Black Girl Stories

Rita Williams-Garcia, Best-Selling Middle School and Young Adult Author

Award-winning writer Rita Williams-Garcia captures the voices of young Black girls and teens in thirteen books that present the joys, realities and challenges of coming-of-age. Her books underscore the value of the Black family, provide the complexity of Black girls in America, and explore the impact of societal issues such as grief, depression, drugs, and war on the Black family.

Williams-Garcia is very intentional about providing an historical, sociological and political context for her novels and readers will be exposed to popular culture, politics, and social movements of particular periods in this country.

In her trilogy, One Crazy Summer (Amistad, 2010), P.S. Be Eleven (Amistad, 2013), and Gone Crazy in Alabama (Amistad, 2015), Williams-Garcia presents a three year period in the life of the Gaither sisters, Delphine, Vonetta, and Fern. The events that occur in this three year period are transformative for the sisters.

Set in the late 1960s in Oakland, California, the Gaither sisters in One Crazy Summer meet their mother who left their father shortly after Fern, the youngest sister was born.

Anxious and conflicted about meeting their mother who is a poet and a member of the Black Panthers, they create a supportive bond among themselves and come to appreciate and accept the lifestyle and value system of a mother who loves her children but who has made a decision to fulfill her life’s goals in a different way.

While in Oakland they learn of African American history and of the relationship between art, literature, and activism. P.S. Be Eleven places the sisters in Brooklyn, New York. They have met their mother and upon returning to Brooklyn, they learn that they will now have a stepmother as a result of their father’s decision to marry. “P.S. Be Eleven” are the words that Delphine’s mother continues to remind her at the end of each letter that she writes to her oldest daughter. She encourages her daughter to enjoy her family, school, and social activities as she enters adolescence.

Gone Crazy in Alabama continues the story of the Gaither sisters, Delphine, Vonetta, and Fern as they spend the summer with their grandmother, Big Ma. During that summer, they learn about the history of their ancestors, both Black and Native American, who survived enslavement, the Trail of Tears, and the Jim Crow South. They are also witnesses to family secrets.

Williams-Garcia’s No Laughter Here, (Quill Tree Books, 2010) explores the relationship between two adolescent girls, Victoria from the United States and Akilah from Nigeria. Victoria and Akilah attend the same school and are extremely close.

However, their relationship changes when Akilah comes home after spending a summer in Nigeria. She is silent and her disposition has changed; the relationship falters. When Victoria learns of the reason for Akilah’s change, she and her mother take action to address Akilah’s secret and to offer her support.

At the core of No Laughter Here is the subject of female genital mutilation (FGM), a practice that is ongoing in many countries. FGM is conducted with young girls and can have long-lasting physical and emotional effects. It is estimated that 200 million girls and women alive today have undergone some form of FGM.

The practice is primarily found in Africa with over 144 million cases, followed by Asia with 80 million cases, and the Middle East with 6 million cases. Efforts to ban FGM are ongoing and there is an International Day of Zero Tolerance for FGM that is observed on February 6 of every year. International Day of Zero Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation 2025 | UNICEF. Williams- Garcia’s addressing of this topic in adolescent literature is courageous and important as the world addresses the harm done to these girls.

Williams-Garcia’s contributions to Black Girl Stories span more than 30 years. In an interview conducted with Professor Donna Hill, Executive Director of the Center for Black Literature at Medgar Evers College, Williams-Garcia discussed her motivation for writing stories about Black Girls. As a young girl growing up in Queens, she saw very few stories where Black girls were the central characters and found that many of the books featuring Black characters were written by White authors.

She wanted to add more humanity to the stories of Black girls and to create stories that would reflect the language, themes, music, and culture of the Black experience. Thus, she has always been concerned about affirming the experiences of Black girls and ensuring that their voices are heard. Williams-Garcia’s books will resonate with youth of all ages and have helped to sustain the legacy of Black literature for youth in our schools, libraries, and bookstores. This is particularly critical when books by Black writers are being banned. For more information visit About Me — Rita Williams-Garcia.

Rita Williams-Garcia will be honored at the 2025 National Black Writers Conference on Young Adult and Middle School Literature at Medgar Evers College on March 29, 2025. For more information about the conference visit www.centerforblackliterature.org

Dr. Brenda M. Greene is Professor of English and Founder and Executive Director Emeritus of the Center for Black Literature at Medgar Evers College, CUNY.