This year represents the 50th anniversary of the birth of hip-hop, and Jordannah Elizabeth’s book celebrates the culture, artistry, and genius of Black musicians throughout history, beginning with the roots of African music and its influence on American music styles.

The book outlines the birth of hip-hop, different eras in the evolution of the music, and regional differences in style. Biographical profiles of important and influential artists, informative sidebar features and fact bubbles are featured throughout. In addition to discussing the profound impact of hip-hop on American music, the book also provides important context regarding other aspects of hip-hop culture, such as DJing, graffiti, break-dancing, and fashion. The author also briefly mentions some of the controversies surrounding certain artists or songs, such as misogynistic or violent lyrics, although she does not delve deeply into these issues.

Although the book is recommended for ages 8-12 (per Amazon), this book may be challenging for kids at the younger end of this range. The text can be dense and is filled with a great many details that might go above the heads of younger readers/listeners.

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Gibney features herself as the protagonist in this part memoir, part speculative fiction novel. Shannon Gibney and Erin Powers are one and the same person. However, there’s a primal difference in that one was adopted and the other wasn’t.

Using documents like vital records, correspondence written from her birth mother to her adoptive mother, and photographs of herself and family members, Gibney delivers a layered, complicated and enthralling tale told in the often underheard voice of a transracial adoptee. The author using her own name and photographs in the book make this book read like part autobiography and part science fiction.

The book is a challenging read that requires some suspension of disbelief. However, in the often misunderstood or misrepresented narrative of adoption, this story is an “authentic” piece of fiction written by a transracial adoptee. Shannon/Erin gets to be an explorer who time travels and jumps to other dimensions in order to piece together the story of not only the families that made and raised her but of the family she builds for herself well into her adulthood.

This book comes highly recommended for families formed by transracial adoption. The style and subject matter don’t make for an easy read but what valuable books are (easy reads)?

Don’t just hand this off to a teen to read in a vacuum, read it with them. If they want to talk about it, then discuss. If they don’t want to talk it’s still important for non-adoptees to read books like and show they care about the perspective, identity and narrative of the transracially adopted person. Just as Shannon and Erin catch glimpses of each other or their birth father at different points in space and time, the reader may catch glimpses of what it’s like to walk in the shoes of a transracial adoptee.

Highly recommended!