We Are Not Broken

by George M. Johnson

New memoir from George M. Johnson, the New York Times bestselling author of All Boys Aren't Blue—a "deeply impactful" (Nic Stone), "striking and joyful" (Laurie Halse Anderson), and "stunning read" (Publishers Weekly, starred) that celebrates Black boyhood and brotherhood in all its glory! This is the vibrant story of George, Garrett, Rall, and Rasul -- four children raised by Nanny, their fiercely devoted grandmother. The boys hold each other close through early brushes with racism, memorable experiences at the family barbershop, and first loves and losses. And with Nanny at their center, they are never broken. George M. Johnson captures the unique experience of growing up as a Black boy in America through rich family stories that explore themes of vulnerability, sacrifice, and culture. Complete with touching letters from the grandchildren to their beloved matriarch and a full color photo insert, this heartwarming and heartbreaking memoir is destined to become a modern classic of emerging adulthood.

Genres: Nonfiction, Memoir, LGBT, Audiobook, Queer, Contemporary, Biography

241 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 7, 2021

About the author

George Matthew Johnson, more commonly known as George M. Johnson, is a queer Black American author, journalist, and activist. They are best known as the author of the memoir-manifesto All Boys Aren't Blue.

Reviews

[George Johnson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I wrote it so I hope you all love it lol

[Aiden Thomas · Rating 5 out of 5]

George M. Johnson has done it again — they have written a beautiful book that will take up a honey-sweet and sun-warmed residence in my soul for a long time to come. WE ARE NOT BROKEN is a gorgeous love letter to Black matriarchs who give everything to love, care for and protect their children. It’s about the importance of family and the unbreakable bonds that supersede blood and last far longer than a lifetime. While society constantly vilifies Black boys before they can even reach puberty, WE ARE NOT BROKEN shares stories about how love, care and the freedom to be soft and vulnerable can be not only healing, but life-changing.

[Jan Agaton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely loved ALL BOYS AREN'T BLUE with George M. Johnson's narration, so I simply had to read this audibly as well. This one has a heavier focus on family in addition to identity, which was super sweet. This author surely has a way with words and storytelling technique. This memoir is equal parts heartwarming and heart-wrenching while being utterly inspiring overall.

TW: homophobia, bullying, racism

[Glenda Nelms · Rating 5 out of 5]

We Are not Broken is a love letter to Black Joy and Black Boyhood! Amazingly beautiful tribute to George M Johnson's Grandmother.

[Lukas Lee · Rating 5 out of 5]

“This book is also a love letter to Blackness and the Black-boy experience. We got to be Black boys in totality and experience a wider world. When we consider the term “Black boy joy”, what do we mean? I think many people think so macro that they forget the magic in the small moments.”

[Lauren Stoolfire · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was excellent. It ought to be required reading.

[sol✯]

this is gonna hurt me so bad

[Cindy Waugh · Rating 5 out of 5]

Omg! Another awesome and wonderful tribute to Black Joy and Nannie!

[Samantha · Rating 4 out of 5]

We Are Not Broken is a great addition to Johnson's debut book, All Boys Aren't Blue. In their second book, we get a more indepth look in to the lives of Matt, their crew of cousins and brother and their Grandmother, who had a heavy hand in raising them. 

To put it simply, this book is a love letter to Black boyhood, a love letter to Black joy, and a love letter to Black matriarchs. This book was filled with love, joy strength, family, a PRAYING grandma, can I get an Amen?! AMEN!!

We are not Broken shares stories of Black boys getting the chance to be children, to play, to be nutured and loved, by family and each other. I hope we get to see more stories like this where Black boys are loved and protected.

[Kelly]

Johnson is one of the best memoirists writing for YA readers right now. This book is an encapsulation of the joys and challenges of growing up a Black boy in America and it's a tremendous love letter to Johnson's grandmother and cousins, who helped shape them to be who they are today. Interstitials from Johnson's cousins written as letters to their grandma are beautiful and poignant. This is a book about grief, but the way it's written is a tremendous celebration of a force of Black womanhood and Black family life. The audio is performed by the author and it is tremendous.

[Jay DeMoir · Rating 3 out of 5]

Though not as strong as 'All Boys Aren't Blue,' I still really enjoyed this book. It reminded me of my own childhood with my Grams and the cousins I grew up with like siblings.

Such a beautiful tribute to a woman he cherished. It just didn't grab ahold of me and submerge me into a narrative like the first book, and that's alright.

[Cassie | Cassie’s Next Chapter · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thanks to Hachette Audio for my gifted copy of this audiobook!

I couldn’t get to WE ARE NOT BROKEN fast enough, and wow did it deliver! I absolutely loved this ode to Nanny, his grandmother who recently passed. It was moving, funny, tender, enlightening, and so fierce. Read by the author, I can’t recommend it enough!

[Snow · Rating 5 out of 5]

I would honestly read a book about every member of this family. 🥰

[piper monarchsandmyths · Rating 5 out of 5]

i read this memoir before ALL BOYS AREN’T BLUE, and though i had already planned on reading the aforementioned, this book pushed me to request it at my library in the middle of reading. George M. Johnson is such a potent and talented storyteller, that it was near impossible to put this book down. it’s not always an easy book to read based on the topics discussed, but an easy book to read because of the skill with which Johnson crafts a story. this is a book that doesn’t shy away from trauma, but most importantly chooses to intentionally highlight the joy and love that’s very evidently a large part of both the story and Johnson’s life.

this is the kind of book that i can see myself returning to, the kind of book that you can open to any page and get something out of it, though it’s still at it’s best all at once. frankly, it’s also a great book for those who aren’t as big into nonfiction as the fluidity and (for lack of a better word) melodic writing carries the story better than a number of fiction books. furthermore, though this is by no means the central focus, as someone who’s repeatedly fiddled with the label of nonbinary, this book made me feel more at peace, more settled within my identity as a nonbinary person, even if that label doesn’t end up sticking.

if it’s not clear, i really would recommend this book, whether you like nonfiction or not. it’s such a well written story, but also such a necessary one as well, and i’m infinitely glad that i picked it up.

[Sarah Krajewski · Rating 5 out of 5]

Meet Matt, Garrett, Lil’ Rall, and Rasul, four boys raised by their loyal and loving Nanny. Each of these stories shows the boys’ devotion to one another, and their grandmother, as they grow up in Plainfield, New Jersey. They experience everything from racism to fun times at the family barbershop, as well as first loves, tough losses, and so much more. Through it all, their matriarch—Nanny—is front and center, keeping them bonded, surrounded by love, and never broken. Combinations of stories, photos, and letters to Nanny will have you doing everything from laughing to crying.

This book is Black boy joy. I can’t say enough about George M. Johnson’s gorgeous writing. His words and stories will touch your soul, as will Nanny.

[Kate · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is another amazing book by George Johnson. His two books have taught me more about parenting and grand parenting than I though possible for a young man with no children. But then he I teaching us from the wisdom of Nanny. She was a presence in “All Boys Aren’t Blue” but here she is definitely front an center. Wow! What a woman. I aspire to be a grandma like her, so involved with her grandkids (though I don’t think I will be involved in raising mine), every one they were convinced they were the favorite. Great, great book

[TJ · Rating 4 out of 5]

A beautiful tribute to Johnson's grandmother. Some of this was a retread after having read their other memoir, but the focus on Nanny made this book worth the read. I listened to the audiobook and it was powerful. I did tear up listening to the chapters about Nanny's passing. Some of the chapters less focused on her were less interesting to me though. 4/5 stars.

[Lori · Rating 5 out of 5]

This memoir is a heartfelt dedication to the author's grandmother - Nanny. As someone also raised by a strong, independent black grandma, I found myself relating to the deep love portrayed in this book - both given and received. I feel honored to have read about this wonderful woman and how she shaped the lives of so many young black children, and now some of her wisdom as been passed down to me (some rando lol).

[Pages Bursting Hearts · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a beautiful tribute to their Nanny! I even cried when Johnson read their own letter to Nanny. <3

[&#x1d401;&#x1d41e;&#x1d42d;&#x1d42d;&#x1d432;♡︎ミꨄ彡 · Rating 3 out of 5]

↬⁎3⁎↫

[Marko Mravunac · Rating 5 out of 5]

I still prefer “All Boys…”, but this was poignant and honest, what a wonderful homage to Nanny!

[Holly (bibliophiles_bookstagram) · Rating 5 out of 5]

George M. Johnson does it again in this amazing memoir and tribute to his Nanny! Celebrating all the Black joy and love their family held, and the stories of their family love, put a smile on my face and warmed my heart!

So good!

[Kyle Smith · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one was really more of a 2.5 for me, but I rounded up because I like Johnson’s works on the whole. I also should issue the caveat that I’m almost 30 reading a book likely written for an audience younger than half my age. Regardless, this one just didn’t connect in the way I felt All Boys Aren’t Blue did. The writing felt rushed, like Johnson was trying to meet a deadline. There were points where the stories felt more like inside jokes between them and their cousins, and as an outsider, I felt disconnected to the tales. There was always some sort of larger meaning to each story, but it felt delivered in a overly apparent, “Let me tell you the moral” moment. It just felt like a miss for me, which is especially sad because even through that, I can tell how much Nanny meant to this family. I look forward to continuing to read Johnson’s works, knowing they’re a stellar writer, but I don’t think this book will be listed as one of their bests.

[Olivia · Rating 5 out of 5]

WE ARE NOT BROKEN is a heartfelt and thoughtful memoir about growing up Black, framed around Nanny, the family matriarch, who is fierce, protective, loving, and changed so many lives. George (known as Matt, their middle name, as a child) tells stories from growing up with their brothers, Garrett, Rall, and Rasul (the latter two are technically cousins but raised like brothers) with all their mistakes, fun, and lessons learned.

It is so easy to fall in love with Nanny and all her Nannyisms throughout the story, the author and sibling's voices endear her to the reader. The vignettes we see through George's stories tell of a life lived fully, with enduring lessons. I appreciated the context that George gives around the stories, explaining, as relevant, historical context, problematic behaviors, misogyny, and racist context that takes this memoir a little deeper and can be quite eye-opening for readers.

Ultimately a powerful memoir about the Black experience, WE ARE NOT BROKEN is a heartfelt and thought-provoking read about family, love, and society. Highly recommend picking this one up.

Please note that I received an ARC from the publisher. All opinions are my own.

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've been thinking about this book since I finished it. There are so many ways in which Johnson's story is different from mine: geography, race, class, gender. The experiences they describe aren't ones I've lived and (now, as an adult) have a hard time imagining. And yet the abiding love they feel for their family, their cousins, their community, and especially their grandmother, I get. That did feel familiar.

As in their first memoir, Johnson is as much a teacher as they are a writer. They want their teen readers to understand how Johnson's experiences (and students' own) are embedded in and reflect history and the institutional effects of American patriarchy and racism. They never shy away from violence or love, and are constantly unpacking the complicated interrelationship between the two.

[Kaitlyn Becker · Rating 3 out of 5]

did I sob at the end? unashamedly. this was a beautiful tribute to the matriarch of this tightly woven family. it only gets three stars as it doesn’t fall into my personal favorite genres but it would be foundational for an adolescent identifying with shared experiences of the author.

[Keegan Taylor · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is part of the banned book review "club" I've been a part of recently. The most difficult part of the story was when Matt talks about the sexual assault they were put through when they were a young teen/preteen. It was hard to hear about. However, I really appreciated Matt's emotional intelligence about it. They call it by name -- "assault." They also have mixed feelings about their assaulter (which I suspect could be triggering to some victims of SA) but they acknowledge the complexity of the person and of their own emotions towards the person.

Overall, this story reminded me a bit of Trevor Noah's memoir. The way Black men recognize and memorialize their matriarchs is a beautiful thing to behold. There is a lot of wisdom in the story and a lot of insight from Johnson's life growing up immersed in Black culture and a Black family.

*****
Memorable quotes:

The projects were low-income housing set up under the guise of "helping" Black and brown folks have their own spaces. In reality, they served as a means to keep us out of "white" neighborhoods, while keeping economic and social systems of oppression in place to further stifle our communities. (p. 5)

**
My oh my, how times have changed-- and with good reason. There is a belief that brutality works as a way toward curbing poor behaviors. Many Black kids share the same type of stories about getting whoopings. As I stated earlier, it was a generational practice passed down, like a recipe or a family heirloom. The technical term for it is "corporal punishment," and for many of us that have been through it, it is a trauma. Whooping introduces power dynamics through violence, and furthermore, there is no concrete way to measure where a whooping ends and where chargeable violence and abuse begin. One must admit that *all* of it is violence under the guise that one is considered "acceptable," and the other isn't.

Violence and punishment have long been the system's answers to everything. Going back to the transatlantic slave trade, Black Americans historically were subjected to extreme violence, including whippings, among other abuses, at the hands of the then-dominant white community. We were indoctrinated in violence, conditioned through and by violence, and colonized to adopt it as our own. (p. 46)

**
Despite my pride that day, it's important to recognize that the images we see on television and in the media about white boys and guns are much different from those of Black boys. Many white boys from a very young age are their birthright, while Black boys like us had to do it in secrecy. It can't be lost on us that in this country, a Black boy with a gun is equal to his death. A Black boy with a *toy* gun is equal to his death. White boys get hunting guns for Christmas. Black boys like us resorted to traveling to a different state, in the country-side, where no one could see us have that "experience." White boys are led down paths of gun ownership, with law and order and weapons as a means to an end. Black boys are down for the "talk." Not the talk about the birds and the bes and sex, even though many of us get that talk, too. (p. 61)

**
As slaves, we ate the scraps, but our ancestors knew that even the scraps had magic. OUr ancestors knew that nourishment from even the barest of pieces could geed the mind, body, and spirit. It's why I am not ashamed to be the descendent of slaves, of people who made a way out of no way. People who survived on hope and hopelessness. People who took parts of animals and vegetables that had no prior use and used them to nourish others. People who passed down those lessons to feed hundreds of thousands, who passed down those lessons to feed millions of Black folks. People who created a culture, an existence. It's why I am not ashamed to eat the foods that my ancestors ate. Every now and again I'll hear some bougie Black person condescendingly refer to some of the foods we eat --pigs' feet, chitterlings, grits-- as "slave food." It's hard for people to accept the slave as anything more than the property they were. However, I see their humanity because I am them. We are the trauma they carried. We are their deaths. We are their joy and lives. We are their souls, and their food is our food. (p. 140 - 141)

[Anna]

George M Johnson has come through with another exquisitely written hard-hitting memoir. This one focuses a lot more on their grandmother and the relationship they had with her and their cousins growing up. My favorite part of this one were the letters that were written to the grandmother by members of the family after her death. Bring on the tears.

I also liked the way that this one delved into how a certain people and experiences and practices can be so culturally ingrained and super important yet still be problematic and traumatic. A few specific examples were corporal punishment within Black culture as well as toxic masculinity and misogyny forced upon Black men.

This one isn't an easy read but it is an important one. Definitely recommend picking it up. George narrates the audiobook so if you're an audiobook person I highly recommend that mode of listening. They also narrate all boys aren't blue and definitely have a knack for not only writing but also verbal storytelling. They do a great job of creating a lot of tone and voice to their words.

[Laureen Solari · Rating 5 out of 5]

“It’s a blessing in the water, Nannyism. Some people walk into water and only get wet, some people walk into water and come out blessed”.

Johnson has written a stunning memoir and an insightful tribute to his beloved Nanny. He shares deeply personal memories of being raised by his grandmother, who also raised three of his male cousins, and the indelible lessons she taught them all. Johnson’s experiences expose the many ways this world works against, and even tries to break, black communities, black families, black men and especially black women. But unlike other books that focus on racism and oppression, Johnson reveals his blessings. Throughout the book he guides the reader back to the profound strength, courage, devotion and moxie that Nanny possessed. And it is because of her that Johnson came out blessed. This book is a celebration of her and all the strong black women who have raised strong black men!

[Laura · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oof, this book is a journey, and I’m grateful to George M Johnson for sharing their stories. Their writing is so easy to read and get into, and then there are these emotional impacts that just leave me misty-eyed as I read. This book is beautiful and does so much. I love how Johnson focused on Black boy joy, but also doesn’t shy away from the other elements of their childhood and growth with Nanny. I also loved the way themes were tied in, such as dismantling white supremacy in their own life and future, and how their joy and existence is almost an act of defiance in a world, a society that too often wants Black boys, Black people to be nothing. This is truly incredible, and I look forward to what Johnson will write in the future; their stories are important and wonderful.