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
Danté is a Black college freshman who works as a model to pay his tuition. He is studying fashion with the hope of eventually having his own business and clothing line.
He prepares to get ready for a photo shoot by putting steaming water into his Great-Granny’s water basin, filling it with herbs, and putting his face over it to cleanse. However, when he looks down into the basin, he sees a face staring back at him.
He talks with the man in his basin and learns that the man is an enslaved person named John. He is alive in the 1840s and is fetching water from the basin for his master. The two discuss what their lives are like—with Danté trying to explain to him what his job is despite the fact that John does not understand what fashion or magazines are. John makes fun of him for not doing real work, while also telling him that he carves furniture for “freedom money.” John regularly returns to the fact that Danté’s hair is in “shackles,” failing to understand what dreadlocks are. Danté repeatedly uses the word “Whoa!” and explains to John that it means “slow down,” as one or the other of them is going too fast and not making any sense.
By Ibi Zoboi