Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson

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Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson




                I love it when words flow beautifully across the page. When the narrator is telling a story in a unique way, almost like a song, with a melody that flows and has entrancing rhythm. That’s what reading Brown Girl Dreaming was like. Each verse flowed. Each moment was eloquently described. Each passage was a memory and each memory was the story of childhood, race, family, the north and the south.
                In Brown Girl Dreaming Jacqueline Woodson tells her story of being a young black girl in 1960s and 1970s in the midst of the civil rights movement. She moved with her family from Ohio, to Greenville, South Carolina to New York City. Each location shed a different life on what life could be, how society viewed her and what was expected of her. It begins with the beginning of her life and the stories that were told to her of her own existence. It is simple in the way that stories are passed from ear to ear. In every way this book is a reflection of her life, of her childhood, of her stories, of her remembering.

                I really enjoyed this book. I usually don’t read a lot of verse or poetry but I had heard so many amazing things about this book that I had to give it a try. I checked this one out of the library and knew within the first ten pages that I wanted to own this book and share it. Woodson’s reflections and subtle references to the social climate are unnerving and powerful. One moment she is outside playing with her sisters. The next she hears people talking about Rosa Parks sitting in the front of the bus. Jacqueline’s mom is now talking about the marchers and sit-ins. Woodson thinks about why her skin makes her and her brothers and sister so different. Her childhood memoir written in verse is not only moving, it is appropriate for all ages. This is something that I feel comfortable reading to my 8 year old son, inviting questions and opening dialogue about the past. There is so much power in that. I enjoyed this book for many reasons but the way it can encourage conversations makes me want to recommend it to everyone. I give this 5 out of 5 stars. 

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