The Beautiful Struggle (Adapted for Young Adults)

January 1, 2021
Grades 9-12 Adapted from his New York Times-bestselling adult memoir, this title Coates' childhood and adolescence, focusing on his relationship with his father, Paul, and the impact of that relationship on his worldview. Through the lens of Paul, a ""Conscious Man,"" it would never be enough for Ta-Nehisi to be average, especially not growing up a Black boy in West Baltimore. Chronicling the lessons, joys, failures, and ultimately growth in his childhood and adolescence, Coates explores his experiences and understanding of what it meant for him to come into manhood while simultaneously offering sociocultural contextualization of the history of the crack-cocaine epidemic, the emergence of conscious hip hop, and the school-to-prison pipeline. This title would be a great read for parent and child bonding, but it would also make a great leisure read for the young person who finds solace in understanding the diversity of humanity of those around them. Included in the front pages is a map of Baltimore, which signals the various places the Coates family called home, in addition to a family tree showing the lineage of his clan.

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March 1, 2021

Gr 9 Up-In 2008, Coates published a memoir that focused on the lessons his father, Paul Coates, imparted throughout his life. Now, more than a decade later, this young adult adaptation emerges to reinvigorate the messages of Black pride, neighborhoods, and relationship dynamics. Rich conversations that reflect on Paul drive the narrative. Coates weaves in and out of his upbringing in Baltimore, Paul's interests in African culture that led to his work in publishing and with organizations like the Black Panther Party, and the upbringing of his children. The absence of dialogue cues may frustrate readers who are unaccustomed to this fluid style because, without breaks in the text, the pages are dense. However, the rhythmic stream of consciousness will appeal to focused, skilled readers who want to learn about Paul's experiences from the 1960s and 1970s and how his worldview molded his son, who was surrounded by the richness of education and the importance of reading. This paternal bond shines in every chapter. VERDICT While there has been an attempt to make this more accessible to a younger audience, the writing in the original is far stronger.-Alicia Abdul, Albany H.S., NY

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Starred review from November 15, 2020
The acclaimed author of Between the World and Me (2015) reflects on the family and community that shaped him in this adaptation of his 2008 adult memoir of the same name. Growing up in Baltimore in the '80s, Coates was a dreamer, all "cupcakes and comic books at the core." He was also heavily influenced by "the New York noise" of mid-to-late-1980s hip-hop. Not surprisingly then, his prose takes on an infectious hip-hop poetic-meets-medieval folklore aesthetic, as in this description of his neighborhood's crew: "Walbrook Junction ran everything, until they met North and Pulaski, who, craven and honorless, would punk you right in front of your girl." But it is Coates' father--a former Black Panther and Afrocentric publisher--who looms largest in his journey to manhood. In a community where their peers were fatherless, Coates and his six siblings viewed their father as flawed but with the "aura of a prophet." He understood how Black boys could get caught in the "crosshairs of the world" and was determined to save his. Coates revisits his relationships with his father, his swaggering older brother, and his peers. The result will draw in young adult readers while retaining all of the heart of the original. A beautiful meditation on the tender, fraught interior lives of Black boys. (maps, family tree) (Memoir. 14-18)

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