A review by jwinchell
The Beautiful Struggle (Adapted for Young Adults) by Ta-Nehisi Coates

3.0

It hurts to give this 3 stars because I’m a huge Coates fan and I love that he adapted his memoir about his father for young readers. I found it inaccessible— too writerly. Too many references not explained. So many obscure observations. Parts were good and would be relatable for many— not doing well in school, the Consciousness his father instilled in him, his amorphous family and gained street smarts. It is relatively short with just right chapters, but the literary and writerly nature of his writing will be a barrier to many young readers.