Structure

Well-Read Black Girl is an anthology of essays and is thus divided into twenty-one separate entries by twenty-one different authors. Each author is connected to literature in some way, either a writer, critic, teacher, etc. The essays are in no particular order and are not grouped together by subject matter, thus it is unclear why the order proceeds as it does. However, every three, four, or five chapters, there is a short section in which Glory Edim, the founder of Well-Read Black Girl, puts together a list of recommended book titles for black girls. These ‘break-out’ sections range in subject matter from “Well-Read Black Girl Recommends: Classic Novels by Black Women” to “Well-Read Black Girl Recommends: Plays by Black Women,” and more.

Each essay is several pages in length, and all follow roughly the same format: they are written in first-person and provide a highly specific glimpse...