Coffee Will Make You Black Audiobook By April Sinclair cover art

Coffee Will Make You Black

A Novel

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An African American girl comes of age during the Civil Rights Movement in April Sinclair's hilarious, insightful novel that was named Book of the Year (Young Adult Fiction) for 1994 by the American Library Association.

Jean "Stevie" Stevenson lives in Chicago's South Side, a neighborhood that acutely feels the social changes of the 1960s. Curious and witty, bold but naïve, Stevie ponders questions such as what makes good hair and which skin shade is better in light of "black is beautiful". Amid the War on Poverty; the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr.; race riots; and the Black Power movement, Stevie grows into a socially aware young adult with a burgeoning sexuality and pride in her identity. Learning as much from her mother's strictness, her father's steady encouragement, and her grandmother's strength as she does from her wild friend, Carla, and her white teacher, Nurse Horne, Stevie makes the sometimes harrowing, often hilarious, always enthralling journey into adulthood.

Coffee Will Make You Black received the Carl Sandburg Award from the Friends of the Chicago Public Library.

©1994 April Sinclair; This edition published in 2015 by Open Road Integrated Media, Inc. (P)2015 Audible, Inc. Coming of Age African American Fiction Funny Witty Historical Fiction Genre Fiction
Coming-of-age Story • Vivid Storytelling • Excellent Narration • Relatable Protagonist • Sensitive Portrayal

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main character grows at a logical rate. Characters are all developed just enough. Listened to entire book in one day

FUNNY Loved the portral of Black community

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A young adult tale that goes from childhood, to highschool to college and citing major African American struggles and achievements along her journey to young adulthood.

More than what I expected.

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I have read the actual book but the narrator is horrible...i read this when i was 13 and loved it but the voice does not match the story....i woild rather read it than to listen to this fake voice for 7 hours...smh

Narrator

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I enjoyed the journey of growing up with Stevie. She and the other characters were portrayed well by the narrator. Just a chapter or two into the story, I had sent several text messages to friends suggesting they listen, too.

Interesting Story - Excellent Narration

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Coffee Will Make You Black is by far one of my most favorite books growing up. The journey of Jean “Stevie” Stevenson from grade school through her junior year of high school is a journey we all can relate to. April Sinclair did a fantast job writing the book. The accuracies take me back to my childhood. Hot combs, double-dutch, penny candy, and talkin trash are all things we did while “growing up black”. I would like to think we all had a friend like Carla Perkins and a mother like Mrs. Stevenson. Stevie’s family was almost a mirror image of mine. I could hear the gospel music in the background on Sunday morning while she helped her mama in the kitchen. And I can see Mrs. Stevenson in her house-gown on Saturday afternoons cleaning. That was my life. Amber Patrick did an amazing job narrating through the book. The journey of self-discovery is one we all can relate. Having a crush on my nerdy math teacher Mr. Alvis and falling for the older cool guy was mine. Not too different from Stevie’s. A great listen!

Stevie Was Me

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