His Own Where

When it was first published, His Own Where was selected by the New York Times for its list of Most Outstanding Books, made the American Library Association’s list of Best Books, and nominated for the National Book Award. A new introduction by Sapphire, whose novel Push will be released as an Oprah-produced movie in November 2009. Though initially created for young adults, His Own Where has massive cross-over appeal. The product of the “second renaissance” of black arts of the 1960s and 1970s, His Own Where is a novel of political protest in the tradition of Alice Walker and Toni Morrison. A love story, His Own Where captures the youth, energy, and grittiness of two adolescents struggling with parental abandonment and abuse, an intimidating urban environment, and social institutions indifferent to human need. Despite the constantly looming constrictions of society, Jordan’s characters dare to reimagine their world as embracing freedom and trust. Jordan championed the use of black English in the education system 30 years before the start of the debate about “Ebonics”; His Own Where is one of the first books published to use black English. His Own Where is highly autobiographical: Jordan acknowledged being physically abused by her father while her mother, a nurse, passively stood by; she was sent to a religious preparatory school; and she worked with architect Buckminster Fuller to build low-cost, aesthetic housing in Harlem.