Sure, I'll Be Your Black Friend

I really appreciated the author's candor and remained invested in his story and interested in what he had to say. I enjoyed his previous YA fiction, and the social commentary and wit in those books carried over into his adult nonfiction.

LOVED this one, went from laugh-out-loud moments to feeling bits of overwhelming rage on Philippe's behalf back to appreciation at his exquisitely deployed pop culture references. I know his YA novels ([b:The Field Guide to the North American Teenager 36284785 The Field Guide to the North American Teenager Ben Philippe https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1529945233l/36284785.SY75.jpg 57947197], [b:Charming as a Verb 49867239 Charming as a Verb Ben Philippe https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1582830300l/49867239.SX50.jpg 74949254]) have been well-regarded but I hadn't gotten around to reading them yet–definitely bumping them up on my TBR now!!I will add a CW for some talk about weight loss (and gain) that he acknowledges as being ~problematic as he writes it but then says also basically, it's his memoir and his feelings about his body caused by the society he grew up in and like, is he not supposed to write about it? And: fair. Just mentioning it for any who might find it triggering. (In addition to the discussion of racism, police brutality etc which also might be triggering but maybe more expected here.)

I am a big fan of Philippe's writing so my enjoyment of this is predicated on that. This is more of a memoir than a book about race relations, which is the impression given by the cover art and subtitle. It's funny and very relatable; his discourse on “the one that got away” which addresses the things which shape us that have nothing to do with how we look, really struck a chord with me.

3 for 3: Ben Philippe writing + James Fouhey reading = magic. This is Phillipe's first nonfiction and not specifically YA. I went back to the book to read the end matter, because unfortunately the audiobook didn't include his list of terms, which were definitely additive. I especially liked his chapter about a male friend break-up, because that's a perspective I don't see often enough. This book is honest and snarky and really funny and a little meta, recommended for HS to adult. 3 books in and I say with confidence that if he's writing it, I'm reading it, especially if Fouhey reads the audio!