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Spirited Minds

Name: Spirited Minds
Author: Archie Givens; introduction by Gordon Parks
ISBN: 9780393046175

by Archie Givens; introduction by Gordon Parks

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Overview

For African American boys and the people who teach and love them, a guide to books that will create pride and a desire to learn.
Spirited Minds is a unique resource containing lively, informative descriptions of more than one hundred outstanding works of literature. With selections for readers of all ages, these works of fiction, poetry, biography, autobiography, folktales, drama, and history celebrate the African American male experience from childhood to adulthood. The selections have been made with the input of scholars, teachers, librarians, and young readers themselves, and original scratchboard illustrations appear throughout.
Here are works by the great writers and heroes of African American life: Langston Hughes, Walter Mosley, Malcolm X, Richard Wright, James Baldwin, Ralph Ellison, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Frederick Douglass, Richard Wright, and many more--annotated and made accessible to the audience that needs them. For parents, teachers, mentors, and others, this is the key to unlocking a rich cultural heritage for African American males and helping them become lifelong readers. It is an invaluable companion for learning and inspiration.

"Now, looking back on what helped me most, I see the answer in one word: reading. Without it, I would have remained in darkness."--Gordon Parks, from the Introduction to Spirited Minds

"Today, far too many young people are missing out on the pleasures and opportunities that come with reading," editor Archie Givens declares at the beginning of Spirited Minds: African American Books for Our Sons and Our Brothers. For some, he says, this comes from lack of interest, and there lies the greatest opportunity to inspire. With that in mind, he has gathered books organized by subject and type, each with pub date, reading level or age range, and a brief description. Langston Hughes, Alice Walker, Chester Himes, Virginia Hamilton and James Baldwin are among the well- and not-so-well-known writers represented. The introduction by Gordon Parks provides inspiration and incentive for getting involved.

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Editorials

Library Journal

This annotated bibliography describes 107 books that tell stories of being African American and male. Identified by type and age range of appeal, from picture books and reading for Grade 1 to adult reading, the selections include autobiographies, biographies, novels, short stories, history, drama, and poetry. Among them are classics such as James Baldwin's The Fire Next Time and Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man and contemporary children's books such as Irene Smalls's Jonathan and His Mommy. Frederick Douglass, W.E.B. Du Bois, Marcus Garvey, Malcolm X, and Martin Luther King Jr. appear as authors or subjects or both. Compiled under the auspices of the Minnesota-based Givens Foundation for African American Literature to further its mission to celebrate and promote African American literature and history, the book aims to stimulate reading among black males and to expand public awareness of African American writers. Highly recommended for all public libraries and collections on black literature.Thomas J. Davis, Arizona State Univ., Tempe