19 Apr / Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You by Jason Reynolds and Ibram X. Kendi [in Booklist]
*STARRED REVIEW
The rest of that subtitle goes “A Remix of the National Book Award-winning Stamped from the Beginning,” with the keyword being Remix, thanks to Jason Reynolds’ (Long Way Down) remarkable synthesizing of Ibram X. Kendi’s 600-page, 19-plus-hour original. Kendi reads his introduction, lauding Reynolds’ superb adaptation: “A great writer snatches the human eye in the way that a thumping beat snatches the human ear, makes your head bob up and down.”
Indeed, when Reynolds takes over, he commands that ‘thumping beat,’ transforming his illuminating words into something akin to a riveting open-mic, poetry-slam performance; listeners’ heads will undoubtedly be bobbing in absorbed agreement. (The between-chapter gameshow-esque cacophonous interruptions are the only complaint throughout.) Enhancing facts with conversational familiarity (“Let’s all just take a deep breath,” “Cheerleaded? Cheerled? Whatever”), Reynolds unfurls six centuries of racism from 1415 to present-day manifestations.
The challenging journey examines segregationists (“real haters”), assimilationists (who “‘like’ you because you’re like them”), anti-racists (who “love you because you’re you”), with a warning against any single-word descriptions. He insists, “this is not a history book”; instead, it’s “a book that contains history. A history directly connected to our lives as we live them right this minute. This is a present book.” Beyond the now, Stamped – both printed and aural – is an undeniable gift to lucky audiences; either/both must be required reading for all.
Review: “Media,” Booklist Online, April 15, 2020
Readers: Middle Grade, Young Adult
Published: 2020