Today's most talented African American writers redefine and celebrate the black family in a collection of uniquely evocative poetry and prose. The many facets of black family life have not always been fully visible in American literature. Black families have often been portrayed as chaotic, fractured, and emotionally devastated, and historians and sociologists are just beginning to acknowledge the resilience and strength of African American families through centuries of hardship. In Mending the World , a host of beloved writers celebrate the richness of black family life, revealing how deep, complicated, and joyous modern kinship can be. From Jamaica Kincaid's portrait of a young girl moving away from her mother to better know herself to Alice Walker's reflection on the joy and pain of her relationship with her own daughter; from Edwidge Danticat's fictional evocation of a young woman rocked by revelations about her parents to James McBride's elegy for his stepfather, this inspiring volume presents--through fiction, memoir, and poetry--a multi-layered and optimistic portrait of today's black America.