Genre: Contemporary, Romance
Honors: Coretta Scott King Award/Honors, ALA Best Book for Young Adults
Review: Who am I Without Him? is a collection of short stories all told from the perspective of different young black women and are somehow about boys or men in which they have romantic connections. In the majority of the stories the girls are with boys that do not respect them and treat them badly. People often wonder why women stay with men that treat them badly and these stories give a glimpse into the mind of these women. The reason time and again, from girl to girl, is the fact that these girls want a man and they do not think enough of themselves to choose the right one. The very last pages of the book feature a letter from an absent father to his daughter. He writes her advice on how to choose the right man, and interestingly the "right" man is not the type of men featured in any of the short stories.
Opinion: The letter at the end of this book is what makes this book a powerful and important novel. The girls in the stories did not have strong fathers to guide them and so they chose men not worthy of them. To then read a letter from a man who also did not raise his daughter and see that he wants his very own daughter to avoid men just like him is poignant.
Ideas: Display this book during Valentine's Day when girls might be feeling down if they do not have a boyfriend.
Review: Who am I Without Him? is a collection of short stories all told from the perspective of different young black women and are somehow about boys or men in which they have romantic connections. In the majority of the stories the girls are with boys that do not respect them and treat them badly. People often wonder why women stay with men that treat them badly and these stories give a glimpse into the mind of these women. The reason time and again, from girl to girl, is the fact that these girls want a man and they do not think enough of themselves to choose the right one. The very last pages of the book feature a letter from an absent father to his daughter. He writes her advice on how to choose the right man, and interestingly the "right" man is not the type of men featured in any of the short stories.
Opinion: The letter at the end of this book is what makes this book a powerful and important novel. The girls in the stories did not have strong fathers to guide them and so they chose men not worthy of them. To then read a letter from a man who also did not raise his daughter and see that he wants his very own daughter to avoid men just like him is poignant.
Ideas: Display this book during Valentine's Day when girls might be feeling down if they do not have a boyfriend.
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