{"id":25802,"date":"2015-01-05T00:28:59","date_gmt":"2015-01-05T04:28:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/blog\/?p=25802"},"modified":"2015-01-05T00:28:59","modified_gmt":"2015-01-05T04:28:59","slug":"review-of-brown-girl-dreaming-by-jacqueline-woodson","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/blog\/?p=25802","title":{"rendered":"Review of Brown Girl Dreaming, by Jacqueline Woodson"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"brown_girl_dreaming_large\"<\/a>Brown Girl Dreaming<\/em><\/p>\n

by Jacqueline Woodson<\/p>\n

Nancy Paulsen Books (Penguin), 2014. 337 pages.
\nStarred Review
\n2014 National Book Award winner for Young People\u2019s Literature
\n2014 Sonderbooks Stand-out<\/a>: #2, Children’s Nonfiction
\n2014 Cybils Finalist, Poetry<\/a><\/p>\n

Brown Girl Dreaming<\/em> is a memoir in verse. It\u2019s lovely, and I hope children will find it in the nonfiction shelves of our library.<\/p>\n

Jacqueline Woodson writes evocatively of her childhood, in Ohio, then South Carolina, then New York City. She wanted to be a writer even when she was a child, and catches that dream. She writes about being a Jehovah\u2019s Witness, and about her family, about her best friend (who is still her best friend), and about how South Carolina and New York City were so different from each other.<\/p>\n

I like the way each poem tells about a particular incident, but taken together they give a picture of her life. They are also told in different styles, focusing on different things \u2013 family, places, growing, writing.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s a series of haiku sprinkled throughout, all titled \u201chow to listen.\u201d Here is \u201chow to listen #9\u201d:<\/p>\n

Under the back porch
\nthere\u2019s an alone place I go
\nwriting all I\u2019ve heard.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I\u2019ll include some poems I enjoyed. <\/p>\n

a girl named jack<\/bold><\/p>\n

Good enough name for me,<\/em> my father said
\nthe day I was born.
\nDon\u2019t see why
\nshe can\u2019t have it, too.<\/em><\/p>\n

But the women said no.
\nMy mother first.
\nThen each aunt, pulling my pink blanket back
\npatting the crop of thick curls
\ntugging at my new toes
\ntouching my cheeks.<\/p>\n

We won\u2019t have a girl named Jack,<\/em> my mother said.<\/p>\n

And my father\u2019s sisters whispered,
\nA boy named Jack was bad enough.<\/em>
\nBut only so my mother could hear.
\nName a girl Jack,<\/em> my father said,
\nand she can\u2019t help but grow up strong.
\nRaise her right,<\/em> my father said,
\nand she\u2019ll make that name her own.
\nName a girl Jack
\nand people will look at her twice,<\/em> my father said.<\/p>\n

For no good reason but to ask if her parents
\nwere crazy,<\/em> my mother said.<\/p>\n

And back and forth it went until I was Jackie
\nand my father left the hospital mad.<\/p>\n

My mother said to my aunts,
\nHand me that pen,<\/em> wrote
\nJacqueline<\/em> where it asked for a name.
\nJacqueline, just in case someone thought to drop the ie.<\/em><\/p>\n

Jacqueline, just in case
\nI grew up and wanted something a little bit longer
\nand further away from
\nJack.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Here\u2019s a story about her sister:<\/p>\n

the reader<\/bold><\/p>\n

When we can\u2019t find my sister, we know
\nshe is under the kitchen table, a book in her hand,
\na glass of milk and a small bowl of peanuts beside her.<\/p>\n

We know we can call Odella\u2019s name out loud,
\nslap the table hard with our hands,
\ndance around it singing
\n\u201cShe\u2019ll Be Coming \u2018Round the Mountain\u201d
\nso many times the song makes us sick
\nand the circling makes us dizzy
\nand still
\nmy sister will do nothing more
\nthan slowly turn the page.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Later, there\u2019s more about her sister:<\/p>\n

gifted<\/bold><\/p>\n

Everyone knows my sister
\nis brilliant. The letters come home folded neatly
\ninside official-looking envelopes that my sister proudly
\nhands over to my mother.
\nOdella has achieved
\nOdella has excelled at
\nOdella has been recommended to
\nOdella\u2019s outstanding performance in<\/p>\n

She is gifted
\nwe are told.
\nAnd I imagine presents surrounding her.<\/p>\n

I am not gifted. When I read, the words twist
\ntwirl across the page.
\nWhen they settle, it is too late.
\nThe class has already moved on.<\/p>\n

I want to catch words one day. I want to hold them
\nthen blow gently,
\nwatch them float
\nright out of my hands.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

This one\u2019s a nice family poem:<\/p>\n

harvest time<\/bold><\/p>\n

When Daddy\u2019s garden is ready
\nit is filled with words that make me laugh when I say them \u2013
\npole beans<\/em> and tomatoes, okra<\/em> and corn
\nsweet peas<\/em> and sugar snaps,
\nlettuce<\/em> and squash.<\/em><\/p>\n

Who could have imagined<\/p>\n

so much color that the ground disappears
\nand we are left
\nwalking through an autumn\u2019s worth
\nof crazy words
\nthat beneath the magic
\nof my grandmother\u2019s hands<\/p>\n

become<\/p>\n

side dishes.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

And perhaps my favorite is about Jacqueline deciding she\u2019s going to be a writer:<\/p>\n

when i tell my family<\/bold><\/p>\n

When I tell my family
\nI want to be a writer, they smile and say,
\nWe see you in the backyard with your writing.<\/em>
\nThey say,
\nWe hear you making up all those stories.<\/em>
\nAnd,
\nWe used to write poems.<\/em>
\nAnd,
\nIt\u2019s a good hobby, we see how quiet it keeps you.<\/em>
\nThey say,
\nBut maybe you should be a teacher,
\na lawyer,
\ndo hair . . .<\/p>\n

I\u2019ll think about it,<\/em> I say.<\/p>\n

And maybe all of us know<\/p>\n

this is just another one of my
\nstories.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The whole book gives a flavor of love and family and a girl listening to the world around her. Indeed, it\u2019s the story of a brown girl dreaming.<\/p>\n

jacquelinewoodson.com<\/a><\/p>\n

Buy from Amazon.com<\/a><\/p>\n

Find this review on Sonderbooks<\/a> at: www.sonderbooks.com\/Childrens_Nonfiction\/brown_girl_dreaming.html<\/a><\/p>\n

Disclosure: I am an Amazon Affiliate, and will earn a small percentage if you order a book on Amazon after clicking through from my site.<\/p>\n

Source: This review is based on a library book from Fairfax County Public Library.<\/p>\n

Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but I maintain my website and blogs on my own time. The views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.<\/p>\n

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