Black Enough: 01/26/19

Black Enough edited by Ibi Zoboi is a collection of seventeen short stories by contemporary Black authors featuring a delightful cross-section of life in America from a Black teen / young adult perspective. It is, hands down, the best short story anthology I've read in the last decade.

The stories included are:
• Half a Moon by Renée Watson
• Black Enough by Varian Johnson
• Warning: Color May Fade by Leah Henderson
• Black. Nerd. Problems by Lamar Giles
• Out of the Silence by Kekla Magoon
• The Ingredients by Jason Reynolds
• Oreo by Brandy Colbert
• Samson and the Delilahs by Tochi Onyebuchi
• Stop Playing by Liara Tamani
• Wild Horses, Wild Hearts by Jay Coles
• Whoa! by Rita Williams-Garcia
• Gravity by Tracey Baptiste
• The Trouble with Drowning by Dhonielle Clayton
• Kissing Sarah Smart by Justina Ireland
• Hackathon Summers by Coe Booth
• Into the Starlight by Nic Stone
• The (R)evolution of Nigeria Jones by Ibi Zoboi

My favorites are "Half a Moon" by Renée Watson, "The Ingredients" by Jason Reynolds", "Wild Horses, Wild Hearts" by Jay Coles, and, "Whoa!" by Rita Williams-Garcia.

"Half a Moon" is told from the older half sister working as a camp counselor where her half sister (from an affair her father had) is attending. Although she's still mad at her father, she and her sister bond over the course of the camp.

"The Ingredients" is a long conversation on the best things to put in sandwiches. Reynolds is so skilled at creating unique voices for all his characters. This one with its minimal plot and heavy dialogue would work well as a one act play.

"Wild Horses, Wild Hearts" by Jay Coles is about love on the race track between rival riders.

Finally, "Whoa!" is about a modern day model trying to get ready for a photoshop only to be interrupted and ridiculed by an ancestor who is a slave. It's contemporary fiction with a time travel twist.

Five stars

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