Common Sense Media Review
By Barbara Saunders
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Absorbing novel about teen's quest for personal freedom.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 14+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Read
Parent and Kid Reviews
What's the Story?
When NIGERIA JONES begins, 16-year-old Nigeria is helping celebrate the birthday of her 1-year-old brother, Freedom, in the Black utopian intentional community where they live with their father, who leads the community. Nigeria's mother has disappeared, and her father has had a falling out with Nigeria's aunt and with her mother's best friend, who's White. Nigeria feels lonely, and she's coping the best she can, hoping her mother will eventually return. Encouraged by her mother's best friend, Nigeria enrolls in a private school and starts to question her father's values and the life he intends for her.
Is It Any Good?
This is an unflinchingly honest book about what intersectionality means for Black women and girls. In Nigeria Jones, Ibi Zoboi sets the action inside a Black utopian intentional community where pregnancy and gender roles cause Nigeria to question what freedom really means for both her and her mother. Extended scenes about sexuality and gun use are poetically written and never gratuitous, but they do make this story a good one for adults to read along with their teens and discuss. The use of the U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights as a framework for exploring personal freedom is ripe for deep conversations about what it means to choose your own life and who truly gets to make that choice freely in the United States. This thoughtful, political, and engaging novel has a lot to offer teen readers.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about the theme of intersectionality in Nigeria Jones. How does the main character struggle with her identities and allegiances? How does her curiosity help with this challenge?
What are some different ways characters display courage in Nigeria Jones? What are some examples of the failure of courage?
How does communication help build empathy across racial and gender boundaries in this book? How does communication help build empathy in family relationships?
Book Details
- Author :
- Genre : Coming of Age
- Topics : Activism , Family Stories ( Siblings ) , Friendship
- Character Strengths : Communication , Courage , Curiosity , Empathy
- Book type : Fiction
- Publisher : Balzer + Bray
- Publication date : May 9, 2023
- Publisher's recommended age(s) : 13 - 17
- Number of pages : 384
- Available on : Paperback, Audiobook (unabridged), Hardback, Apple Books, Kindle
- Awards : Common Sense Selection , Coretta Scott King Medal and Honors
- Last updated : September 18, 2025
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