All Boys Aren’t Blue (Audiobook Review)

Part manifesto, part memoir, All Boys Aren’t Blue explores sexuality, gender, and race through the lens of George M. Johnson’s life as a queer, Black person growing up in America. 

A stroke of genius in every chapter, George Johnson has a gift for creating essays that are impeccable in their craft: paced perfectly, organized incredibly, and with an astounding balance between biographical stories, important themes, and teachable moments. Johnson’s ability to tell a seemingly simple story about their life, such as playing double-dutch as a child, and draw deeper societal commentaries from it is impressive, to say the least.

“Find a flaw, deficit, or disadvantage in our community, and I can find a system that oppressed us and made it that way.”

There’s a surprising amount to learn from these stories, which is covered succinctly, yet thoroughly. The book touches on a multitude of topics starting on the very first page, from what microaggressions are to how to spot how we unintentionally raise our children with gender stereotypes, and more. Nothing in the story is sugar-coated, and yet it remains accessible and welcoming to all, which includes not only the YA audience it’s intended for, but adults, too.

Johnson says in the book that they wrote All Boys Aren’t Blue for people like them, but the book would also be a great introduction for those looking to learn more about race and gender issues or become acquainted with activism, and would be well-placed on any school curriculum. 

“You sometimes don’t know you exist until you realize someone like you existed before.”

The success of the story carries into the audiobook, narrated by the author, so much so that no matter how Johnson told the story, it would still be incredibly powerful. Matter-of-fact in even the most personal of passages, including sections in which George wrote letters to extraordinarily important people in their life both alive and dead, Johnson’s voice, rather than seeming unemotional, exudes a sort of strength and knowledge and has a wonderful cadence that is more than worth listening to.

An incredible piece of work that everyone should read in any of its forms, I rated All Boys Aren’t Blue 5 out of 5 stars.