Barnes, Derrick. Incredibly Human Henson Blayze, The. Viking, 09/2025. 254 [+7]pp. Fiction. Trade $17.99. 978-1-9848-3675-5. GRADES 7–10. HIGH ADDITIONAL.
Thirteen-year-old Henson Blayze is a football star in a small Mississippi town that has never had a football star like him before. The implications of what the townspeople expect from a Black star athlete extend far beyond the football field as stories from the town’s past are woven into Henson’s narrative. Barnes occasionally comes close to didacticism, but the lessons that both Henson and the reader are reminded about matter. The author’s note at the beginning of the story sets the tone for the book. Characters in the story are white, Black, and Choctaw. Barnes’s combination of folktale and realistic fiction create a novel that will keep readers thinking after the book is finished. Recipient of a Coretta Scott King Author Honor.
Alli Angell—Benicia Public Library