Rating: 
Summary: A Great Coming-Of-Age Book
Review: I could not put this book down for a second. A. Sinclair explores the life of Jean Stevenson (Stevie) growing up in Chicago during the 1960's. During her teenage life, she goes through struggling for an understanding of herself as a woman, standing up for what she believes in when it comes to her mother, and her unsureness of her sexuality. A great coming-of-age book that relates to the issues that teenage girls deal with, especially when it comes to sex.
Rating: 
Summary: An enjoyable read.
Review: I got this book from the library over a year ago because on the first page Stevie askes her mom "What's a Virgin" and I thought, well this might be interesting. This book talks about a young girl named Stevie growing up in the 1960s Chicago. She makes a few school friends along the way and at the same time tries to figure her own self out. She hangs out with a variety of different characters. I like this book even more towards the second half when she "rebels" and grows an afro. Jean "Stevie" stays true to herself and never tries to be somebody that she's not. She questions her sexuality, some she explores in 'Ain't gonna be the same fool twice' and she has a really cool grandma, didn't care too much for her parents, mom was too old fashioned. I would reccomend this book to anyone really. Race is just as big an issue in this book than lesbianism.
Rating:
Summary: Fantastic Novel!
Review: I just happened to stumble upon this novel this morning in the libaray at my school and I can't put it down! April Sinclair is a poignant, powerful, hilarious writer. I can't wait to read more of her work and I'm sorry I didn't stumble upon her sooner. READ THIS BOOK,YA'LL!
Rating:
Summary: It isn't scolding
Review: I read this book so many years ago, and mainly because it was causing such a controversy at a school I just had to know what was "so bad" about this book.It's a coming of age story where you meet young Stevie, a L7 (square) whose learning all about life and what it has to offer as far as what is a friend? a period? and the big deal about sex? I think April Sinclair did an excellent job, we need books because sometimes mama can't talk to you because she's too afraid! I was tempted to call the school up and ask why the big fuss?
Rating:
Summary: coffee will make you black
Review: I thought that the book, Coffee will make you Black by April Sinclair, was very interesting especially coming from a teenage girls perspective on life. I found myself relating to many of the problems and situations that the main character, Jean Stevenson, went through. From being a young girl and having a hard time fitting in to growing up and dealing with boys. I think that Jean deals with all of the things that most young girls deal with at her age and most of us can relate to her. The author describes her transition from a young girl who is curious about exploring her and others while reading it. I got caught up in the situations she got into. Although there was really no climax or turning point in the book, I couldn't put it down. This book is very easy to read except for the parts where she talks in slang might get a bit confusing. Even though the book isn't that short it goes by very quickly. From the very beginning you get caught up in the story. The story starts off with Jean in class getting a note from one of the boys in her class and ends with self- discovery. This book is very similar to reading a diary. It includes her thoughts on things such as the boys in her life, friends, enemies, and homosexuality. Jean lives in Chicago with her mother and father. Her mother works at a bank where she really isn't treated fairly by the other workers. Her father is a janitor at a hospital where he is also treated badly by his superiors. Jean is ashamed of her father's job. This book deals a lot with Jean wanting to be popular also some issues having to do with the times this book was set in (1960s). The main issues at hand are racial and sexual issues. All in all I thought this book was funny, well written, and heart-warming.
Rating:
Summary: Incredible...
Review: I was so excited to find a book with a female author whose not complaining about how she has no man, a bad/good sex life, and kids. People want to read about people in their age range or about different topics and so far only Omar Tyree and April Sinclair have done that (although Eric Jerome Dickey is great too!) Anyway, this book was about a young girl growing up with streetwise intelligence, classbook intelligence, and a very curious mind. This book touched upon every question that girls usually have growing up--What's the first time like? What teachers do I like? Whose a cool friend? What's a period like? Etc. I don't understand why the slang would've been confusing, as another reviewer stated, because I followed it clearly. I plan to read all of her books now!
Rating:
Summary: A Great Book For Teens
Review: In the book Coffee Will Make You Black, by April Sinclair, the lead character Jean Stevenson, Stevie to her friends, tells in a narrative perspective of her adolescent years, growing up in Chicago in the 1960's. The book is like Stevie's diary. She tells you her experiences with boys, girls, love, sex, popularity, school and racism in a comical and to-the-point fashion. The book is a quick, easy, fun read that hooks you from the start. It deals with very realistic issues that are fun and interesting to read about. The book makes you feel like you are part of Stevie's chaotic life. She gives you the opportunity to share her deepest, darkest, secrets. On a scale of 1 to 10, I would rate the book an 8. I enjoyed reading it greatly, and finished it in one day. I liked reading it because it dealt with issues that I deal with. It tells of Stevie's hard times with boys, other girls, sex, love, popularity, which are all important to me now as a freshman in high school. It didn't take very long to get into the book because the first page is a humorous anecdote about a boy asking if 12 year old Stevie is a virgin. Stevie, confused with the meaning of virgin, goes home and asks her mamma. The whole book is little anecdotes like the one above so I liked it from the start. The book isn't very short yet the words and vocabulary are very easy and simply written so stumbling over big words is not a problem. Nothing very big happens in the book, it stays rather monotone throughout. Something I found a little hard to understand was the slang. Since Stevie is growing up in the sixties in Chicago, there are bound to be differences in slang but overall the read is easy. It may be hard for younger people to read this book because they might not get what some of the terms mean. This book reminded me of many movies about teenage-hood. Like American Pie or Election. I have never read another book by April Sinclair but I enjoyed this book and will read other works by this author. In class we have reading groups where there are four groups of five kids and each group reads a different book. To decide which book to read the teacher read the first pages of every book. I enjoyed the first page so I signed up to read this book. Since the book is written from a females perspective, I think that girls would relate and enjoy reading it more because it deals with female issues. I can imagine a guy not understanding the complete intent of the author. The book is very funny so I think that the reader should have a good sense of humor, and maybe someone that grew up in the sixties could relate to an even greater extent. " What does 'coffee will make you black mean mama?' 'The old folks in the South used to tell that to children so they wouldn't want to drink coffee. The last thing anybody wanted to be was black."' This quote is from page 111 in the book. I chose this quote not only because it is obviously the line in which the title of the book comes from, but because it also represents the feelings about different races at the time. I don't get why people ever thought that darker skin made a difference. Personally I think all racism is ridiculous and that this quote is very interesting. To think that back then the children were told that in order to stay lighter they shouldn't drink coffee is ridiculous. It shows that back then they weren't proud of their skin color and would do anything, like not drink coffee, to stay lighter. I wonder if maybe this saying was also to keep kids from just drinking coffee. Maybe they didn't want the children to drink too much caffeine. In any case being darker was the worst thing imaginable. I hope that this quote shows a little bit of how the book is written. This is a more serious moment in the book but I thought it was important. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!
Rating:
Summary: DAMN!
Review: Sadly enough, two weeks ago I had to toss out my AUTOGRAPHED, 1ST EDITION COPIES of "Coffee will Make You Black" and "Ain't gonna be..." because while i was packing things up to move someone spilled BEER on them! Even after drying them out, they stunk to high heaven. Not only am I upset that I had to throw them out, now I can't read them until I get new copies. Oh well. These books are worth it. Why this story about Stevie hasn't been made into a movie yet is BEYOND me.
Rating:
Summary: DAMN!
Review: Sadly enough, two weeks ago I had to toss out my AUTOGRAPHED, 1ST EDITION COPIES of "Coffee will Make You Black" and "Ain't gonna be..." because while i was packing things up to move someone spilled BEER on them! Even after drying them out, they stunk to high heaven. Not only am I upset that I had to throw them out, now I can't read them until I get new copies. Oh well. These books are worth it. Why this story about Stevie hasn't been made into a movie yet is BEYOND me.
Rating:
Summary: A Life Experience
Review: Stevie, a young, black girl living in Chicago experiences new changes in life to discover her sexual identity. The book is beautifully written and should have been a bestseller.
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