For Black Girls Like Me (juvenile fiction)

     First awareness of a parent's mental illness can be very confusing and scary. That's the plight of Keda, narrator of Mariana J. Lockington's For Black Girls Like Me. 

     When we meet Keda she, her parents, and her sister are driving from their Baltimore home to a new house in Albuquerque. She's left her best friend, Lena, the only other Black girl she knows adopted into an all white family. And now she's going to a place she'll face a fresh onslaught of ignorant questions. She alternately loves and hates the birth mother she never met. 

     Not long after the move Keda's mother becomes listless, spending most of her time sleeping or watching TV, distancing herself from her family. The girls know enough to give her space until she snaps out of her sadness. Keda fears that this time she won't.

     Her mother's behavior becomes erratic. When she reads something private Keda wrote she pulls both girls out of school. 

     "She is making a scene. And the room is so full of her. I get lost. I can't breathe. I can't see straight through my tears. Why is she so angry? Is she crying too? Why is she crying?"

     When Keda's father, a professional musician, leaves his family for a summer long tour her mother is not in a good place. One morning she takes the girls to an isolated cabin in the woods where she's more and more out of control until the day when the girls return from a walk to a horrifying sight. 

     We live in a society where, although mental illness has become increasingly manageable, it's still highly stigmatized and a taboo topic. Books like For Black Girls Like Me can help people become more open, understanding, and compassionate.

     I could have used a book like that in my younger years. My father was undiagnosed probably bipolar. His mood swings were bewildering and scary and sometimes put my life in danger. Looking back I wish he could have been treated for his sake as well as mine.

On a purrrsonal note, I had a wonderful Monday. I took the huge Valentines 💝 card for the bus drivers dozens of commuter students signed to the bus depot where they'll get to see it on Friday. I think they'll really like it. Then I did a Goodwill run and found an adorable squishmallow. Then I went on campus where Catherine had cupcakes to frost and decorate. Eugene bought blueberry cheesecake 😋 😍 ice cream which we had for dessert. 

A great big shout out goes out to Catherine, Eugene, and the community connector bus drivers. 

Jules Hathaway 

     

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