Black Girl, You Are Atlas
by Renée Watson
fine art by Ekua Holmes
read by Renée Watson
Kokila, 2024. 81 pages.
Listening Library, 2024. 52 minutes.
Review written February 10, 2025, from a library book and eaudiobook.
Starred Review
2025 Coretta Scott King Author Honor Book
2025 Odyssey Honor Audiobook
2025 Rise List Top Ten
2025 Cybils Winner, Poetry Collection
Black Girl, You Are Atlas is a book of poetry about growing up as a Black girl, as a sister, a daughter, and a Black girl seeing how the world around her treats Black girls.
The title poem refers to the Greek hero Atlas who held the weight of the world. But it also talks about an atlas that shows the way forward and the way back. It expresses all that a Black girl carries.
Other poems talk about turning 7, turning 13, turning 16, and turning 17, about being a sister, about surviving the teenage years. And about holding onto happiness.
Both the audio and the print versions of this book are exquisite. I always listen to every Odyssey Honor audiobook I can get my hands on. This one is read by the author and expresses her powerful words. The print version, on the other hand, has Ekua Holmes amazing art accompanying it. Both versions are short, so there’s no reason not to enjoy this book both ways.
As a white woman, I did appreciate these poems – but get them into the hands of every Black teenage girl you know. There are powerful words in this book.
reneewatson.net
ekuaholmes.com
Find this review on Sonderbooks at: www.sonderbooks.com/Teen_Nonfiction/black_girl_you_are_atlas.html
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Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but the views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.
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