I thought it was pretty good. I liked how some of the poetry was like short stories. I didn't like the poem that references Kayne West though.

ARC provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own!

I honestly never know how to rate non-fiction books because, like, how do you even measure something like that, you know? This is someone's life, here! But this book here is also something of a poetry collection, so my rating is mostly based off of how much I enjoyed the poems individually, assuming they're not about real people. Which was a lot.

I'm not an English Lit. student, so I'm not great at the whole analysis thing, but I really found myself moved by the poems in here. They had a great rhythm to them, and the author definitely experimented with different styles (I mean I can't tell you what they were but they were really fun!)!!!

The parts about the author's complex relationship with her mother really moved me the most because reasons. I may have cried a little bit here and there. I am in no way equipped to talk about this, but all I can say is that the passion in the way Mans talks about her race and the oppression of Black people in America came through! It's a really powerful book in the sense that it is something of a map to a young, queer, Black person's life in America.

It's also just a very fast paced, engaging read, all things considered! And I thoroughly enjoyed reading it!

Thank you Berkley Publishing Group and Net Gallery for an advanced copy.

The cover evokes childhood memories with the parted hair and barrettes.
This collection encompasses true-to-life and relatable experiences of black women. Mans' words vividly depict memorable events spanning childhood to womanhood and all there is in between. This literary work was deeply moving, addressing an array of topics, including trauma, abuse, mental health, and LGBTQ+.
Everyone should read this! I look forward to more works from this author.

Black Girl, Call Home is a stunning collection of poems on Blackness, queerness, and human connection. I knew right away that these will leave an indelible mark on me. Each poem is just phenomenal. My favorite is the one on Serena. My goodness - what a beautiful ode to a beautiful tennis star athlete. I was floored!

Serena
They will ask you to run,
and when you become the fastest
they will fear your lightning,
how it cracks ceilings and breaks
ground. They will place rules on your
body, say it’s a distraction from
their game,
as if they know better than you
how your bones should wear your own body,
how you should dress up in your own skin.

Thank you, NetGalley and Berkeley for the eARC.

This was such a powerful and poignant read. The raw emotion could be felt in almost every poem. Highly recommend.

Today is #worldpoetryday and if you’ve followed me over the last several weeks, I have been pushing everyone to read @poetjasminemans Black Girl, Call Home.

I’ve followed her for some time, watching her at poetry slams and buying her dope mug that reminds you of what’s required to be a good lover😈. If you do a quick search on #YouTube, you’ll see powerful performances of Footnotes for Kanye and Dear First Lady - For Michelle Obama. This book was my most anticipated read of the year and it has completely delivered.

I’ve watched several interviews and she talks about the role poets, creators and artists play in movements. Her words are reminiscent of Audre Lorde who says:
“... poetry is not a luxury. It is a vital necessity of our existence. It forms the quality of the light within which we predicate our hopes and dreams toward survival and change, first made into language, then into idea, then into more tangible action. Poetry is the way we help give name to the nameless so it can be thought. The farthest horizons of our hopes and fears are cobbled by our poems, carved from the rock experiences of our daily lives.”

I know that many of you look to #bookstagrammers and ask- what’s the one book you will push on everyone? For me, it’s this one. It’s because she chronicles the times, she writes without the gaze, and demands more of you. Her poetry is a conversation ending with one request - “Black Girl, Call Home”.

Mann’s words are used so skillfully that even her poetry that is less wordy has as much impact....if not more....on the reader than those of her poems that are longer. Her use of language punches you in the gut-you FEEL her intent. From being a black woman, to popular culture....Mann imbues her prose with her heart and you feel like you know her when you read her art. She is truly an artist with the written word.

Great collection of poems that discuss LGBTQ, Feminism, Black identity in America and more. The poems are varied in style which means that they don't appear repetitive. Very much enjoyed reading this author.

Can you say BLACK GIRL MAGIC!!! Black Girl, Call Home there are no words that I can come up with to describe this collection of poems. This collections are the words that took my breath away. It so many poems within this collection that are so powerful, inspiring and nostalgic. Jasmine Mans did exactly what I feel like every great collection or book should do. Leave you speechless, in deep thought, and pull different emotions out of you as you turn the page. A poem that is always going to stick with me always is Black Son. As I was reading Black Son I couldn’t help but think about my worries for my boys navigating through this world with their beautiful black skin and running into someone who don’t think the same. The opening Bald-headed cabbage patch took me back to my grade school days. It’s was so many short poems with a big impact like And Jay-Z says “Aren’t We Past That?”. I could go on and on about the greatness of this book but you hopefully you get the picture. I definitely can’t end this review without touching base on this cover! 😍😍 Whoever came up with this cover deserves an applause 👏🏾 I was in love at first sight. The cover definitely made me want to read this book.


.

Thank you to Berkley Publishing and to NetGalley for the ARC.

.

Is it worth reading: Absolutely

Black Girl, Call Home by Jasmine Mans is a collection of poems that explore mother-daughter relationships, identity, and the racism many Blacks face every day. There are so many moments in this collection where your heart will break, just as the relationship between mother-daughter breaks. The narrator of these poems struggles with who she is and how to reconcile that with her mother’s disappointments about that identity.

Mans is a voice of modern America who forces us to look at the past, the current moment, and strive for a better future.

Unbeknownst to me, I first heard Jasmine Mans’ work when I watched the spoken word peice “Footnotes for Kanye.” I didn’t realize, however, that that was the same artist whose book I had been highly anticipating all year, and I’m glad. Mans starts us out slow and easy, with clever wording and nostalgic memories, but at some point during the collection, there’s an obvious shift in tone, magnitude, and intention. I found myself rereadinig pieces, underlining and highlighting my favorite parts, tabbing multiple places in a single piece. This collection is nothing short of incredible. Within BLACK GIRL, CALL HOME, Mans explores identity, love, the mistreatment of Black women, disappointment, and hope. This is a poetry collection I see myself returning to, and it’s definitely earned a place on my favorites shelf.

It’s been a long time since I’ve read poetry and let me tell you I’m still feeling the words, the emotion, the intensity of Jasmine Man’s Black Girl Call Home.

These descriptive poems will grip you as they flow from one theme to another including motherhood, being Black and queer in America, pop culture, police brutality, rape, love and family.

Some that I enjoyed were “Footnotes For Kanye”, the Whitney Houston poems “Serena” and “Do Not Fall In Love”.

I don’t have the words to describe how beautiful this collection of poems are. I bet the audio would be amazing and I’ve pre ordered a physical copy. This is a book that you have to hold in your hands.

It figures that a collection of poetry finally got me out of my reading slump and made me remember why I love the written word so much. This book is phenomenal and I loved it. Five enthusiastic stars for this collection! Out today...so do yourselves a favor and check it out sooner rather than later.

“A dead boy threw a rock at my window.
He asked me where all the flowers from his
memorial went and where’d they put all the
teddy bears tied to the fence after the rain
stopped. If the Jackie Robinson
Little League team was still undefeated, and if his
mother and sister still walk from the grocery
store on Lyons and Chancellor Eve. every
Monday
and if it's hard for them to
carry all those bags
without him.”

-- “All Them Bags”


Black Girl, Call Home by Jasmine Mans is a collection of poetry that I know I will revisit. Mans examines Black womanhood and its intersection with queerness, raising Black boys, violence, police brutality, girlhood, r*pe culture, growing up in New Orleans, the darker side of medicine, falling in love and how it feels to fall out of it, and so many other timely issues and topics. Mans’ poems are full of honesty and reflection, both internally and to the spaces that she inhabits.

The pieces that I’m still thinking about are “She Doesn’t Look Like R*pe”, “The Little Mermaid”, “Sandra's Haiku”, and “Babies at the Border”. Mans has a talent for ending pieces in a way that makes the reader pause and reflect: “This baby, eyes closed,/ breast in mouth,/ reaches/ just far enough for him to know her as mother,/ but not enough/ to know this/ as his country.” Mans knows how to bleed emotion on to the page in a way that is guttural and honest. I felt so much when reading this collection: anger, tension, heartache, empathy, tenderness. No matter your upbringing or cultural identity Black Girl, Call Home will speak to you in some way and it will not be small.

There is a nice mix of longer and shorter pieces, one-liners, and poetry fragments. The collection in itself is approachable even for readers who feel intimidated by poetry. Mans’ writing is conversational and educated - the genogram/ connectogram at the end of the collection blew my mind. She writes in such a way that I’m not sure I will ever be able to adequately express my admiration for in a review. I very much enjoyed the reading experience.

Thank you to Berkley Publishing and NetGalley for my advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

[CW: homophobic slurs and lesbophobia, racism, gun violence, rape/assault, familial death, emotional abuse, cancer, human trafficking, violence against transwomen, trauma, separation of families at the border, forced sterilization without consent, mentions of sex]

I received a free ebook via NetGalley via Berkley Penguin Random House. All my thoughts are my own.

Every single poem created such a tangible atmosphere. They didn't all invoke the same emotions, but Mans did such a beautiful job at making you feel after every one of them. Mans is not only incredibly self aware, but she so seamlessly puts herself into other people's shoes as well. I'm grateful she chose to share all of it with the world.
This collection had life. The good, the bad, the ugly, it's all there. Her word tree at the end was especially touching. She took fundamental aspects of herself and her life and created a wonderful collection.
I'm really grateful to this giveaway because I don't think I would've picked this up otherwise. I'm not a big poetry person but I appreciate the opportunity to see other ways people choose to express themselves. I don't remember enough from AP Lit to analyze the prose or dissect the figurative language, but I found the language beautiful and never lacking.

Mans did not hold back when approaching difficult topics so take care of yourself as you read this.

This is a stunning poetry collection. Jasmine Mans offers bittersweet truths on a breadth of topics including mother/daughter relationships, womanhood, and exes. She deepens her perspective in dissecting rape, toxic masculinity, and queerness in an assertive yet subversive manner through word searches, lists, infographics, and one-off thoughts that pack a punch. I was particularly taken by how Mans affords humanity to celebrities including Kanye West and Whitney Houston, accoladed for their artistry, but ostracized for their flaws. She centers in on the countless black men and women whose bodies have been taken from them whether by police, doctors, or social media. She connects historical oppression to the current public outcry black women are subjected to like Serena Williams and Halle Bailey. The material is heavy and complex as it should be, and Mans impressively ties it all together for a harrowing read. Thank you NetGalley and Berkley Publishing Group for the advanced copy!

Though I am not typically a poetry lover, this collection is special. Where Jasmine Mans shines is her poems on mental health, trauma, and resilience, relationships, sexuality, and Black children and their relationship to their parents. The weakest poems were pop culture icon related-- Kanye and Whitney. The shorter poems pack a bigger punch and elicit a more somber mood.

Beautiful. Powerful. Heartbreaking. Relevant.

I am not a poetry person. In fact honestly the last poetry book I read was probably Shel Silverstein in the fifth grade. This book is a far cry from Where the Sidewalk Ends. Jasmine Mans words evoke so much emotion; as a woman, as a mother, as a daughter, as a friend, as a survivor of abuse. Jasmine beautifully expresses her feelings and thoughts on a wide array of topics: race, hairstyles, religion, expectations, rape culture, Family, politics, pop-culture. Each poem touched my soul in a different way.

Jasmine is a spoken word poet and listening to her poetry elevates it to an entirely new level. I will pop the link two her YouTube video below, but I strongly encourage you to pick up the audiobook. I pre-ordered it and listen to it yesterday. The audiobook left me speechless (and if you know me that’s really hard to do). If you listen to or read one poetry book this year, this decade, this century, make it this one! https://youtu.be/AC1wGvPnTl8

*** Big thank you to Berkley for my gifted copy of this book. All opinions are my own. ***

This collection of poems explores being Black in America. It is profound and insightful. It celebrates Black culture, history and joy. It looks at everyday life as well as overarching themes of racism, motherhood, sexism, mental health and more. Told from a queer Black perspective, this collection of poems explores the path to adulthood - both it's pain and joys.

Highly recommend.

Such a powerful collection by Jasmine Mans.. As soon as I received this from the publishers.. I had to read it straight the way!! Loved it so much and highly recommend!!