e-Audio, 01:27:59
Narrated by: Tony Keith Jr.
Release Date: February 26, 2025
Published by: Quill Tree Books
Read from: March 11, 2025
Stand-alone
Source: Library’s Libby
Content Warning: N/A
For Readers Interested In: YA, Poetry, 2sLGBTQ+In Knucklehead, author, spoken word poet, and hip-hop educator Tony Keith Jr. pens a love letter to Black boys and men he affectionately calls, “knuckleheads,” a collection of poems created to liberate and affirm the truly expansive expression of Black masculinity.
dear Knucklehead,
perhaps you are like me:
always figuring out if your soul and your skin
are thick enough to protect your body from sticky stones
thrown from the mouths of those who know
that spoken words have the power to spit out freedom
and break-in bones.
While society often assigns the label “knucklehead” to kids with attitude problems, this brilliant and electric poetry collection subverts that narrow way of thinking, and empathizes with young people who are misunderstood, unheard, or ignored.
There are poems about the power of language to transcend the racist and homophobic constructs of a society prejudging Black boys. There are poems that serve as a salve for a world that inflicts hurt, poems that offer a beacon of hope for the curious and questioning, and poems that transform the way people love Black gay boys and men.
This is a journey of self-discovery through history, family, friendship, and falling in love. Knucklehead is a breathtaking work of art that will heal, provoke, and inspire.
*MY THOUGHTS*
I’m not a huge fan of poetry, but I read Keith’s novel in verse last year and loved it. I knew this was going to be good because of the title. And this one was better than the other.
Ok so the real reason I picked this one up was because I liked the title lol And after reading it and seeing why it was called that was very cool. I loved the message it had too. I will be gifting this to all the knuckleheads in my life. They all need to read these words
One thing I love about poetry is how versatile it is. Some might rhyme while others won’t. And some might have some very descriptive stanzas, while others might have only a few words. And that was one of the reasons I liked this one. Add on to the fact that the narrator was the author and it made it even better. I always love when authors do this so we can hear exactly where they intended to add inflections, or where they wanted to emphasize their words or anything more. It always makes it so much better. And this one had all of these things too.
I hope y’all go and read this. I don’t really know how to review this since it’s not exactly a novel in verse, just some poetry that ties in together. So basically, I’ll just say I enjoyed this, so I’m sure you will too. So go get it!
Overall, I give this
