Most of Robinet's books have characters, plots, and themes reminiscent of Alfa Merryfield and his family. In particular, Shortning Bread Jackson and his sister Peanuts in Mississippi Chariot (1994) are attempting to earn and save money to help their family escape to Chicago during the Depression. Shortning Bread is resourceful like Alfa and uses his intelligence to trick and manipulate people into believing him to achieve his needs. The novel also explores black-white interactions. In Missing from Haymarket Square (2001), an 1886 Chicago family is evicted from their home and desperate to acquire money for food and help the father, a labor organizer who has been unjustly incarcerated, escape from prison.

Archie Givens, editor of Spirited Minds: African-American Books for Our Sons and Our Brothers (1997), with an introduction by Gordon Parks, describes 107 books, representing various age groups and genres, that portray African-American male perspectives. Young adult books...