Leah Henderson sets her story at a prep school where art, futures, and authentic selves are all in question. Varian Johnson’s story is set in South Carolina and follows Cam, who is visiting his grandma, as he deals with code switching, being called an Oreo, and thinking he’s not black enough for the girl he likes. In Renée Watson’s piece, 17-year-old Raven, a counselor at a camp for young girls from the Portland, Oregon area, is surprised to find one of her campers is her father’s daughter from the family he had after he left when Raven was seven. They look at identity, tradition, ideas of blackness, relationships, and experiences in various urban and rural areas across the country. These stories all focus on being young and black in America.

There wasn’t a dud in this anthology, which is pretty impressive, because I usually feel like collections are often so uneven, that they have a few strong stories and just as many forgettable, undeveloped stories. This is a truly excellent collection of contemporary short stories. Edited by National Book Award finalist Ibi Zoboi, and featuring some of the most acclaimed bestselling Black authors writing for teens today- Black Enough is an essential collection of captivating stories about what it’s like to be young and Black in America.īlack is…sisters navigating their relationship at summer camp in Portland, Oregon, as written by Renée Watson.īlack is…three friends walking back from the community pool talking about nothing and everything, in a story by Jason Reynolds.īlack is…Nic Stone’s high-class beauty dating a boy her momma would never approve of.īlack is…two girls kissing in Justina Ireland’s story set in Maryland.īlack is urban and rural, wealthy and poor, mixed race, immigrants, and more-because there are countless ways to be Black enough.

Black Enough by Ibi Zoboi