Stevie Stevenson

A Novel

By: April Sinclair

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Paperback | 8 August 2019

At a Glance

Paperback
260 Pages

Dimensions(cm)
20.32 x 13.34 x 1.5

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“A funny, fresh novel about growing up African-American in 1960s Chicago” by an author who “writes like Terry McMillan’s kid sister” (Entertainment Weekly).

In this hilarious and insightful coming-of-age novel, author April Sinclair introduces the charming Jean “Stevie” Stevenson, a young woman raised on Chicago’s South Side during an era of irrevocable social upheaval.

Curious and witty, bold but naïve, Stevie grows up debating the qualities of good hair and dark skin. As the years pass, her family and neighborhood are changed by the times, from the War on Poverty to race riots and the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr., from “Black Is Beautiful” to Black Power. Against this remarkable backdrop, Stevie makes the sometimes harrowing, often comic, always enthralling transformation into a young adult—socially aware, discovering her sexuality, and proud of her identity.

“Whether she’s dealing with a subject as monumental as the civil rights movement or as intimate as Stevie’s first sexual encounters,” writes the Los Angeles Times, “Sinclair never fails to make you laugh and never sacrifices the narrative to make a point.”

Winner of the Carl Sandburg Award from the Friends of the Chicago Public Library and named a best book of the year in young adult fiction by the American Library Association, Coffee Will Make You Black is an exquisite portrait of adolescence that will resonate with readers of all ages.

Industry Reviews

“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

“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

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