This coming-of-age story focuses on faith, family, and forgiveness. Roberta Forest is a black poet who is gifted and Catholic and she’s questioning God and the adults in her life. She copes by reading about Malcolm X and through writing poetry. When she finds out she can’t participate in the school’s essay contest, she blows up and has a confrontation with her mother, which unearths some family secrets. Malcolm and Me is the story about an anguished teen who’s trying to make sense of the confusing world around her.
Robin Farmer has written a powerful YA debut centering 13-year-old Roberta who is grappling with race, faith, family and growing up. Although historical fiction set in the ‘70s, this is a coming of age story for our current moment.
At the end of “Malcolm and Me,” Robin Farmer reveals the autobiographical origins of Roberta Forest. Like her 13-year-old protagonist, Farmer, was subject to racist comments from her Catholic teacher. Like Roberta, Farmer found solace in reading and writing, spurring her victory in the first national Black Awareness Essay Contest from Right On! Magazine in the ’70s.
Whether you’re looking for a book to escape reality, make you laugh out loud, or reimagine a familiar story, you’re in for a great month, because there are some fantastic YA books coming out this November. Here are some of the ones I am most excited to read.
Robin Farmer’s new book, Malcolm and Me: A Novel, is as relevant today as it was when the author was growing up in the 1970s. The young adult publication is based on an incident during elementary school that changed the African American writer’s life forever.
If you’re feeling a little drained as the year winds down (and truly, who isn’t?), the best new YA books of November truly are a balm for the soul. As always, YA remains an all-encompassing genre that’s just as likely to serve up a timely novel grounded in today’s social issues as it is an intricate fantasy, but this month truly feels like it’s all about the love.
