For Black Girls Like Me
By Barbara Saunders,
Common Sense Media Reviewer
Common Sense Media Reviewers
Black girl in white family finds her voice in moving novel.
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What's the Story?
As FOR BLACK GIRLS LIKE ME begins, Keda, her sister, and her mother are on the road from Maryland to their new home in New Mexico, where the father, has started a new job. Keda is adopted and black. Her father, Daniel, and mother, Anna, are white, and Keda's sister, Eve, is the biological daughter of the parents. Keda misses her best friend, Lena, another black girl with white parents; the two of them make a pact to keep up a correspondence and eventually communicate through a private blog called "Questions I Have For Black Girls Like Me." When a girl in the public school calls Keda the "N" word and a teacher dismisses her attempt to report it, Anna pulls both girls out of school and says she'll homeschool them. It turns out that there's more to Anna's impulsive behavior than protecting her children. Her behavior becomes increasingly erratic and dangerous, and she's eventually diagnosed with bipolar disorder.
Is It Any Good?
This moving novel is a beautiful testament to the power of family, love, and friendship to triumph over hardship. Mariama Lockington's For Black Girls Like Me shows a family in serious crisis who are still able to connect deeply through their love of music and willingness to have uncomfortable conversations. Lockington is a poet, and she displays that gift throughout the book in Keda's poems, lyrics, and dreams of a chorus of women. Occasionally, the author's technique of breaking up sentences like lines of poetry can be distracting.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about how mental illness is described in For Black Girls Like Me. How soon do you realize that Anna's behavior is more than just quirky? How does the author leave clues about what is going on?
Keda and Lena share the unusual situation of being the black adopted daughters in white families. How does their friendship help them cope with the disappointments in family life?
How does Keda's relationship with her sister, Eve, their relationships with their parents, and being in a multiracial family affect their lives?
Book Details
- Author: Mariama J. Lockington
- Genre: Family Life
- Topics: Brothers and Sisters , Friendship , Middle School
- Book type: Fiction
- Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
- Publication date: August 22, 2019
- Publisher's recommended age(s): 9 - 12
- Number of pages: 336
- Available on: Paperback, Audiobook (unabridged), Hardback, Kindle
- Award: ALA Best and Notable Books
- Last updated: February 4, 2020
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Where to Read
Our Editors Recommend
Books That Feature Characters Living with Mental Illness
Books with Characters Who Are Adopted
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