How to Be a (Young) Antiracist

Nic Stone reframes Ibram X. Kendi's National Book Award winner in the hard-hitting and hopeful How to Be a (Young) Antiracist. The book follows Kendi's How to Be an Antiracist as inspiration and uses three nonlinear "acts, if we want to get all narratively fancy with it"--Inside: Facing Yourself; Outside: Facing the World; Upside Down: Flipping the World Over. Stone addresses Kendi's personal evolution and the entangled bigotries and political agendas readers may encounter during their own efforts to dismantle racism. While wending through Kendi's education and professional life, Stone introduces Kendi's terminology with teen-friendly explanations and encourages critical thinking as a framework for youth to confront various forms of racism. This is a deeply personal appeal that proves both insightful and instructive.

Stone (Dear Martin; Dear Justyce) does not shy away from uncomfortable truths. Her second-person voice is frank and familiar, and her prolific use of parenthetical asides, coupled with frequent "Nic's Notes," inject personality and panache into this call to action. ("Peep this quote from racist policymaker Thomas Jefferson," one Note beckons.) Key words and phrases, such as colorism and class racism, appear in bold throughout, with definitions offset from the text. Sidebars share examples and statistics; Kendi rewrites his past in an afterword; and endnotes provide citations. This informative and empowering addition to antiracist literature pairs perfectly with Jason Reynolds's adaptation of another of Kendi's books, Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You. --Kit Ballenger, youth librarian, Help Your Shelf

Powered by: Xtenit