Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson

 

Bibliography

Woodson, Jacqueline.  2014.  Brown Girl Dreaming.  New York, NY: Nancy Paulsen Books.  ISBN 9780399252518

Plot Summary

This poetic novel follows the young life of Jacqueline Woodson from her birth in Ohio, her parent's divorce and family move to South Carolina to live with her grandparents, and her journey to live with her mother in New York City.  Central to her story is family (siblings, grandparents, parents, aunts, uncles, and even her best friend Maria).  Her story shows what it was like to grow up during the Civil Rights Movements from the perspectives of both the North and South.  She also tells what it is like to be torn between two homes, South Carolina and New York, after spending much time making many memories in both places.  While she has a close relationship with all her family members, she has a unique bond with her grandfather, who she and her siblings call "Daddy."  Throughout the book we see his decline and eventual death at the end as a result of his smoking habit.

Critical Analysis

This book illustrates the reality and the struggle of African Americans during the civil rights movement.  Freed from slavery after the civil war, and free from segregation in the 1960's,  people's attitudes were much slower to change than laws and policies, as exemplified in the poem "ghosts:" "they painted over the WHITE ONLY signs/...they didn't use a lot of paint/ so you can still see the words, right there/ like a ghost standing in front/ still keeping you out."  One such instance is when she describes a bus ride in South Carolina with her grandmother.  Even though they are able to sit anywhere on the bus, public pressure keeps her grandmother at the back of the bus  because it is “easier to stay where you belong."   Even though she knows they’re as good as anyone, she fears the public’s reaction.  Woodson's series of "how to listen" haiku verses highlight important lessons and epiphanies that she experiences.  In "how to listen #2" she says "in the stores downtown/ we're always followed around/ just because we're brown," which she realizes as just a child.

Jacqueline Woodson clearly shows what is important to her in her verses:  family, food, music, and writing.  She uses song lyrics to help understand the world around her, and she finds comfort in the food such as the lemon chiffon ice cream cones and her mother’s pancakes and her vivid descriptions transport the reader to her time as a child, feeling as if you are right there beside her, experiencing her life with her.

Review Excerpts

2014 National Book Award winner

2015 Newberry Honor Book

2015 Coretta Scott King Award winner

Horn Book Guide Starred, 4/1/2015:  "A memoir-in-verse so immediate, readers will feel they are experiencing Woodson's childhood along with her. "

School Library Journal Starred, 7/1/2014: D. Maria LaRocco says "with exquisite metaphorical verse Woodson weaves a patchwork of her life experience, from her supportive, loving maternal grandparents, her mother's insistence on good grammar, to the lifetime friend she meets in New York, that covers readers with a warmth and sensitivity no child should miss. This should be on every library shelf."

Publishers Weekly Starred, 5/26/2014:  "Woodson’s ability to listen and glean meaning from what she hears lead to an astute understanding of her surroundings, friends, and family."

 Connections

As one who values family, food, and music like Woodson, I had a deep connection with this book, especially her relationship with her grandfather, "Daddy."  Readers may also enjoy Before the Ever After by Jacqueline Woodson, ISBN 9780399545436 and A Song For Gwendolyn Brooks (People Who Shaped Our World) by Alice Faye Duncan, ISBN 9781454930884.