Not Without Laughter

Not Without Laughter is Langston Hughes’s first novel and a moving coming-of-age story centered on Sandy Rogers, a young boy growing up in a Black family in small-town Kansas.
As Sandy grows from childhood toward young adulthood, he observes the hopes, struggles, ambitions, music, faith, and hardships of the people around him. His grandmother Hager, mother Annjee, father Jimboy, and aunts Harriet and Tempy each offer different perspectives on family, work, education, race, and life in early twentieth-century America.
Set against the changing world of the Midwest and the years surrounding World War I, Hughes creates an intimate portrait of family and community while exploring Sandy's gradual understanding of the world around him.