Diverse Reads Annotation (Homie by Danez Smith)

 GENERAL DETAILS

• Title: Homie
• Author: Danez Smith (they/them/theirs)
• Published: January 21st, 2020
• Publisher: Graywolf Press
• Length: 96 pages
• Series or Stand-alone: This is a stand-alone book. 
• Genre: Poetry
• Geographical Setting: United States
• Time Period: Modern day

BOOK SUMMARY

As a finalist for the NAACP Image Award for Poetry, Homie by Danez Smith is a brutal examination of race and sexuality within modern-day America. While many of the poems discuss emotionally difficult topics, such as the loss of a loved one, there is an undercurrent of hope, friendship, and love. 

CONNECTIONS TO THE DIVERSE READS GENRE

• This book is mostly written in African American Vernacular English (AAVE)
• The author is openly gay, so sexuality is freely discussed
• While reading this book, as a white person, I felt as if I was an outsider. This means that the author, who is Black, was truly writing from their heart and life experiences. While some of these experiences were uncomfortable to read, I felt as if I grew as a reader and person from this literary experience
• Poetry has a longstanding history of being predominantly written by white men. Modern poets, however, are much more diverse than the poets of the past. For example, many modern-day poets are female and/or non-white

KEYWORDS AND THEMES 

• Poetry
• Friendship
• Death
• Mourning
• Loss
• Hope
• Sexuality
• Race
• Non-fiction

READ-ALIKES (OTHER LGBTQ+ POETS)

You Better Be Lightning by Andrea Gibson (2021)

Nature Poem by Tommy Pico (2017)

When I Grow Up I Want to Be a List of Further Possibilities by Chen Chen (2017)

READ-ALIKES (OTHER BIPOC POETS)

Milk and Honey by Rupi Kaur (2014)

salt. by Nayyirah Waheed (2013)

bone by Yrsa Daley-Ward (2014)