The Boys Club ─ Male Protagonists in Contemporary African American Young Adult Literature

Rountree (English, North Carolina Central U.) explores cultural, social, and psychological issues and themes in contemporary (post-Civil Rights era) young adult novels written by African American authors (both male and female) for a readership of African American boys. Issues discussed include violence, missing fathers, identity, sports, and romantic relationships, in the work of well-known and emerging authors such as Sharon Flake, Kenji Jasper, William McDaniels, and Jacqueline Woodson. An introduction reviews African American characters in adult literature by classic authors such as Ralph Ellison and Lorraine Hansberry. The introduction also looks at the relationship between African American boys and books in an era when reading can be seen as 'acting white.' Annotation c2011 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Wendy Rountree is Associate Professor of English at North Carolina Central University in Durham, North Carolina. Her expertise is in twentieth-century ethnic American literature with an emphasis in African American literature, twentieth-century American literature, and twentieth-century ethnic American drama. She has published scholarly articles, an academic book, Just Us Girls: The Contemporary African American Young Adult Novel (Lang, 2008), and a young adult novel, Lost Soul (2003). Dr. Rountree is a native of Kinston, North Carolina, and is a graduate of UNC-Chapel Hill (B.S.), East Carolina University (BA, MA), and the University of Cincinnati (PhD).