Spotlight: Black Boy Joy

There are many books with BIPOC characters that are about racism and oppression. But stories of BIPOC characters shouldn’t only be about pain and struggle. I loved the anthology Black Boy Joy (2021), edited by Kwame Mbalia, which includes 17 stories “celebrating Black boyhood” and sharing many forms of joy.

The stories aren’t without conflict, sadness, or challenges, but they all center joy. Lamar Giles writes of a kid polling his friends and family for the best superheroes. Julian Winters celebrates family cooking traditions. Jason Reynolds explores the feeling of finding the perfect outfit for the first day of school. Jay Coles’s main character gets to be co-pilot with his grandpa, who flew in the military, and soar above the clouds. Varian Johnson goes to a concert with friends and learns that being yourself is the coolest thing of all.

There’s also plenty of fantasy and sci-fi to keep readers of those genres happy. My favorite was P. Djèlí Clark’s story about the Jab that lives in Percival’s closet. A Jab is a spirit from Trinidad that mostly causes trouble. But when Percy meets others who can see spirits and meets their companions, he starts to see the Jab in a new light.

Perhaps my favorite story in the anthology is “The Gender Reveal” by George M. Johnson. In it, Malcom decides at long last to announce their pronouns to friends and family. And though they are nervous about making a public proclamation, Malcolm finds support all around them. I loved this story of acceptance and joy for a kid getting to be their authentic self.