ABSTRACT
In 2013, CaShawn Thompson first coined the expression “Black Girl Magic” as a way to capture the almost supernatural way in which Black girls and women persevere despite seemingly insurmountable obstacles. Within this concept is also the idea that Black girls not only survive, but thrive, creating art, music and literature that feels magical in its creativity. In her book Bayou Magic, Jewell Parker Rhodes brings a different spin to the idea of Black Girl Magic by writing a story of magical realism where Maddy, a preadolescent Black girl, discovers her own magical abilities during a visit to her Grandmère’s bayou community of Bon Temps, Louisiana. In this chapter, I will explore the ways in which Jewell Parker Rhodes presents Maddy’s agility with nature, magic and community as literacies that are multifaceted and entangled, woven together to create a rich tableau of Black girlhood.
