Black, nonbinary author and New York City activist George M. Johnson's absorbing second memoir, We Are Not Broken, touchingly tells of growing up with a brother and two cousins, and honors the memory of the grandmother who raised them.
Johnson (All Boys Aren't Blue) shares complex, emotional family stories of childhood as a Black boy in Plainfield, N.J. Nanny, the family matriarch, is described as a caring, no-nonsense, hustling, five-time cancer survivor who did whatever she could to provide for the four children in her care: George, Garrett, Rasul and Lil' Rall. Johnson begins each chapter with a Nannyism--"the little quips of wisdom that my family has lived on for generations." Every story from Johnson's childhood is represented by a Nannyism, e.g., "It ain't harmony if all ya'll singing the same note. The harmony is in the difference." Johnson then uses that wisdom to weave stories about childhood experiences like spankings, barbershop haircuts, racism, disagreements and camaraderie. These tales connect Black children to each other and highlight how such incidents are a part of the beauty that is Black adulthood. "Many Black men were once Black boys, and this is our story of survival in a world that has rarely seen our beauty."
Johnson's tales, accompanied by letters and speeches from each of Nanny's grandkids, prove her existence touched them all in very special ways and that, through them, her legacy lives on. Johnson's perception of their childhood is profound and resonates long after the book has ended. --Kharissa Kenner, children's librarian, Bank Street School for Children