MIGHTY INSIDE

An African American teen struggles with a stutter in 1950s Spokane, Washington.

"Mmmmmy nuh-nuh-name is Mmmmmelvin.” Starting high school is an anxiety-provoking milestone for anyone, but for Melvin Robinson, his stutter makes it that much worse. He wants a strong, smooth “he-man voice” so that he can actually say what he is thinking, especially to his crush, Millie Takazawa. But the stress of high school, where he is one of only two Black kids in his class, is making his stutter worse, and the class bully is taking every opportunity to put him down. Melvin does make a friend: saxophone-playing Lenny, a nonstop talker who lives above the Black-owned but nevertheless segregated Harlem Club and encourages Melvin to be himself. When Lenny suggests they try out for the local TV variety show with Melvin playing his accordion and Lenny on the sax, Melvin must decide if he is mighty enough to show everyone who he really is. Through a multicultural cast of characters—Lenny is Jewish, Millie is Japanese American, and Melvin and his family are Black—author Frazier explores the depth of racism everywhere and the tightknit community bonds necessary for surviving it. Infused with specificity—it’s inspired by Frazier’s family’s real-life experiences integrating a White neighborhood in Spokane in the 1940s and ’50s—it deftly explores universal themes.

A gentle historical novel about finding your voice.