How do the stories in Black Boy Joy treat heroes? What are some of the different approaches that the stories take to portraying heroes, and how do the boys in the stories find their heroes? What message do you think the authors are trying to send to Black boys about heroes?

How do the stories in Black Boy Joy portray Black boys compared to other stories about Black boys? Choose a story from outside of the collection and compare and contrast its representation of Black boys with that of one of the stories in the collection. What do these different representations suggest about The Impact of Representation on Self-Esteem?

What are some of the different portrayals of identity in Black Boy Joy? Choose three stories and compare and contrast the different ways that the protagonists in each story express their identity. Consider the ways that each protagonist talks, dresses, relates to family and friends, and spends free time. What do you think the stories that Mbalia chose to include suggest about the ways Black boys express their identity?

Why do you think Mbalia chose to split “The Griot of Grover Street” into three separate installments throughout the collection? How might the story have felt different if it appeared all at once at the beginning of the book? In what ways do the separate parts affect your reading of the stories that follow them?

What role does community play in creating joy in the collection? Choose one story that focuses on family and another that focuses on friends. How does each story illustrate The Pillars of Family and Friends? How do the roles of family and friends differ? How are they similar?

How do the stories contained within Black Boy Joy handle the topic of grief, and how does the experience of grief relate to the experience of joy? Choose one story and discuss its juxtaposition of joy and grief. How might the joyful elements of the story feel different without the grief elements, and vice versa?

Choose one story from the collection. What examples of symbolism, metaphor, or irony are present within this story? What unique contribution does this particular story make to each of the collection’s overarching themes?

What are some of The Joys of Black Boyhood that appear throughout the collection? Choose three stories that portray similar sources or types of joy. How do these portrayals differ? How are they similar?