2 inter-generational novels to delve into

By JORDANNAH ELIZABETH

Special to the AmNews

Postmodern Black literature explores many dimensions and layers, and embodies stories that are able to unfold in imaginative, speculative manners that were not deemed possible 100 years ago. There is room now to explore the overlapping of time, and the exploration of past, present, and future generations. Autumn Allen’s young adult novel, “All You Have to Do,” explores the experience of two young boys in two different generation seasons in Black American history, and Denene Millner’s “One Blood” spans from the Great Migration and the civil unrest of the 1960s, to the quest for women’s equality in the early 2000s— offering a story of Black women who live life with passion, vulnerability, and courage.

All You Have to Do by Autumn Allen (Penguin Random House)

The young adult novel, “All You Have to Do,” follows the lives and experiences of two young men who attend the same prestigious university three decades apart from one another. Though one student studied in 1968 and the other in 1995, they both encounter incredible amounts of racism. An examination of how things rarely change, and stay the same, “All You Have to Do” takes you on an emotional journey through the pain and suffering of Black manhood and American life. This imaginative book with a message deserves a read from young readers and adults alike.

One Blood by Denene Millner (Forge, MacMillan)

Denene Millner’s epic story surrounding the lives of Black women within a family and bloodline that begins with the protagonist Grace’s grandmother, Maw Maw, and travels through to the lives of her daughter and beyond as Grace’s daughter is put up for adoption without her giving her consent. Her daughter, though, has the wandering dreams of upward mobility but has to grapple with the news of being adopted. An interesting and penetrating inter-generational story about the lives of Black American women, “One Blood” is a great addition to bookshelves.

Black authors now have the freedom to tell stories the way they truly desire. There are no more rules or respectability, cen- sorship of the telling of Black life stories. As the decades continue on, we are going to read more creative and out-of-the-box story structures and unique lifestyles of Black characters. “All You Have to Do” and “One Blood” are beginning to break the mold. Let’s hope