The Unboxing of a Black Girl

Finalist for the National Book Award
Finalist for the 2025 YALSA Excellence in Nonfiction for Young Adults Award
An ALA 2025 Rise: A Feminist Book Project Top Ten Book
2025 NCSS-CBC Notable Social Studies Book Winner
A Chicago Public Library Best of the Best Book of 2024
An SLJ Best Book of 2024
A Bank Street 2025 Best Children's Books of the Year Selection
A Children's Book Review Best Kids' Nonfiction Book of 2024

"Shanté adeptly addresses racism, implicit bias, gender, sexuality, sexual violence, and mental health, encouraging readers to care for themselves, think, research, and act. VERDICT Strongly recommended for all young adult collections."
-SLJ, starred review

"[A]n intoxicating and lyrical celebration of the complexities of being a young Black woman in America."
-National Book Foundation

"By weaving her personal experiences with reflections and observations, the author provides a rich tapestry of perspectives on Black girlhood. [...] A highly creative way of providing insightful social commentary."
-Kirkus Reviews

"The author's story is split into the boxes that Black women do and don't fit into, proving perseverance in a binary world and providing readers with the tools they need to understand [these] limitations[...]"
-Booklist

"A vivid witness to the trials and truths of being young, Black, and female. The smart sister, the generous friend every young woman wants, Angela Shanté shows how you can break away from constraints, become your own masterpiece, and find your own freedom."
-David Groff, author of Live in Suspense