Black girls and book preferences

On October 18, during our conference for high school black girls, we hosted a free book fair. The only price for the book was the completion of a note card where students explained why those chose the book that they did. The books included novels, volumes of poetry, and trade paperback comic books.

Here are some of the various comments that students provided:

• "I picked this book because I saw someone who resembled me on the cover."*
• "I love poems so much much. Giovanni's hits my soul."
• "This book, Kindred looks very interesting, and I would love to read it."
• "I really think Kindred is going to give a great story from a black woman's point of view."
• "I like it because every thing she's saying the book is what's going on now."*
• "I like this book [Ironheart/Riri Williams) because she's capable of anything and is inspiring."
• "Olio, I like this book because it's about poetry and I like poetry so there may be poetry in the book that I can relate to."
• "I picked this book because I like the name of it--Brown Girl, Brownstones."
• "I picked the book "Storm" because I read a bio about Storm and the way she can have control of the weather sounds cool."
• "I like Nikki Giovanni, and I really love poetry."
• "I chose Kindred because I read it before, but I never had my own copy."
• "I chose Kindred because it seemed like a really good book. Reading the back book cover really caught my interest."
• "It has a beautiful young black woman on the cover."*
• "I want this book because I've heard it was a good book."*
• "Sister Outsider - cause the writer is black and different than the rest."
• "We read a poem by Nikki Giovanni, which attracted me to this book. It seems to have so much depth."
• "I love things Rap / Hip Hop, so the history and progression of artists over the years caught my attention. I'm also a rapper so it definitely caught my eye."
• "I picked this book because it looked like an interesting book to read."*
• "I saw a black woman on the cover. Sister Outsider."
• "I liked it because this book seems empowering."*
• "I want this book Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur because it seems very interesting, and I am glad that the main character is a black girl, and she seems very courageous."
• "I picked Brown Girl Dreaming because it is a book filled with poems."

Note: * connotes that the student did not state the book she selected.

The books at the fair included:

• Brown Girl, Brownstones
• The Hate You Give
• The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks
• Kindred: A Graphic Novel Adaptation
• Brown Girl Dreaming
• Invincible Iron Man: Ironheart Vol. 1: Riri Williams
• Moon-Girl and Devil-Dinosaur Vol 1
• Storm Volume 1: Make it Rain
• Ms. Marvel Volume 1: No Normal

Related:
• The Language Arts & Leadership Conference, Fall 2017