‘Black Boy Joy’ highlights bright experiences
Kwame Mbalia has a goal: for Black boys to pick up his anthology, “Black Boy Joy,” and see themselves reflected in the stories. Even further, the author and father wants to inspire young Black students to tell their own stories — stories that have always existed but rarely get told.
To do that, Mbalia corralled some of the best in the literary business. He envisioned a book that said, “We see you when you’re at your happiest. We see you when you’re smiling at something absolutely ludicrous.” Debuting at No. 1 on the New York Times’ middle-grade hardcover bestseller list after its August release, “Black Boy Joy” features 17 stories told in prose, poems and comics written by 17 male and nonbinary writers. George M. Johnson, Jerry Craft, Tochi Onyebuchi, Jason Reynolds and more came together to lend their voices during a critical time in America for people of color. These stories portray Black boys who are happy and fulfilled in their everyday lives, something not often exhibited in mass media.
Mbalia, author of the Tristan Strong series, felt that changing the narrative of Black life was especially important after the killings of Breonna Taylor and George Floyd.
“I remember the labels that were being assigned to these Black people that couldn’t defend themselves,” he said. “‘He was resisting, he had a counterfeit $20 bill’ — and Trayvon and Tamir — ‘He looked scary in the dark’ — or Mike Brown — ‘He was a big angry dude.’ ”
Written to capture the short attention span of tweens but also to educate adults on how to support children, this middle-grade collection is filled with fun, emotional, heartfelt stories and plenty of humor. The collection explores identity (sexual and ethnic), loss and even war stratagems (though in the context of superheroes).
“There’s Going to Be a Fight in the Cafeteria on Friday and You Better Not Bring Batman,” by Lamar Giles, is one of the laugh-out-loud stories. It follows Cornell Curry — whose mother is a mystery author working on a movie adaptation of her book with “Mr. Peele” — as he tries to assemble a superhero team for a debate at his school.
Mbalia’s own “The Griot of Grover Street,” a three-part fantasy story that frames the entire collection, is about a boy named Fortitude who the author said symbolizes the
Black community moving from a place of sorrow to one of happiness. During his aunt’s funeral, Fortitude, also known as Fort, is tasked with going between worlds to replenish joy where it’s needed.
“I’m a big sci-fi and fantasy dweeb,” Mbalia said. “And so this idea of being able to move between worlds, this multiverse of Blackness, really appealed to me.”
Another writer who contributed to the collection with work that reflects his passion and mission is Reynolds, who has served as the National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature since 2020.
Reynolds’ “First Day Fly” follows a child as he excitedly and meticulously prepares for the first day of school. “You asked your mother to iron them ( jeans) because she’s the best ironer you’ve ever known,” Reynolds writes. “Princess Press. Iron Woman. Can turn wrinkled fabric into something like thinly
sliced pieces of wood.”
The boy’s delight as he prepares for school is something Reynolds feels is both specific and mundane. It is something that brought him joy as a kid — and his own mother was a big part of that.
“We’re very close,” Reynolds said. “A lot of my stories … are coming from my childhood. Thinking about the things that she would do.”
The author of “Long Way Down” and “Look Both Ways,” among other award-winning books, sees the stories as a gateway to introducing young readers to various forms of storytelling.
“Reading is intimidating. All those words on the page can be intimidating for some young people who are struggling with reading,” he said. “We talk about diversity in subject matter, but we should talk about diversity in form (and) diversity when it comes to engagement.”
In that vein, Craft’s “Embracing My Black Boy Joy” is a graphic short story conveying happy visuals of a young boy with a loving family and community as he speaks freely about the beautiful moments that the outside world refuses to acknowledge. “And the people who don’t want to see our joy,” the boy says, “will make us show it even
more!”