Oops, where’d we go? The disappearing black girls in Young Adult Literature

And more and more teens are getting into manga, finding their truths in other cultures or penning their own manga stories to reflect their reality.

Still, I can’t help but worry a little, concerned big sister I am. I am not a huge fan of the street-lit boom, and I cringe a little when street lit dominates the African-American sections of libraries and bookstores. It worries me even further knowing that young girls are coming up grasping on to those shallow views of African-American life. As an aspiring librarian, I believe whole heartedly that people have the right to write and read whatever they wish, free from judgement. However, the prevalence of street lit makes me wonder if young girls reach for it because that lifestyle is what they wish to attain. Perhaps the popularity of ghetto literature is simply that adult street lit is easy to identify, easier to procure, and actually features a predominantly black cast of characters.

I recently asked my boyfriend to return my copy of Good Hair written by Benilde Little. Described as “a black comedy of manners,” it follows the protagonist as she wades through issues involved in changing social classes within the black community. I asked him where my copy was, and he replied that it was currently in the possession of one of his sisters. I felt a small wave of relief, even though the book handles heavy subject matter and has more than a few sex scenes.

Good lit can be hard to find, and while I am still a bit concerned about the racier subject matter in the book, I am glad this young sister voluntarily chose to expose herself to something a little different. The protagonist in the novel is successful, career-oriented black woman around the age of 30 with marriage ambitions, forced to choose between the culturally concious mortgage banker of her past and the upper class neurosurgeon of her present. All the main characters in the novel are African-American. Talk about something to aspire towards. Despite what street lit says, we all aren’t trying to strip our way into a baller’s good graces.

Still, as I head back to the library this weekend, I have to wonder: if there are this many issues with young black girls and young adult literature, then what is going on in other communities?

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