Rapunzella, Or, Don't Touch My Hair

April 15, 2024
In this fairy-tale remix inspired by Jamaican folklore and Indigenous culture, three girls must learn to harness their power to topple a tyrant. You, the story's protagonist, are 6 when you first dream of the land of Xaymaca and befriend Kam and Zella, sister witches whose immense power emanates from their hair. The three of you are destined to fight the evil King who enslaved the witches' coven, but what can you do without magic? Ten years later, that question remains as you--a Black British girl growing up in London--wrestle with insecurities, your feelings for your best friend (a boy named Baker), and your longing for acceptance by your popular white classmates. But with Kam now magicless and Zella trapped in a forest of her own hair, facing the King alone, you must make a choice: Will you run from your power or finally step into it? Told in verse and second-person prose, this story skillfully balances the whimsy of an enchanting fantasy world with a candid portrait of growing up and an incisive exploration of Black identity. Although opaque motivations at times reduce the characters to pawns of the plot, tempering the emotional impact of their actions, this rich, multilayered story begs for discussion; sophisticated readers will catch many of its nuances. Most named characters are Black; one is trans and part of a loving, on-page lesbian relationship. This imaginative, lyrical coming-of-age story celebrates Black Girl Magic. (author's note) (Fantasy. 14-adult)

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May 27, 2024
Verse and prose in alternating second- and third-person POVs coalesce into an ensorcelling portal fantasy in which a 15-year-old Black Caribbean British girl travels between contemporary life in Britain and a brewing conflict in the Jamaica-inspired fantasy world she visits in her sleep. Mush dreams of Persea, a realm in which a coven of Black witches opposes a tyrannical king who robs them of their magic by changing their hair texture (“And so, every Black woman at once ceased to know their natural hair”). Their only hope is Zella, a 16-year-old witch the king has imprisoned. In Mush’s waking life, she relaxes her hair, hoping to gain favor with her affluent classmates at her predominantly white all-girls school. Meanwhile, Zella and the witches of Persea plot to retake their power. But without Mush, they may not be enough. The mystical world of Persea and its lush natural environment juxtaposed against the austere, rapidly evolving metropolitan landscape is immersive. In both worlds, McLeod (The Map That Led to You) compassionately interrogates the relationship between Black women, their hair, and respectability politics, making for a fine tribute to chosen families, and to Black women in all their rich complexity. Ages 12–up.

June 1, 2024
Grades 9-12 McLeod's ode to Black hair is a message for everyone. An unnamed British teen dreams of witches battling a tyrant king bent on becoming all-powerful. In the waking world, she lives as a normal teen with normal teen problems: she wants to fit in and be liked. She finds solace in Val's hair salon, a place where gentle hands apply avocado oil and transform her hair. Eventually, both worlds clash, and the teen must help defeat the king and free Rapunzella from her tower. Told in alternating prose and a compelling second-person narrative, this daring book has a lot of heart. McLeod leans into discomfort when highlighting passive racism, and the main character's complicated relationship with hair will resonate with Black girls of all ages. The use of the second-person narrative may be jarring and initially disorienting, but it heightens the character's experiences. This poetic mash-up of fairy tales and the real world is the perfect response to a society that undervalues Blackness.

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