Reviews
Recognize!: An Anthology Honoring and Amplifying Black Life by Wade Hudson, Cheryl Willis Hudson
afro8921's review
5.0
Recognize! is a beautiful blend of poetry, history, and thought provoking prose. Each element allows the reader to recognize and celebrate the beauty of black life.
estherbookster's review against another edition
5.0
Solid 5 stars
Very moving stories and black life experiences in America. This book was written in 2021 and yet, unfortunately, not much has improved since then. Most stories in the anthology talk about hope, change, love, and pride. I particularly liked the story about addressing the "All Lives Matter" and "Black Lives Matters" phrases. Great read over, highly recommend it to all.
Very moving stories and black life experiences in America. This book was written in 2021 and yet, unfortunately, not much has improved since then. Most stories in the anthology talk about hope, change, love, and pride. I particularly liked the story about addressing the "All Lives Matter" and "Black Lives Matters" phrases. Great read over, highly recommend it to all.
amanduhjay23's review
3.0
I definitely realize that I am not the target demographic for this book, but I did think it was a really great resource for those who are! Interesting essays that show a 3D view of Black life - honesty about the hard stuff but also highlighting and emphasizing Black joy. With several different formats and authors, it was an engaging mix of storytelling.
lelliereads's review
5.0
Every now and then I get an ARC where I definitely know I'm going to grab a physical copy when it releases. This is a lovely book. Oftentimes with anthologies, some authors' pieces are glaringly better than others and it makes for a wishy-washy reading experience, but this one is filled with amazing pieces across a few different genres. This is one for every middle grade library and I can't wait for pub day because I will get a copy and spread the word about this one on my blog!
Thank you to netgalley for a free copy in exchange for an honest review. (It took a long time because I couldn't figure out how to get the encoded PDF to open, which I was eventually able to do on the computer but never on my phone/in the app in case anyone else was having a hard time opening the file.)
Thank you to netgalley for a free copy in exchange for an honest review. (It took a long time because I couldn't figure out how to get the encoded PDF to open, which I was eventually able to do on the computer but never on my phone/in the app in case anyone else was having a hard time opening the file.)
libraryjen's review
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
4.0
Excellent introduction to the importance of the Black Lives Matter movement and some powerful thoughts on the beauty of being Black. Perfect for the middle school crowd.
alenka's review
emotional
hopeful
informative
reflective
medium-paced
3.5
A truly multimedia anthology collection reflecting on Black Lives Matter as a movement and a concept, drawing ties between Black historical figures and movements and the modern movement, and encouraging Black youth to value their unique voices. This anthology contains short biographical essays, snippets from speeches and biographies, poetry, comics, and illustrations. Some of the pieces are focused on hope and joy, others on grief and the traumatic and difficult actions taken as part of the movement for Black lives - like Darnella Frazier filming the death of George Floyd.
This is a very readable anthology, by which I mean it goes pretty quickly because most of the pieces are short! However, the overall pacing of the collection makes it easy to pause in-between each piece to reflect or simply feel the full weight of it. Young readers will see familiar names like Kwame Mbalia, Lisa Cline-Ransome and Sharon M. Draper, and will get to read first-person pieces from authors who they likely only know through their fiction. That makes these insights feel especially intimate, and each writer is very clearly speaking to Black youth.
My one struggle with this anthology is that it seems to be mostly placed in fiction, but it is largely non-fiction and I'm not sure why that's happening. There are 2-3 fiction pieces maximum, and I worry a bit about kids encountering this thinking it's fiction? It feels sort of disrespectful to the real lived stories explained and reflected on here. As a collection that is mostly non-fiction, I do think that is where it should be placed in libraries and bookstores. There is a lot of opportunity here for young readers to look up the myriad activists, movements and events referenced here and learn more about Black activism, which to me makes this a strong non-fiction collection. It's also described in some listings as a follow to The Talk, also by Wade Hudson and Cheryl Willis Hudson, which is very similar in format (also a multimedia collection) but cataloged in non-fiction.
This is a very readable anthology, by which I mean it goes pretty quickly because most of the pieces are short! However, the overall pacing of the collection makes it easy to pause in-between each piece to reflect or simply feel the full weight of it. Young readers will see familiar names like Kwame Mbalia, Lisa Cline-Ransome and Sharon M. Draper, and will get to read first-person pieces from authors who they likely only know through their fiction. That makes these insights feel especially intimate, and each writer is very clearly speaking to Black youth.
My one struggle with this anthology is that it seems to be mostly placed in fiction, but it is largely non-fiction and I'm not sure why that's happening. There are 2-3 fiction pieces maximum, and I worry a bit about kids encountering this thinking it's fiction? It feels sort of disrespectful to the real lived stories explained and reflected on here. As a collection that is mostly non-fiction, I do think that is where it should be placed in libraries and bookstores. There is a lot of opportunity here for young readers to look up the myriad activists, movements and events referenced here and learn more about Black activism, which to me makes this a strong non-fiction collection. It's also described in some listings as a follow to The Talk, also by Wade Hudson and Cheryl Willis Hudson, which is very similar in format (also a multimedia collection) but cataloged in non-fiction.
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