About the book
2025 CHOICE Outstanding Academic Title
Honorable Mention, 24th Annual William Sanders Scarborough Prize, given by the Modern Language Association
Finalist, 2025 PROSE Awards: Literature
A new history of manhood, race, and hierarchy in American childhood
Like Children argues that the child has been the key figure giving measure and meaning to the human in thought and culture since the early American period. Camille Owens demonstrates that white men’s power at the top of humanism’s order has depended on those at the bottom. As Owens shows, it was childhood’s modern arc—from ignorance and dependence to reason and rights—that structured white men’s power in early America: by claiming that black adults were like children, whites naturalized black subjection within the American family order. Demonstrating how Americans sharpened the child into a powerful white supremacist weapon, Owens nevertheless troubles the notion that either the child or the human have been figures of unadulterated whiteness or possess stable boundaries.
Like Children recenters the history of American childhood around black children and rewrites the story of the human through their acts. Through the stories of black and disabled children spectacularized as prodigies, Owens tracks enduring white investment in black children’s power and value, and a pattern of black children performing beyond white containment. She reconstructs the extraordinary interventions and inventions of figures such as the early American poet Phillis Wheatley, the nineteenth-century pianist Tom Wiggins (Blind Tom), a child known as “Bright” Oscar Moore, and the early-twentieth century “Harlem Prodigy,” Philippa Schuyler, situating each against the racial, gendered, and developmental rubrics by which they were designated prodigious exceptions. Ultimately, Like Children displaces frames of exclusion and dehumanization to explain black children’s historical and present predicament, revealing the immense cultural significance that black children have negotiated and what they have done to reshape the human in their own acts.
Editions of Like Children
- Hardcover
- ISBN 9781479812912
- Hardcover
- ISBN 9781479812950
- Paperback
- ISBN 9781479812929
Read an Excerpt
2025 CHOICE Outstanding Academic Title
Honorable Mention, 24th Annual William Sanders Scarborough Prize, given by the Modern Language Association
Finalist, 2025 PROSE Awards: Literature
A new history of manhood, race, and hierarchy in American childhood
Like Children argues that the child has been the key figure giving measure and meaning to the human in thought and culture since the early American period. Camille Owens demonstrates that white men’s power at the top of humanism’s order has depended on those at the bottom. As Owens shows, it was childhood’s modern arc—from ignorance and dependence to reason and rights—that structured white men’s power in early America: by claiming that black adults were like children, whites naturalized black subjection within the American family order. Demonstrating how Americans sharpened the child into a powerful white supremacist weapon, Owens nevertheless troubles the notion that either the child or the human have been figures of unadulterated whiteness or possess stable boundaries.
Like Children recenters the history of American childhood around black children and rewrites the story of the human through their acts. Through the stories of black and disabled children spectacularized as prodigies, Owens tracks enduring white investment in black children’s power and value, and a pattern of black children performing beyond white containment. She reconstructs the extraordinary interventions and inventions of figures such as the early American poet Phillis Wheatley, the nineteenth-century pianist Tom Wiggins (Blind Tom), a child known as “Bright” Oscar Moore, and the early-twentieth century “Harlem Prodigy,” Philippa Schuyler, situating each against the racial, gendered, and developmental rubrics by which they were designated prodigious exceptions. Ultimately, Like Children displaces frames of exclusion and dehumanization to explain black children’s historical and present predicament, revealing the immense cultural significance that black children have negotiated and what they have done to reshape the human in their own acts.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Like Children about?
2025 CHOICE Outstanding Academic Title
Honorable Mention, 24th Annual William Sanders Scarborough Prize, given by the Modern Language Association
Finalist, 2025 PROSE Awards: Literature
A new history of manhood, race, and hierarchy in American childhood
Like Children argues that the child has been the key figure giving measure and meaning to the human in thought and culture since the early American period. Camille Owens demonstrates that white men’s power at the top of humanism’s order has depended on those at the bottom. As Owens shows, it was childhood’s modern arc—from ignorance and dependence to reason and rights—that structured white men’s power in early America: by claiming that black adults were like children, whites naturalized black subjection within the American family order. Demonstrating how Americans sharpened the child into a powerful white supremacist weapon, Owens nevertheless troubles the notion that either the child or the human have been figures of unadulterated whiteness or possess stable boundaries.
Like Children recenters the history of American childhood around black children and rewrites the story of the human through their acts. Through the stories of black and disabled children spectacularized as prodigies, Owens tracks enduring white investment in black children’s power and value, and a pattern of black children performing beyond white containment. She reconstructs the extraordinary interventions and inventions of figures such as the early American poet Phillis Wheatley, the nineteenth-century pianist Tom Wiggins (Blind Tom), a child known as “Bright” Oscar Moore, and the early-twentieth century “Harlem Prodigy,” Philippa Schuyler, situating each against the racial, gendered, and developmental rubrics by which they were designated prodigious exceptions. Ultimately, Like Children displaces frames of exclusion and dehumanization to explain black children’s historical and present predicament, revealing the immense cultural significance that black children have negotiated and what they have done to reshape the human in their own acts.
What core themes, tropes, or subjects are explored in Like Children?
Biography, Literature and Literary studies > Literature: history and criticism
Where can I read a sample of Like Children?
You can read an official preview of the few pages here https://www.book2look.com/book/9781479812912
How long is Like Children and how many pages does it have?
Like Children has 336 page(s)
Is Like Children part of a series, and can it be read as a standalone?
Yes it is a part of series Performance and American Cultures
Who is/are the Author/s of the book Like Children?
Camille Owens
Who is the Publisher of the book Like Children?
NYU Press
What are the ISBN numbers for the physical and digital editions?
Like Children is available as hardcover(ISBN 9781479812912) and hardcover(ISBN 9781479812950) and paperback(ISBN 9781479812929)
Where can I buy Like Children online or support local independent bookshops?
You can buy Like Children from below
Where can I buy Like Children?