SOURCE: "Growing Up Black," in Women's Review of Books, Vol. 3, No. 2, November, 1985, p. 11.

In the following book review, White praises both Jamaica Kincaid's novel Annie John and Shange's novel Betsey Brown for their representations of young African American women.

So complementary are their titles and tan jacket covers that a precious childlike innocence seems to grace the bookshelf when Jamaica Kincaid's Annie John and Ntozake Shange's Betsey Brown sit next to each other. But these novels are not likely to spend much time on dusty shelves or in attic cartons.

With poignancy and a kind of bashful simplicity, the authors portray the growing pains of two young black girls. Kincaid, a staff writer for The New Yorker, crafts equally fetching moments of joy and sorrow for her seemingly autobiographical protagonist, Annie John. The quick prose and distinctive detail that are the hallmarks of successful short stories are often...