Black Enough: Stories of Being Young & Black in America

Black Enough: Stories of Being Young and Black in America is a collection of short stories edited by Ibi Zoboi, a prominent Haitian American young-adult writer. The collection of young-adult stories, first published in 2019, explores the lives of young Black people and the struggles they face with belonging—both within the idea of “Blackness” and the world around them. These characters battle the expectations placed on them by their families and their culture, while also exploring the internal pressures of their sexualities, dreams, desires, and their struggle to fit in.

This guide uses the first edition of the text published by Balzer + Bray in 2020.

Content Warning: The stories in this collection explore issues of racism, anti-gay bias, sexual assault, mental health, and suicide.

Plot Summaries

“Half a Moon” tells the story of Raven, a camp counselor at an all-Black summer camp. She discovers the first day that her 10-year-old half-sister, Brooke, is at the camp. She initially holds resentment toward Brooke, as her own father left her and her mother to start a family with Brooke’s mother. However, after Raven witnesses Brooke getting bullied and fails to intervene, Brooke’s temporary disappearance sparks her to support Brooke and build a relationship with her, ultimately leaving camp ready to be a sister to her.

In “Black Enough,” Cam and his cousin Myron attend a party in Franklin where Cam is visiting for the summer. Cam hopes to win the affection of Jessica, a girl with whom he had a relationship last summer but who broke up with him a few months after. He attempts to fit in with the Black kids at the party, changing his shoes, clothes, hair, and mannerisms to impress them as well as Jessica. However, as he confronts Jessica about leaving him, she explains his lack of understanding of Black culture and Black issues—and the fact that his clothing and mannerisms are not what make him Black. Cam then realizes that what he interpreted as “code switching” by Myron is actually his true character, and he looks to Myron for help in beginning to understand the true struggle that people of color face—something from which he is largely excluded back in his wealthy home.

The short story “Warning: Color May Fade” explores the lives of two girls, Nivia and Ryan, at a wealthy prep school. While Ryan’s family is focused on art, putting pressure on Ryan to win the Tri-School Jabec Beard Art Prize, Nivia’s family is concerned with her finding success outside of school, pursuing a career in law to overcome the prejudice she will face as a woman of color. As Nivia paints over a famous Jabec prize as her entry into the contest, she fears the repercussions and fails to claim it as her own work—allowing Ryan to lie and claim it instead. However, Nivia discovers that her true identity lies in the sketches she has always painted and not shown anyone, leading her to create a collage of herself for entrance into the competition, which finally earns the approval of her father.

“Black. Nerd. Problems.” tells the story of Shawn, a self-proclaimed nerd who works in the mall and attends a party with other employees for the opening of a new section. There, he sees Dayshia, the girl whom he has always had a crush on but fears he is too nerdy to talk to, especially as she is talking to Cam, who Shawn considers cooler than him. However, after he comes face to face with Cam, who threatens to fight him over Dayshia, Shawn instead works up the courage to speak with Dayshia. He discovers that she is actually somewhat nerdy herself and has no interest in Cam.

“Out of the Silence” is an epistolary short story, written as a letter from Cassie to her deceased classmate, Tessa. Cassie only knew Tessa through gym class, where the two bonded over their mutual lack of interest in participating. Now that Tessa has died in a car crash, Cassie writes to her to try to grapple with her own feelings—both her feelings of love for Tessa and her feelings over her death. Ultimately, Cassie reveals that she feels some amount of relief at Tessa’s death, as Tessa had discovered Cassie’s queer identity that she herself is not yet ready to face.

The story “The Ingredients” describes the life of four young boys who travel to the local swimming pool, then return to one of their apartments for lunch. On their walk home, they obsess over the different signs advertising sandwiches, describing the type they want to eat for lunch. However, when they get to the apartment, all they have at home to eat is cereal.

In “Oreo,” Joni is a young girl about to head to college. She travels with her parents to rural Missouri, where her cousins live, one of whom—Junior—she has feared seeing again after he called her an “oreo” several years before. After spending the weekend being ignored and mistreated by Junior, she finally confronts him about what he said to her. Junior reveals that he, too, holds resentment toward Joni for the way that she had talked negatively about their home and insulted their lack of wealth. The two reconcile, realizing that each has their own dreams and desires, and even though they do not understand each other’s lives, they share a mutual desire to support each other as family.

“Samson and the Delilahs” explores the life of Sobechi, whose mother from Nigeria works with him to master the art of debate at his high school, winning the regional and national competition. However, when Dez moves in next door—a free-spirited musician—he recognizes the differences between his structured life and hers. He falls in love with both her and metal music, discovering how alive it makes him feel, but ultimately risking his chances at debate. After his mom forbids him from seeing Dez, he rejects Dez and her music entirely to win nationals. However, he ultimately ends up recognizing that he needs Dez in his life and can do so without allowing her and music to jeopardize his school.

“Stop Playing” explores the toxic relationship of Keri and her ex-boyfriend, Lucas. After he breaks up with her, she meets Brandon at a summer retreat for their church, but immediately regrets kissing him after Lucas makes her feel guilty. To make Lucas happy, she considers sending him naked pictures of herself, before she is stopped by Dara—a girl whom she previously disliked because she was jealous of her body. She and Dara bond over the realization that Lucas and his friend were trying to get nudes from them both, ultimately choosing to stay with each other rather than return to their toxic relationships.

“Wild Horses, Wild Hearts” tells the story of Tank, a young Black boy who is preparing for a triennial horse race in their town. His parents stress the importance of the horse race as a way to fight back against the prejudice they face, showing that they belong in the town. Leading that prejudice is the Smiths, the family next door to Tank. However, when Tank interacts with Skyler Smith and talks with him each night at the border between their lands, the two fall in love, with Tank ultimately giving up the race to let Skyler win. As the two admit their love for each other to their parents, they walk away hand-in-hand from the rage and anger they receive in response.

In the story “Whoa!,” beauty-obsessed Danté discovers during his morning steam bath that he can see someone in the bottom of the basin. That person turns out to be John, an enslaved person living in the 1840s, and the two discuss their different lives as they struggle to understand each other’s lingo. After John fades, Danté continually thinks about him and his life, ultimately seeking out his grandmother to tell her the story. She informs him that there was once an enslaved person named John who repeatedly said the word “Whoa!” and laughed on each visit to retrieve water—leaving Danté to consider whether his encounter was real or just a dream.

“Gravity” gives the perspective of Clara, a young girl on the dance floor who, mid-jump, is grabbed in the crotch by the man she is dancing with. In the middle of her jump, time slows, and she considers all the possible responses to her assault as well as the impact the gossip, stories, and blame would have on her life. On her return to the ground, she makes the decision to pull herself free and pretend to fall, receiving anger and abuse from the man in response. However, her cousins stand up for her, defending her and causing the man to back down.

“The Trouble with Drowning” explores the life of Lena, a young girl whose twin sister, Madeleine, dies by suicide through drowning. Throughout the text, Lena sees and interacts with her sister, struggling with her own thoughts of drowning and grief about the loss of her sister. She ends up finding support from her sister’s boyfriend, James, who shares his own grief at her death, as the two sit at the bridge where Madeleine died, allowing Lena to finally grieve and let go.

The story “Kissing Sarah Smart” tells of Devon, a Black teenager who recently graduated from high school and is spending her last summer with her mother and grandmother. Her parents are on the verge of divorce, with her mother recently suffering from mental health issues and needing a break from her father. Devon meets Sarah, and the two develop a romantic relationship, with Devon fully exploring her queer identity for the first time. Although she struggles with how her father will react, she ultimately finds support from her mother, allowing Devon to continue her relationship with Sarah and head to college more comfortable with herself.

In “Hackathon Summers,” Garry has returned to NYU as an incoming freshman and searches everywhere for the girl he has a crush on, Inaaya. Over the past three summers, the two had attended the Hackathon, a competition for computer programming, and had grown a relationship culminating in their kissing the summer before. Meanwhile, Garry struggles with his newly forming relationship with his mother, who had emotionally abused him until he moved out at 10, while Inaaya struggles with her mother’s pressure to practice traditional Islam. When Garry finally sees Inaaya at the orientation, he discovers that she has chosen to wear a hijab, marking her decision to follow in her mother’s footsteps and leaving Garry to let her go.

“Into the Starlight” explores the life of Mak, a Black teenager who lives in the wealthy district of town, whose mother looks down on those in what she calls the “ghetto,” including her own sister and Mak’s cousins. Mak meets Kamari, whom her cousin, Crystal, warns her not to get involved with both because Kamari once got a girl pregnant and made her get an abortion and because Mak’s mother would not approve of Kamari due to where he’s from. However, by interacting with Kamari, as he saves her from a flat tire and explains to her that he covered for his ex-girlfriend—who actually wanted the abortion—Mak realizes that Kamari really is a good person, despite how her mother and cousin want to make him seem.

In “The (R)evolution of Nigeria Jones,” Nigeria “Geri” Jones is a 17-year-old girl who spent her entire life as part of the Movement, a Black nationalist organization headed by her father. She and her queer friend, Kamau, struggle with the disconnect between the world they are shown by their father—where all white people seek to oppress all Black people—and the world they physically see around them, through sneaking into the city. When Geri sneaks out to sit in a café near Columbia, where she dreams of going to school, she realizes that she has left her money and belongings on the train. She imagines the hostility of the people in the café growing, as her father’s opinions and beliefs press in on her. However, she makes the decision to remain in the café and order another cupcake, proud of herself for having successfully escaped her father, at least for the night.