I Am the Darker Brother: An Anthology of Modern Poems by African Americans

by Arnold Adoff, Benny Andrews (Illustrator)

Overview

This honest and poignant young adult poetry collection addresses many different experiences of what it means to be black.

The quintessential African American, a proud, lonely, vulnerable yet independent human being who has forged out of hardship that combination of endurance, understanding, and spirit called soul. This illustrated book collects poems by Langston Hughes, Mari Evans, Gwendolyn Brooks, Robert Hayden, and many more.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780689808692
Publisher:	Simon & Schuster Books For Young Readers
Publication date:	01/01/1997
Edition description:	Revised
Pages:	192
Sales rank:	870,455
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.25(h) x 0.60(d)
Age Range:	14 - 18 Years

About the Author

Arnold Adoff is an American children’s writer. In 1988, the National Council of Teachers of English gave Adoff the Award for Excellence in Poetry for Children. He has said, “I will always try to turn sights and sounds into words. I will always try to shape words into my singing poems.”

Benny Andrews (1930–2006) was an American artist, activist and educator. Born in Plainview, Georgia, Andrews earned a BFA in painting from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 1958, and soon after moved to New York. He was known for his expressive, figurative paintings that often incorporated collaged fabric and other material.

Editorial Reviews

Gr 5 UpCountless anthologies of African-American poetry, many with elaborate illustrations, have appeared since Adoff's I Am the Darker Brother (Macmillan, 1968) was published. It remains remarkable in its ability to present the African-American experience through poetry that speaks for itself without the distraction of artwork or the need to trumpet itself as being multicultural. This revised and updated edition has 21 new selections, representing 19 poets (9 of them women), added to the thematic sections of the original title. Now, readers can meet more contemporary writers such as Rita Dove, Maya Angelou, and Ishmael Reed as well as classic black poets like Countee Cullen, Paul Laurence Dunbar, and Langston Hughes. An introduction puts the book in historical context and a foreword offers encouragement to a new generation of readers. Notes and biographies have been updated and added where appropriate and Andrews's spare but evocative line drawings still open each section. Because of the historical context of many of the poems, the book will be much in demand during Black History Month, but it should be used and treasured as part of the larger canon of literature to be enjoyed by all Americans at all times of the year. An indispensable addition to library collections.Carrie Schadle, New York Public Library

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