After stepping into a Missouri bookstore devoted to children's books written by and about African Americans, an 11-year-old boy started a book club for African-American kid-lit. Sidney Keys III's "Books N Bros" book club promotes shared reading experiences for boys between the ages of 8 and 10, because, as Keys' mother, Winnie Caldwell, tells St. Louis on the Air, "that is statistically the age they stop reading [and] we wanted to combat that."
So what titles has Books N Bros read so far? Favorite selections include Danny Dollar Millionaire Extraordinaire and The Supadupa Kid by Ty Allan Jackson, Hidden Figures by Margot Lee Shetterly, and A Song for Harlem by Patricia McKissack. The book club meets once per month for one hour of book discussion, followed by a half-hour of gaming time at the local Microsoft Store.
Books N Bros isn't the only child-founded book club for young readers of color. Another St. Louis group, Nerdy Girls, was organized by 8-year-old Kennedy Rain Thompson and her mother, Akiba. And who could forget 11-year-old Marley Dias' #1000BlackGirlBooks drive, for any young book nerd tired of reading about "white boys and dogs"?
Lt Books N Bros know what your favorite African-American kid-lit titles are on Instagram!
