65 pages • 2 hours read
Ibi ZoboiA modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Summary
Background
“Half a Moon” by Renée Watson
“Black Enough” by Varian Johnson
“Warning: Color May Fade” by Leah Henderson
“Black. Nerd. Problems.” by Lamar Giles
“Out of the Silence” by Kekla Magoon
“The Ingredients” by Jason Reynolds
“Oreo” by Brandy Colbert
“Samson and the Delilahs” by Tochi Onyebuchi
“Stop Playing” by Liara Tamani
“Wild Horses, Wild Hearts” by Jay Coles
“Whoa!” by Rita Williams-Garcia
“Gravity” by Tracey Baptiste
“The Trouble With Drowning” by Dhonielle Clayton
“Kissing Sarah Smart” by Justina Ireland
“Hackathon Summers” by Coe Booth
“Into the Starlight” by Nic Stone
“The (R)evolution of Nigeria Jones” by Ibi Zoboi
Character Analysis
Themes
Symbols & Motifs
Important Quotes
Essay Topics
Four teenage boys—Jamal, Big Boy, Flaco, and Randy—regularly go to the Kosciuszko Pool in Brooklyn in the summer, then to one of their houses after to hangout. On this day, they head to Flaco’s after swimming.
On the way there, the boys watch the signs at each of the bodegas advertising different sandwiches, as they are starving after swimming. They each discuss the type of sandwich they want. Big Boy tells them how he wants to get beef and broccoli from a Chinese restaurant, add soy and duck sauce, and make it into a sandwich. Jamal talks about a hero with veggies like they see on the bodega signs, or a pastrami sandwich built on a challah roll. Randy wants a Polish sausage and sauerkraut, even though he can’t pronounce “sauerkraut.” When they make fun of Flaco for wanting a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, he revises it to “one of them veggie sandwiches [he] always be seeing these white people get” served on pumpernickel bread, with bacon on top (113).
When the boys arrive at Flaco’s, they again talk about the sandwiches they want, as Flaco goes into the kitchen to get food. He returns with cereal and milk, telling them “don’t worry” he’s “got sugar” (115).
By Ibi Zoboi