A lyrical collection of poetry by Jasmine Mans, this is a dedication to all the Black girls and boys, the missing girls, and queer folx throughout history. Mans explores race, feminism, pop culture, and mental health in a series of short poems, which include odes to Serena and Vanessa Williams, Michelle Obama, Whitney Houston, and Sandra Bland.
I can't pick a favorite because they were all so magically emotive. However, some notable poems include: "Momma Has a Hair Salon in the Kitchen," "Period," "Treat Her Right, While She's Still Here," "All Too Normal," "Black Son," "Unwelcome," "24 Hours After it Happens," "Traffick," "Footnotes for Kanye," "Maybe We Can Fool God," the Whitney set, "Babies at the Border," "Bodies Lost in History," "A Pouring Thing," "Dear Ex-Lover," "Sandra's Haiku" (the whole Sandra Bland set, really), "Serena," "Dear First Lady, for Michelle Obama," and "Missing Girls" was just absolutely powerful. Did I just write out the whole table of contents? Maybe...but, each poem evokes empathy, rage, and FACTS. Such a beautiful collection that I absolutely loved!

Poetess Jasmine Mans writes of herself, of being young, of growing up, of being a queer Black woman, and of what it has meant and now means to be Black in America. Hailing from Newark, New Jersey, Jasmine crafts beautiful and heartbreaking confessions, observations, and statements that cut to the truth and meaning of the feelings and pain experienced by mothers and sisters and daughters. From the sweetest highs to the bitterest lows, Black Girl, Call Home illustrates the lived experience of a woman who seeks meaning, and comfort, and more, in life.⁣
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I loved this brutal, raw, honest collection of poetry from Jasmine Mans. I appreciated the portions that focused on historical experimentation on Black women. Topical discussion of police brutality, feminism, and queerness were great. Her poetry is approachable, and is simultaneously beautiful and capable of rending your soul with its jagged edges. Each piece is crafted with purpose, intensity, and is framed for personal reflection. Jasmine shares many personal thoughts, feelings, and experiences, and does so in a way that arrests your attention and empathy. I recommend you pick up the phone and call home, then pick this up and read it.⁣

This is book was everything I hoped for in a contemporary poetry book and then some. I have been wanting to read poetry for a very long time, but nothing ever appealed to me. Black Girl, Call Home was THE book to introduce me to modern poetry. I wouldn't even label this work of art as poetry; it was much more introspective and personal than that. It felt like I was reading Jasmine Mans' personal diary which was never meant to be published. She opened the door to her heart and soul and it was something! Not only was this book not repetitive in its layout or style, it was the most creative thing I read in a long time. I kept being amazing at the content and, the more I was reading, the more exciting I was at turning the next page, anticipating what I was going to discover next.

This book was fresh, deep, creative, raw, diverse, and touched a multitude of subject such as racism, sexism, gender inequality, motherhood. family, love, the rich African American culture, love and its complexities, and much more.

Special praise to Mans' poem titled NOLA. As a Neworleanean, I couldn't NOT mention it ;-)

Much praise and a very deserving 5 stars for this book that made me feels all kinds of crazy emotions.

Thank you Net Galley and Berkley and this e-ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I really liked this poetry collection. It was eye-opening. The words were raw and bruising and real, I could feel the pain in them. I will be looking for more poetry by Mans.

Really enjoyed this poetry collection. I loved the authors use of language. I feel like this collection would be really accessible to people who think or feel that "modern poetry isn't for them" (or those types of comments). These poems touched on so many important topics. Highly recommend.

Black Girl, Call Home was a powerful perspective on womanhood and blackness. Though I'm not Black, or Lesbian, or share many of the experiences Jasmine Mans explores, I felt like I could understand a small portion of her, her life, and her world. Many things I could relate to, things that touched me that felt like my own thoughts and feelings, but most of it made me want to be a part of building something better for the people in the world who are my mothers, fathers, brothers, and sisters, even if we've never met and will never know each other.

Violence: Moderate (references to police brutality, rape)
Sex: Moderate (LGBTQ content, rape)
Language: Mild
Drugs: None

Powerful

Beautiful

Gut-punching

Innovative

These poems depict Black women's experience in a visceral way, transcending news reports and statistics. Addressing motherhood, relationships, police brutality, and the myriad ways we disappoint each other and hope to do better, the words live off the page. Although Mans plays with structure, the poetry is incredibly accessible. Even if you ordinarily don't read poetry, I encourage you to pick up this collection.

A gorgeous collection! I'm surprised I didn't run out of post-it flags while reading this book. In the first half of the collection, I was most impressed by the poems about motherhood and the relationships between mothers and daughters. In the latter half the book, the poems seem to be more inspired by real-life events and people (e.g. Sandra Bland, Whitney Houston, Serena Williams). I was trying to track which poems stood out to me the most, but I ended up marking a <i>lot</i> of poems, so here are just a few of my favorites: "Speak to Me of My Mother, Who Was She," "Birmingham," "All Too Normal," "I Know You Didn't Mean to Kill Him: An Excerpt."

There were so many things I love about this collection. Mans explores the complexities of race, feminism, Black hair, and Black motherhood. I appreciated the diction and punch of each poem. They are all good together but they also stand well apart. The poems range, in form from lists, lyric, and language but are unified by posing deep questions through the author's personal narrative.

Some of my favourite pieces were ‘The Light’, Sandra’s Haiku, “Missing Girls and “The Little Mermaid”

I truly feel that the collection has a little bit of something for everyone and does a great job of highlighting the Black experience and particularly the Black woman experience and gives historical context which I appreciated.

I think Mans's poetry is powerful, poignant, vivid, emotional, and timely. And it is a great collection to dive into.

I received a gifted galley of BLACK GIRL, CALL HOME by Jasmine Mans for an honest review. Thank you to Berkley Publishing Group and Netgalley for the opportunity to read and review!⁠
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BLACK GIRL, CALL HOME is a poetry collection. It tackles a variety of subjects including racism, sexism, mental health, sexuality, rape, music, and cultural icons. It speaks to the author's own story as a young, queer Black woman in America. Mans uses a variety of formats and lengths to convey powerful messages, often grouping poems around a subject to build on her ideas and convey her messages.⁠
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I found this to be a gripping and powerful collection. I have already put a request in to my library to get the audio version of the book in because I would love to hear the readings by the author! I did an exploration of YouTube to find some of the poems which jumped out at me. The author is an amazing performer in addition to being a fantastic writer.⁠
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The poem “Birmingham” is written from the perspective of a little girl caught in the Birmingham church bombing of 1963, caught up in Martin Luther King Jr.’s dream. This is one where the imagery really stuck with me from reading the author's words. I was able to find a recording of the author's rendition online and it brought the power home even more!⁠
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Even if you don’t regularly pick up poetry collections, this is one that I would highly recommend! BLACK GIRL, CALL HOME is out 3/9/2021!⁠
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Black Girl, Call Home is a beautifully written, powerful, honest, and gritty collection of poetry. The poet skillfully uses her pen to tackle a wide variety of topics: among them black culture, womanhood, current social issues, feminism, racism, mental health, relationships, motherhood and lesbianism.

I found the poems so moving and dynamic that I read the whole book in one sitting! I especially enjoyed the thought diagrams included at the end of the book.

My sincere thanks to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing Group for allowing me to read an advance copy of the book which is scheduled to be published on 3/9/21. All opinions expressed in this review are my own.

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I confess I rarely read or have extensive knowledge of poetry, so it was my good fortune that I did not pass up on the opportunity to preview ‘Black Girl, Call Home’ by spoken word poet Jasmine Mans. This collection of poetry and prose is stunning, powerful, beautiful and heart breaking.

From the first page until the last word, I was immersed in the several themes based on by Ms. Mans’ experiences as a queer Black woman, of Black women, and mothers and daughters in America. This book will resonate with many women as it explores themes of mother-daughter relationships, rape culture, sexuality, atrocities committed against Black women, celebrities, heartbreak, love and finding our home.
I was moved to tears, I felt anguished and heartache and ultimately, I felt joy for “little (black) girls with dreams in their grandmother’s pearls.”

Note: I read an eARC of this book but searched out videos of Jasmine Mans so I could hear her words. Her voice gives her words power, and I’ve pre-ordered the audiobook so I can enjoy it again with my eyes and ears.

This was a really powerful book of poetry. It touched on feminism, race, queerness, sexuality, music, motherhood, family and so much more. I really enjoyed reading all of these. There were a couple of poems about Whitney Houston that were so descriptive, I went to youtube to find the performance she was describing (which BTW Whitney is still and always will be amazing).

Thank you to Berkley Publishing and Netgalley for the opportunity to read the electronic advanced copy of this book. I really enjoyed it. #BerkleyWritesStrongWomen #BerkleyBuddyReads

Thank you to Berkley for gifting me a review copy of Black Girl, Call Home by Jasmine Mans. Jasmine is a spoken word poet and if you haven’t heard her work before you need to. Her poems are real, relatable, and they explore modern life, pain, love, family, joy and so much more.

My personal favorites from this book are Dear Ex Lover, Serena, Do Not Fall In Love, and When You Left, You Left.

It’s a powerful and moving collection, and I strongly encourage you to grab yourself a copy. I guarantee you'll be thinking about these poems long after you've turned the last page.

"They are whispers. You never met these girls, but you know all of them."

Black Girl, Call Home by Jasmine Mans should be considered essential reading. So many of these poems broke my heart, angered and frustrated me, but it is crucial to have the conversations that arise from poems such as these even if some of these topics aren't in our comfort zone.

In this poetry collection, Mans explores various themes, such as womanhood, queer identity, race, feminism, mental health, police brutality, sexual assault, and media representation. Mans showcases the struggle of interacting with family and society in a world that was built for certain people.

Some of my favorites were:

- Speak to Me of My Mother, Who Was She
- Treat Her Right, While She's Still Here
- The Little Mermaid
- The Black Stork
- Crazy
- Kill that Nigga Dead
- Conversations
- Dear Ex Lover

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Stunning, Powerful and Beautifully written. I could feel the emotion coming off the pages and loved the connection I felt with the author and other women while reading this.

This collection of poetry is absolutely beautiful! I still find myself thinking of many of the poems in the book! I am not a big poetry reader, but I am so glad I got a chance to read this one. Thank you so much!

Black Girl, Call Home is a exquisite read not because the imagery is flowery or lovely... .at times, the poems are brutally honest and naked. It is not a romp through fields of flowers, although there is a beauty within the words that Jasmine Mans puts to each page. A beauty in the portrayal of being black and queer... of hurting and wondering what type of future you will have or your son will have. Each poem is written with care, I can tell that Mans chose each word deliberately without the need to expand or explain, just put the words down planted with intention to share her soul with others. The stories, the prose, the words she offers up are a gift meant to be shared.
Well done and worth getting a hard copy to keep as the writing is crisp and exceptionally good. I can't tell you when the last time I have really immersed myself in prose and words and come out a changed person.

Thank you to NetGalley, Berkley Publishing Group and author Jasmine Mans for this temporary advance review copy for me to read and enjoy. As always, my opinion is my own and my review is voluntary.

Black Girl, Call Home
By Jasmine Mans

Book Review by Jaleesa McKnight
“Black Girl, Call Home,” explores the talents and creative story of Jasmine Mans as an spoken word artist from Newark, NJ. This book is more than a bunch of poems, but is a safe house for every black girl. It tells of an memorable and historic experience of Black womanhood . These poems is destined to leave a warmth, a chill and terror imprint on the heart.

Jasmine creates poems that tugs on love, injustices, sexual violence, queerness, slavery and property, mourning, power and powerlessness, body awareness and unawareness, girl trafficking, wonder and glory. This being my first read by this author I am taken away by the demand this book possess. If you don’t know the life of a black girl read this book, if you are unaware of the injustices that we have faced read this book, if you didn’t know we were property once before read this book, and if you ever left home, called momma and returned home read this book. Each line of poetry is a moment in time from generation to generation.

“Black Girl, Call Home,” is a refreshing new read and a must to add to your bookshelves. Look to pre-order or purchase on the release date of March 9th, 2021.

Source: ARC was provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for a honest review .
Thank you

Shook. That’s the only way I can describe this. Her poems pierce the heart. The one about raising a black son made me stop and pause. I could feel the love, hope, and mostly pain of raising a son that the outside world sees as a threat. My son is 2, but it’s something I’ve already thought about. At what point is he no longer “cute”, but a potential threat to police and world at large? Nevermind, his parents are lawyers and professionals. Raw truths were served and I was here for every single moment.

The way she talks about trauma and rape and the daily brutalities black women face every single day I know every single black woman has gone through at some point in her life. The hair woes, colorism, etc.. Her poetry exploring the history mental health mistreatment black women faced in institutions and during slavery was eye opening. I can’t imagine experiencing “experiments” in my body without any pain medication or regard for my life because black women don’t feel pain. Good god.

And of course, there’s love. Falling in and out of love. Heartbreak. Bitterness. Moving on.

My soul needed this.