Black Boy Joy: A Jubilent Celebration of Black Boyhood

Black Boy Joy provides a view of the interests and perspectives of young men of color through 17 stories written by some of the leading male authors of color in the industry today. Kwame Mbalia edits this collaborative collection and affords different writing styles and viewpoints, offering readers a new variety that makes this a reading gem.

How do you define a superhero? What is life like in a household where love and family sometimes clash but always find support and understanding in the end? Black Boy Joy affords every reader more than an insight into the minds of black boys; it offers, in these turbulent times, an eye in the storm or respite from the enigma that makes black boys feared and overdisciplined. There are refreshing views of young boys on the verge of adolescence and teens on the verge of adulthood. This book is masterful in revealing the lives that enrich their personas and help form the men they'll one day be. Each story is an invitation to a clearer view of what makes black boys joyful, engaged, and relevant. These stories are written for black boys and anyone who cares to know more about these boys and their joy.

The writings of Kwame Mbalia are supported by black authors like B.B. Alston, author of Amari and the Night Brothers; Julian Winters, author of Running with Lions; and George M. Johnson, the author of We Are Not Broken. Mbalia edits these author's gems seamlessly into this great collection of robust literature. I was inspired from the moment I saw this book and the promise the title and cover art offered. Once inside this work, I was further inspired by the love and respect each author shares through their parts evident in the excerpts of their character's tales. Partake of Black Boy Joy; it won't disappoint.