Coffee Will Make You Black

A Novel

by April Sinclair

This title was previously available on NetGalley and is now archived.

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Pub Date Aug 18 2015 | Archive Date Nov 18 2015

Open Road Integrated Media | Open Road Media

General Fiction (Adult) | Teens & YA

Description

An African American girl comes of age during the civil rights movement in April Sinclair's hilarious, insightful novel that was named Book of the Year (Young Adult Fiction) for 1994 by the American Library Association

Jean “Stevie” Stevenson lives in Chicago's South Side, a neighborhood that acutely feels the social changes of the 1960s. Curious and witty, bold but naïve, Stevie ponders questions such as what makes good hair, and which skin shade is better in light of “Black Is Beautiful.” Amid the War on Poverty, the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr., race riots, and the Black Power movement, Stevie grows into a socially aware young adult with a burgeoning sexuality and pride in her identity. Learning as much from her mother's strictness, her father's steady encouragement, and her grandmother's strength as she does from her wild friend Carla and her white teacher Nurse Horne, Stevie makes the sometimes harrowing, often hilarious, always enthralling journey into adulthood.

Coffee Will Make You Black received the Carl Sandburg Award from the Friends of the Chicago Public Library.

An African American girl comes of age during the civil rights movement in April Sinclair's hilarious, insightful novel that was named Book of the Year (Young Adult Fiction) for 1994 by the American...

Advance Praise

“A pleasure . . . Heartwarming . . . memorable . . . Told with earnestness and humor . . . A coming-of-age story with a twist.” —Chicago Tribune

“Vivid and brilliant.” —San Francisco Review of Books

“A funny, fresh novel about growing up African-American in 1960s Chicago . . . Sinclair writes like Terry McMillan’s kid sister.” —Entertainment Weekly

“From touching to downright hilarious . . . In re-imagining a turbulent decade, Sinclair has created a rich cast of characters full of vitality and sass.” —Ms. Magazine

“Bold . . . Moving . . .Witty . . . Wonderful . . . Sinclair never fails to make you laugh and never sacrifices the narrative to make a point.” —Los Angeles Times

“April Sinclair is an extraordinary storyteller. I loved this book!” —Dorothy Allison, author of Bastard Out of Carolina

“Much of the charm of this first novel comes from its matter-of-fact initiation into Chicago’s African American culture and a virtual glossary of sixties expressions and values.” —The New Yorker

“Extraordinary . . . Feisty, funny and wise.” —Glamour

“A truly original work. April Sinclair’s people in Coffee Will Make You Black are absolutely real, and wonderful.” —Victor Villaseñor, author of Rain of Gold