Shay YoungbloodCritiques

A beautiful story of the community that is built when a mother needs to work and depends on her chosen family to care for her child. Told from the child's perspective, we see the beautiful relationships and wide range of possibilities the child sees. This book also has a lovely representation of culture and faith.

Story is lovely; author's note is great.
Tell your stories, and why they are important.

I fell in love with the cover of this book. I only wish the contents were as amazing.

"A name, a birthday an entire life can be invented, and that being so, can be changed."

Eden left her simple life in a small town to start a new life in Paris. She has thoughts of being a writer. While in Paris, she is often daydreaming about all the other African-American expat writers that came to the city before her. Her main goal is to locate the most famous of all these writers, James Baldwin.

The relationships Eden was in and the jobs she held while in Paris were complex and at times risky. Some were interesting. Others were strange and undeveloped. Eden went to Paris to develop creatively but ended up simply trying to survive.

I'd never heard of this book when I got it out of the library. I simply picked it up because I liked the cover art. I didn't even read the blurb on the back to find out what it was about. Black Girl in Paris was a pleasant surprise. This book is about a young black woman who moves to Paris to follow in the footsteps of her literary heroes, mainly James Baldwin.

The story describes her struggle to survive in a foreign city with no work papers and no money. During her time there she has a variety of odd jobs including artist model, nanny, and poet's helper. At one point she even ends up befriending a thief and learning how to steal what she needs.

I liked reading about an account of living in Paris that looked beyond the romantic setting at the hard cold realities of living in the city. I loved reading about the eclectic cast of characters she meets during her stay.

The writing is straight forward and beautiful. I didn't feel compelled to skim any of it. That's something I'm guilty of doing when I think an author is getting a bit too carried away explaining the details.

I'd definitely recommend this book.

Black Girl in Paris by Shay Youngblood is a colorful literary jazz arrangement where the author's narrative improvisations transport the reader through the streets of Paris, deconstructing in their wake many fixed preconceived ideas about France and its influence on African American artists. The interest these virtuosos show for the city of lights is still undeniable in spite of, or due to, the present tumultuous situation between the United States and France. However, one must confront the image of a haven that is free of racism with other more paradoxical representations in order to gauge the full extent of the French influence for African American artists of the twentieth century.

I really enjoyed this book and some quotes give food for thought.Embraces the Blues and the Jazz in the vein of Jean Toomer, Langston Hughes, James Baldwin or Ishmael Reed. Good stuff.

I am a senior citizen, female, white, and I truly enjoyed reading this novel. Youngblood draws a portrait of a young American black woman, Eden, who leaves the security of her family and life in the South to find icreative inspiration from James Baldwin in Paris. Her friendships, romantic relationships, jobs, escapades, are fun, poignant, and at times a little shocking, but the young Eden must be admired for her bravery and determination, as well as for her ability to have empathy for others.

This beautiful book is both a coming-of-age story of Eden, an American woman of color, and an homage to the Paris that Americans flocked to in the '20s and 30s. Eden goes through a series of low paying (and occasionally humiliating) jobs in her search for James Baldwin. Eden reflects on Baldwin's life and his writing as well as her own life as a woman of color in late '80s Paris. Facing violence -- from Parisians, foreign terrorists -- she still finds friends and lovers, and eventually, some of herself. As someone who has always dreamed of escaping to Paris to find myself, living through Eden was an uncomfortable but revealing experience.

It's not too often that I read a book that I can't put down. In reference to this book, that was exactly the case.Although this is the author's first work, I found myself unable to stop reading because of the way in which she writes.I feel that this book is great because it allows the reader to be exposed to various personalities of the main character. When I first saw the title of this book, I'll admit, I was somewhat offended.I didn't know why I felt that way, it just seemed like the term "black" was somewhat degrading to say the least.However, once I began reading the book, I realized that this was not so, and that the title was based on not her own view of herself but how others saw her. Throughout the course of the book, the main character Eden takes on various different roles and we as the reader are given an opportunity to see how she deals with each role with dignity.Even when she is a thief, she still makes the reader feel for her as well as her situation. I believe that this is a great book for anyone to read, whether they are black, white, or any other color.Not only will people be able to relate with the experience of being a stranger in a strange land, but also, they will get a glimpse into the soul of a person.

It's not too often that I read a book that I can't put down. In reference to this book, that was exactly the case.Although this is the author's first work, I found myself unable to stop reading because of the way in which she writes.I feel that this book is great because it allows the reader to be exposed to various personalities of the main character. When I first saw the title of this book, I'll admit, I was somewhat offended.I didn't know why I felt that way, it just seemed like the term "black" was somewhat degrading to say the least.However, once I began reading the book, I realized that this was not so, and that the title was based on not her own view of herself but how others saw her. Throughout the course of the book, the main character Eden takes on various different roles and we as the reader are given an opportunity to see how she deals with each role with dignity.Even when she is a thief, she still makes the reader feel for her as well as her situation. I believe that this is a great book for anyone to read, whether they are black, white, or any other color.Not only will people be able to relate with the experience of being a stranger in a strange land, but also, they will get a glimpse into the soul of a person.

It's not too often that I read a book that I can't put down. In reference to this book, that was exactly the case.Although this is the author's first work, I found myself unable to stop reading because of the way in which she writes.I feel that this book is great because it allows the reader to be exposed to various personalities of the main character. When I first saw the title of this book, I'll admit, I was somewhat offended.I didn't know why I felt that way, it just seemed like the term "black" was somewhat degrading to say the least.However, once I began reading the book, I realized that this was not so, and that the title was based on not her own view of herself but how others saw her. Throughout the course of the book, the main character Eden takes on various different roles and we as the reader are given an opportunity to see how she deals with each role with dignity.Even when she is a thief, she still makes the reader feel for her as well as her situation. I believe that this is a great book for anyone to read, whether they are black, white, or any other color.Not only will people be able to relate with the experience of being a stranger in a strange land, but also, they will get a glimpse into the soul of a person.

Few books speak so clearly in the voice of a female adolescent and this one accurately hits the nail on the head. A troubled single mother, the absent father immortalized and embellished in comfortable memory, and the extended family of matriarchs who step forward to provide the life foundation when called upon--all are part of the story of Marian Kin Santos presented in this debut novel.

This young girl, with the aforementioned supporting cast, manages to find her way through the confusion of family, friendships, and sexuality, emerging in a way that leaves you wondering if she will thrive or merely survive the unpredictability of life. In the end, you root for her---because you always root for yourself---and watch her struggle to make sense of reality and dreams, love and lust, the need to define blood relatives and real family. This truly was an enjoyable read for those seeking answers to the same life questions.½

(#21 in the 2008 book challenge) This was one of those novels where, as I was reading, I thought two things. 1. This is a pretty good book, and 2. This book probably isn't for me. A young African-American woman decides to leave her job and set out for France, based on the long and rich tradition of black artists finding inspiration and sanctuary in Paris. Once there, she meets a series of people from all walks of life, each of whom give her some insight into an aspect of Paris. Naturally, as these things go, some of these encounters include romantic entanglements. In the fine tradition of young people going to Europe on a shoestring budget, another primary concern is finding ways to bring in some cash. This was one of the aspects of the book that was a bit distant to me -- I am one of those people who traveled once on a tight budget when I was right out of college, and I was probably out of the house for about 10 minutes when I realized that absolutely sucked and resolved never again to partake in any kind of trip without an enormous expense fund. Hence, I don't travel that much, but when I do, watch out. And, like every other American who visited Paris in the 1980s, I had a burning question on my mind, and wondered whether or not Youngblood would address it in this novel, and that is: Why don't people clean up after their dogs? And she did! It's a little freaky to me how satisfied I was when this came up in the book, because she did such a thorough job of making me remember when I was a young American on my first trip to Paris, and she evoked all those images of the "first times" that one encounters on one's Paris sojourn, and so the dog poo thing was legitimately part of all those memories. Overall, it was nicely written and creative and successful at capturing many of the things that are unique to Paris. There was possibly too much "young person experimenting sexually while abroad" for my taste, but then again, I am old and cranky.

Grade: B+
Recommended: People who love Paris, especially the "student/young person on a budget" Paris experience.

Bad Books 559
The Women's Press, 2001

This is a gorgeously written, disturbing coming of age story. I felt strange wanting to continue reading. If I remember correctly, the book was slightly plotless, yet you want to know how the little girl ends up.

This is a sobering read chockfull of real everyday life.