Ebony Flowers

The graphic novel universe is now FINALLY expanding beyond manga and white dudebros. This one centers around black girls and women and their fraught hair lives. In eight enjoyable tales, Flowers covers perms, swim team, hair being done in a park, in Angola, and in a salon. Identifiable by black women, teachable for white women, pleasurable for all women. Men probably won't get it, but there's the Barbershop movies for them.

I really enjoyed this incisive and witty graphic novel of linked stories, about young Black girls and how their hair is such an issue for them, their moms, and their classmates and team mates. The subtitle could be: JUST LEAVE ME ALONE. The last story in particular, "Last Angolian Saturday", is filled with joy as a day trip to the beach with three girlfriends turns out to be a Best Day Ever. White readers will receive an education on why hair and its care is so fraught for women of color.

A mix of short stories and memoirs that each include something about Black hair - whether it's young Ebony getting her first relaxer, a young girl whose softball team is fascinated by her hair and she starts pulling it out, or a group of friends traveling in Angola discuss life and getting their hair done.

Hair is the uniting theme in the stories, but it really touches on a lot of things, from the intimacy of braiding someone's hair to the way white people comment on or want to touch Black show more hair. Interspersed between stories are drawings of ads for hair-care products. I imagine Black readers will find a lot to relate to, and for readers who are not, perhaps they will learn some about the variety of Black hair and hair care out there and be a little less likely to ask, "Can I touch it?" show less

A captivating glimpse of African American women and their hair as well as their relationships with their mothers, sisters and friends. This book is a great companion piece to Americanah, though better than that book for being concise and focused. The art has a rough and unrefined quality, but I quickly warmed to it. Recommended.