in the pews / wearing pretty floral and a soft smile. / They got combat boots and a mouth silent / until it’s sharp as an island machete.”
Although Xiomara initially keeps her thoughts secret, her struggle and desire to speak and act on them is always apparent. This is especially telling in the homework assignments that she turns in for her English class. While the first drafts of those assignments are honest, the final drafts are toned down to convey what Xiomara thinks her teacher, Ms. Galiano, wants to hear. Later, the fact that Ms. Galiano truly cares for Xiomara’s deepest thoughts becomes a key factor in Xiomara’s decision to join the poetry club.
Although Xiomara initially keeps her thoughts secret, her struggle and desire to speak and act on them is always apparent.
Ms. Galiano’s support of Xiomara is one of the most touching aspects of the book. She is patient enough to let Xiomara join the poetry club when she is ready and a caring enough teacher to gently nudge Xiomara toward slam poetry by introducing it in one of her classes. Later, she even becomes one of Xiomara’s shoulders to cry on after a tumultuous confrontation with her mother. Ms. Galiano reminds me of a Black high school literature teacher I had who encouraged my writing and helped me during a difficult time.
Others in Xiomara’s life include Aman, a young man with good intentions that almost always come through. There is Xavier, Xiomara’s genius twin, who tries his best to support Xiomara despite experiencing a very different sexual awakening from hers. But of the entire cast of characters, the character who most resonated with me after Ms. Galiano and Xiomara was Xiomara’s mother.
Xiomara’s mother is both problematic and sympathetic. She wants the best for her daughter but lacks the ability to listen to her daughter without using religion to criticize her. Her religion is a source of strength, because it helped her through the difficult birth of the twins, so she tries to impose it on them to help them be strong too.
Feeling stifled by her mother, her religion, and her peers, Xiomara uses the written word to say what she can’t say aloud.
Feeling stifled by her mother, her religion, and her peers, Xiomara uses the written word to say what she can’t say aloud. Most notably, she uses her words to express her sexual awakening and how women are held to different standards than men in religion and real life. The most surprising poem in the book involves her masturbating, something I rarely read about in YA books involving women of color. The ecstasy and stigma surrounding masturbation is examined, and it is refreshingly realistic to see in a book for teens.
Xiomara discovers slam poetry and starts to become braver and more honest about her feelings.
Ultimately, I believe Xiomara and her story resonated with me so much because she reflects a part of the teen poet I was and the adult poet I am becoming now. My personal favorite pages are when Xiomara discovers slam poetry and starts to become braver and more honest about her feelings. I understand the joy and struggle Xiomara experiences as a poet because I’ve experienced them many times myself. The Poet X is a testament to finding and expressing your personal voice.
The Afro YA promotes black young adult authors and YA books with black characters, especially those that influence Pennington, an aspiring YA author who believes that black YA readers need diverse books, creators, and stories so that they don’t have to search for their experiences like she did.
Latonya Pennington is a poet and freelance pop culture critic. Their freelance work can also be found at PRIDE, Wear Your Voice magazine, and Black Sci-fi. As a poet, they have been published in Fiyah Lit magazine, Scribes of Nyota, and Argot magazine among others.
"Darius and Twig" Is an Honest, Contemplative Story about Living Your Dream
In Harlem, New York, Black writer Darius and Dominican runner Twig are best friends trying to become successful.
Yet bullies, family problems, and other people’s expectations try to shape and define them. Both of them will have to discover the courage to take the first step towards living their dreams. A premise like this seems simple, but this brief book summary belies a complex and powerful story.
Coming to terms with standing out becomes a major part of Darius’ growth as a writer and a person.
Out of everything in this book, the cost and triumphs that come from standing out resonated with me the most. Since I had insecurities similar to Darius and Twig’s when I was in high school, I believe that this book would’ve been comforting and inspiring for me as a teen. The late Walter Dean Myers’ has authentically captured what it’s like to feel out of place and I’m thankful that Black teens today have this book to turn to.
In fact, the only thing more emotionally driven than feeling like you shouldn’t stand out is feeling absolutely worthless as a person. One antagonistic character in the book is humanized through a shocking, grim turn of events that shows that finding your worth as a Black person can be harder for some. Ultimately, this character serves as a cautionary tale that encourages the reader to examine themselves and the racist socio-economic circumstances that can negatively impact Black youth.
The late Walter Dean Myers’ has authentically captured what it’s like to feel out of place and I’m thankful that Black teens today have this book to turn to.
Despite everything that Darius and Twig experience, these two young men manage to have a beautiful friendship that is heartwarming. No one is shaming each other for expressing their feelings due to some ridiculous need to “man-up”. No one is being a bad influence on each other. Instead, Darius and Twig encourage each other, joke around, and be honest with each other in order to bring out a better version of themselves.
While there was a lot I liked about this book, the only thing that bothered me was the lack of Black women or any women of color. Seeing only Darius’ depressed mom and Twig’s supportive yet barely there grandma made me wish there were more female figures in the boys’ lives, especially in Darius’ case. They didn’t necessarily have to be family, but a Black female mentor or role model would’ve been nice to see.
Darius and Twig is an honest, contemplative book about living your dream.
On the whole, Darius and Twig is an honest, contemplative book about living your dream. This book shows that standing out is worth fighting for, even if you struggle and feel out of place. True friendship can help you take the first step towards your personal goals despite people or circumstances trying to drag you down.
The Afro YA promotes black young adult authors and YA books with black characters, especially those that influence Pennington, an aspiring YA author who believes that black YA readers need diverse books, creators, and stories so that they don’t have to search for their experiences like she did.
Latonya Pennington is a poet and freelance pop culture critic. Their freelance work can also be found at PRIDE, Wear Your Voice magazine, and Black Sci-fi. As a poet, they have been published in Fiyah Lit magazine, Scribes of Nyota, and Argot magazine among others.
One of the first things that made me fall hard for this book was the voice of Darius. He has two different voices in this book: the voice of Darius the writer and teenager and the voice of Darius as a falcon. By writing and imagining himself as a falcon, Darius is able to see himself as powerful and capable, something that can overcome the obstacles in his life.
By writing and imagining himself as a falcon, Darius is able to see himself as powerful and capable, something that can overcome the obstacles in his life.
In fact, Darius and Twig have many obstacles. Darius has to look out for a mother with depression and a lively younger brother, while Twig is facing career pressure from his Uncle Ernesto and bullying from a duo named Midnight and Twig. Not to mention, both of them deal with racist microgressions from certain adults in their lives that are supposed to be teachers and mentors.
As a result of these issues, Darius and Twig become very conscious of the price of standing out to their ethnicity and for their individual talents. In chapter twenty, Twig has a heart-to-heart with Darius when he feels caught between standing out and getting put down for it and standing out and becoming successful. While Darius is able to encourage his friend, coming to terms with standing out becomes a major part of Darius’ growth as a writer and a person.
Coming to terms with standing out becomes a major part of Darius’ growth as a writer and a person.
Out of everything in this book, the cost and triumphs that come from standing out resonated with me the most. Since I had insecurities similar to Darius and Twig’s when I was in high school, I believe that this book would’ve been comforting and inspiring for me as a teen. The late Walter Dean Myers’ has authentically captured what it’s like to feel out of place and I’m thankful that Black teens today have this book to turn to.
In fact, the only thing more emotionally driven than feeling like you shouldn’t stand out is feeling absolutely worthless as a person. One antagonistic character in the book is humanized through a shocking, grim turn of events that shows that finding your worth as a Black person can be harder for some. Ultimately, this character serves as a cautionary tale that encourages the reader to examine themselves and the racist socio-economic circumstances that can negatively impact Black youth.
The late Walter Dean Myers’ has authentically captured what it’s like to feel out of place and I’m thankful that Black teens today have this book to turn to.
Despite everything that Darius and Twig experience, these two young men manage to have a beautiful friendship that is heartwarming. No one is shaming each other for expressing their feelings due to some ridiculous need to “man-up”. No one is being a bad influence on each other. Instead, Darius and Twig encourage each other, joke around, and be honest with each other in order to bring out a better version of themselves.
While there was a lot I liked about this book, the only thing that bothered me was the lack of Black women or any women of color. Seeing only Darius’ depressed mom and Twig’s supportive yet barely there grandma made me wish there were more female figures in the boys’ lives, especially in Darius’ case. They didn’t necessarily have to be family, but a Black female mentor or role model would’ve been nice to see.
Darius and Twig is an honest, contemplative book about living your dream.
On the whole, Darius and Twig is an honest, contemplative book about living your dream. This book shows that standing out is worth fighting for, even if you struggle and feel out of place. True friendship can help you take the first step towards your personal goals despite people or circumstances trying to drag you down.
The Afro YA promotes black young adult authors and YA books with black characters, especially those that influence Pennington, an aspiring YA author who believes that black YA readers need diverse books, creators, and stories so that they don’t have to search for their experiences like she did.
Latonya Pennington is a poet and freelance pop culture critic. Their freelance work can also be found at PRIDE, Wear Your Voice magazine, and Black Sci-fi. As a poet, they have been published in Fiyah Lit magazine, Scribes of Nyota, and Argot magazine among others.
"The Dark Fantastic" Fills an Imagination Gap in Youth Media
As someone who came of age with the Harry Potter series, it is astounding I barely noticed how few Black characters were in the books.
After all, the focus of the books was on the main characters Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, and Ron Weasley. Although Hermione Granger was a particular favorite, the default white protagonists I had become used to seeing in teen fiction and fantasy caused me to see her as white until a few years ago. In Professor Ebony Elizabeth Thomas’ book The Dark Fantastic, she puts a name to my experience: the imagination gap. Published by NYU Press, the book will be released in May 2019.
Explained in the introduction, the imagination gap is a lack of development in the imagination of youth caused by seeing the same stories and the same default white characters. Thomas further explains that this is the result of the titular dark fantastic cycle, a cycle that is influenced by the role race plays in stories. The dark fantastic cycle involves a Black character embodying spectacle, hesitation, violence, and haunting, often on behalf of a white protagonist. By examining certain instances of the dark fantastic cycle in sci-fi fantasy books and shows aimed at teens, Thomas illustrates how the stories told in mainstream sci-fi fantasy media tend to erase the presence of Black characters, AKA The Dark Other.
The imagination gap is a lack of development in the imagination of youth caused by seeing the same stories and the same default white characters.
In The Dark Fantastic, Thomas chooses to discuss the dark fantastic cycle in four different media and four different Black female characters that have been discussed at large through digital media culture and communities (fandoms). These media consists of Rue from the young adult series The Hunger Games, Gwen from the BBC fantasy television series Merlin, Bonnie from the American teen vampire drama The Vampire Diaries, and Hermione Granger from the Harry Potter book series.
While the critiques of all the media in this book are worth looking into, the ones for young adult literature are especially notable. Starting with Rue from The Hunger Games, Thomas explores how the dark fantastic cycle causes Rue’s innocence as a young Black girl to be transferred to Katniss, the series’s white female heroine. As a book series that initially focuses on children forced to battle each other to the death in a dystopian world, it was chilling to see how Rue is treated due to the dark fantastic cycle.
The dark fantastic cycle involves a Black character embodying spectacle, hesitation, violence, and haunting, often on behalf of a white protagonist.
Through the lens of the dark fantastic cycle, we see how Rue goes from being seen as innocent girl to not being seen at all. By the time Rue’s story enters the haunting phase of the cycle, she is a ghost who is only remembered as a resource for Katniss’s skills and a martyr for District 11. Rue’s dark fantastic cycle is reminiscent of other fictional Black deaths like Nurse Betty from Resident Evil: Extinction and Bill Potts from Doctor Who. Therefore, the chapter on Rue serves as a comprehensive explanation about Black fictional characters whose deaths motivate white protagonists.
In addition to discussing Rue as a character, Thomas also tackles readers and viewers reaction to Rue in her book and movie form, relating the reactions her imagination gap theory and the dark fantastic cycle. By smoothly connecting these concepts to consumers, Thomas expertly demonstrates how an inability to visualize Black characters in sci-fi fantasy settings results in astonishment and outrage, especially from white readers and viewers in fandom. Thomas also does something similar in the chapter discussing Gwen from Merlin, showing how pervasive the imagination gap in a variety of media.
Thomas expertly demonstrates how an inability to visualize Black characters in sci-fi fantasy settings results in astonishment and outrage, especially from white readers and viewers in fandom.
In contrast to the chapter about Rue and The Hunger Games, the chapter on Hermione Granger and Harry Potter is more optimistic. This is due to Thomas’ personal anecdotes about her involvement in the Harry Potter fandom and how her fan fiction about the minor Black character Angelina Johnson relates to interpretations of Hermione Granger as a Black girl. In addition, Thomas explains how racebent interpretations of Hermione Granger are a part of several methods of restorying, i.e., retelling stories.
With restorying, Thomas states that there is an infinite potential for stories due to the different methods involved in creating them. These include changing the location, changing the perspective, changing the mode, collaboration, and changing identity. Changing location moves the setting to another time and place, while changing the perspective lets another character tell their side of the story. Meanwhile, changing the mode consists of going from one medium to another (i.e. from fiction book to comic book), and collaboration involves people working together using digital media. Finally, changing identity can involve making a character perceived white to be Black or a cisgender character genderfluid.
By bridging pop culture, personal experience, and academic study, The Dark Fantastic provides a crucial examination of race and storytelling in sci-fi fantasy media aimed at teens and young adults. Not only does Thomas discuss how Black characters are erased in an inescapable cycle, but she also provides a guide to breaking it. Many have already broken the dark fantastic cycle with new stories, and this book is a good starting point for more.
The Afro YA promotes black young adult authors and YA books with black characters, especially those that influence Pennington, an aspiring YA author who believes that black YA readers need diverse books, creators, and stories so that they don’t have to search for their experiences like she did.
Latonya Pennington is a poet and freelance pop culture critic. Their freelance work can also be found at PRIDE, Wear Your Voice magazine, and Black Sci-fi. As a poet, they have been published in Fiyah Lit magazine, Scribes of Nyota, and Argot magazine among others.
"The Weight of the Stars" Is a Gorgeous Novel about New Possibilities
After an accident brings them together, Ryann Bird finds herself keeping track of space messages for her classmate Alexandria.
Although they have a frosty start, the two eventually bond over their status as misfits and an appreciation of outer space. As Ryann begins to help Alexandria learn more about her astronaut mother and her one-way space mission, their tentative friendship slowly blooms into something more.
One of the first things that drew me to this book was its very short chapters. Each of them has its own title and is only a few pages long, reminding me of those brief short fiction stories known as flash fiction. This resulted in a nice, steady pace for the storyline that urges the reader to keep reading without making them feel bogged down by page length. It was an unexpected yet relaxing reading format.
In addition to the leisurely pace of the chapters, the prose itself is great to read. It is lyrical, thoughtful, and sometimes even humorous. It gives almost every character their own unique voice that makes their personalities palpable. An example of this is the following exchange between Ryann, Alexandria, and one of Ryann’s friends, Shannon:
“What a bitch,” Shannon seethed. “They tell us not to judge a book by its cover, but then, like, they say mean things like that.”
“You have to learn to not care, you know?” Alexandria replied.
“Or at least be able to defend yourself well,” Ryann mumbled.
Speaking of the characters, they are wonderful to get to know. While there are too many to list them all, personal favorites included Ryann, James, Alexandria, Ahmed, and Shannon. Ryann is a tall butch Black girl who is a tough yet loving mother hen to her found family of misfit friends and to her younger brother, James, and his baby, Charlie. James became mute after the death of his and Ryann’s parents. He fiercely loves Ryann and Charlie. Alexandria is a soft butch mixed-raced Black girl whose coldness protects a warm heart. Ahmed has beautiful polyamorous parents and is a loyal friend. Shannon is popular yet kind and fun, a refreshing deviation from the usual popular girl trope.
Bonding the characters, especially Alexandria and Ryann, together is the topic of outer space and the stars. Even for someone uninterested or unfamiliar with space facts, the information is presented in a way that is easy to understand and thoughtful. One part of the book that is especially notable is the depiction of how Ryann and Alexandria’s parents influenced their own outer space goals and appreciation. It is truly touching to see both young girls discuss and work toward their hopes and dreams under the stars.
Together, the writing format, prose, and the characters work to tell a emotionally resonating story about new chances and the burdens we all carry. There is also a slow-burn romance that is pleasant to watch unfold as Alexandria and Ryann grow closer. Sometimes, the baggage we carry can be too much to handle alone, especially if that baggage is unwillingly given to you. K. Ancrum’s The Weight of the Starstells us that others can help you carry that weight and that sometimes it’s okay to put yourself first.
A minor flaw of the book involves some of the characters. While the huge cast of characters made for engaging reading, it also made it a little confusing at times. It can be easy to mix up some of the characters, and I did this myself with it came to Ryan’s friends Blake and Tomas, as well as the adult characters of Alex’s dad Raleigh and the CEO Roland. This wasn’t too bothersome, but Blake and Tomas did feel like the same person sometimes, since their character dialogues felt similar.
All in all, this book is a gorgeous novel about new possibilities, love, and family. Great pacing, characters, and prose, along with a love of outer space, make this a novel worth reading. If you’re looking for a new contemporary coming-of-age story and/or romance, prepare to be dazzled and heartbroken all at once.
The Afro YA promotes black young adult authors and YA books with black characters, especially those that influence Pennington, an aspiring YA author who believes that black YA readers need diverse books, creators, and stories so that they don’t have to search for their experiences like she did.
Latonya Pennington is a poet and freelance pop culture critic. Their freelance work can also be found at PRIDE, Wear Your Voice magazine, and Black Sci-fi. As a poet, they have been published in Fiyah Lit magazine, Scribes of Nyota, and Argot magazine among others.
One of the first things that appealed to me about the book is its striking cover. Designed to look like an ace of spades, it features a dark-skinned Black girl literally poised for battle with her daggers. This cover told me that the heroine was going to kick butt and do some growing, and I had to know what her story was.
Told from the point of view of many diverse high school students in a slam poetry style, it wasn’t hard for me to enjoy. However, the brief glimpses into the characters’ personal lives weren’t enough for me to completely love the book. After finishing Elizabeth Acevedo’s The Poet X, I feel like it filled the gaps that Bronx Masquerade had.
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