This short story collection is everything. A MUST for all middle school libraries. Absolutely loved how the many authors came together and wrote of pure joy with a variety of stories and genres: historical fiction, folklore, in verse, graphic novel short, high fantasy, & realistic fiction.

This was such a wonderful read and the title spoke for the tone. This will be appreciated by young Black boys, their caregivers, and basically anyone who reads it.

The collection of stories in Black Boy Joy share genuine narratives of happy Black childhoods in a world where many stories of growing up Black are fraught with sadness. A rare & beautifully crafted treat! The stories were quick reads that were engaging & delightful. The characters were funny, intelligent, creative, & of course, joyful. Black Boy Joy is a treasure!

A wonderful collection of short stories by big voices in the field of children's literature. Stories range in form and genre and would make an excellent "quick read" for classroom teachers and students.

What’s not to love about a book that compiled some of the most pivotal voices of today’s cultures? This is a perfect companion read for your middle grader who might also be looking at Stamped or literally any other book written by ANY of these authors. An absolute gem!

FANTASTIC! So many amazing authors came together to create something that black boys truly need to see. I hope to see even more like this in the future!

I featured this book as a Book of the Day spotlight and included it in my weekly roundup and monthly post of new releases on my Black Fiction Addiction platforms.

Instant classic potential! A rare collection of short stories that just moves from strength to strength. This belongs on every library's (public and home!) shelves.

I absolutely loved the book Black Boy Joy. It is full of unique stories that allow a reader to experience all types of genres and writing styles. I have discovered new authors to read and suggest. I have already purchased a book for my classroom and it keeps getting checked out by my students after they saw me reading it. Excellent read, highly recommend.

Black Boy Joy was filled with short stories that definitely brought joy. It is a balm to the soul, even on the stories that showed a bit of sadness in order to bring forth the feel good moment. The diversity in mediums and genres in this anthology guarantees a story for lovers of different genres and mediums. It is a great way to expose tweens to stories that will develop empathy and a way to find out what the reader likes. There is queer representation, and I loved that the most.

Loved this so much I want to read it again. So I will be going out soon to get me a physical copy. Usually I have a hard time connecting to short storys. But these was just amazing I loved every single one. But I have to say my top 3 favorites in the book have to be The Griot of Grover Street Part 1-2-3, Five Thousand Light Years to Home, and Embracing My Black Boy Joy.

What a great collection of short stories! The author in this collection will be easily recognized by readers. There's something for everyone in this anthology.

I plan on doing this book with my book club for February. I loved the stories and how fun and imaginative they were. It's a great anthology. I plan to recommend it at the library.

So many of my favorite YA authors have come together to create a collection about JOY! The joy of play, of love, of achieving a goal. Bring it on Suyi Davies Okungbowa, and P. Djeli Clark, and Jerry Craft, and Tochi Onyebuchi!

Told through genres that are accessible to young people: fantasy, scifi, comics, poetry, and contemporary fiction. And covering a number of important subjects… Identity, The Cool, creative expression, music, family. Each story hit on a different angle of JOY! A tinge of sadness here and a look into the future there, but each has a heart that I appreciated.

Although this book is labelled and mainly focuses on middle-school age kids, I had so much fun with it. And would like to get a copy for my own classroom… and I’ll be sending another email to my school’s librarian: Get this book! Please!

5 out of 5 stars

Thank you to NetGalley, Random House Childrens, and the authors for a copy for review.

This was a compilation of short stories written by several authors that linked together as pieces of one main story of a Black boy trying to fill a jar with joy. Not only was each story different and joyful in their own right, we get to see that there is a natural balance when it comes to emotions. One can't have sadness without knowing joy and vise versa. It's about finding the joy in the small pieces of life, holding onto to them, and acknowledging them as joy. This is what gets you through the rough patches that pop up more often for Black boys. Great collection of short stories. I enjoyed every one.

Perfection put together by an immensely talented group of authors. Every library should strive to reflect joy in all cultures, which makes this a perfect addition.

Black Boy Joy is a middle grades short story collection edited by Kwambe Mbalia and is full of stories written by contemporary Black male and nonbinary authors who know their audience and subject matter. The stories range from realistic fiction tales about fashion, friendship, crushes, deciding how to continue one's journey on finding their identity, music, customs and more. Surprisingly, there are also science fiction and fantasy stories about gaming in other dimensions, mysterious realms of happiness, and challenges that require zero gravity and quick-witted problem solving. My favorite parts of these stories are the strong community and family units that support the boys in all of the settings. They are self-assured, confident people who are going through life's challenges either in real life or in a fantasy world, but overall, the themes they embody are universal.

I am going to get this book for my school library and will share it with students, families, teachers, and community members. Readers will enjoy the variety of stories and formats. There is even a story told through comics by the award winning author and illustrator, Jerry Craft. This is a recommended title along the same vein of Ancestor Approved and Flying Lessons. I hope that readers will appreciate short story collections and add them to their reading lives!

Black Boy Joy is a collection of 17 short stories that celebrate being a young Black boy. It was a collaboration of some incredibly talented authors, most of whom I have either read or at least heard of before. Each story will give you all types of feelings. They make you laugh, cry, cheer, and of course feel joy. There is also a short story for anyone and everyone. So many genres and formats were represented including, science fiction, realistic fiction, fantasy, poetry, in-verse, graphic novel, pretty much everything.

While the book is marketed for 8-12-year-olds, I feel that it is an important read for older teens and even adults. It is so nice to see a collection of stories about black boys that shows them just being boys; Full, round, celebrating all aspects of their personality boys. It is positive, fun, at times sad, powerful but most importantly joy-filled, and doesn't just focus on black pain or overcoming some kind of adversity. I hope that with so many different characters all black youth can see themselves in this book. A must-purchase for both children and teen library departments.

Thank you to publishers for providing us with an advanced reading copy of the book through NetGalley.

Fabulous story collection of pure Black Boy Joy! So many authors writing the best joy filled stories for young readers.

In a world where there is so much negativity it is great to just curl up with a book filled with this collection of 17 short stories! This book was a pleasant surprise although I should know by now anything with Kwame Mbalia's name on it is going to be an amazing ride! Not only did I read from authors that I was familiar with but I was introduced to a whole new set of authors for me to appreciate.
From getting ready for the first day of school to the magic of family this book left me in love joy and the magic of life.