Brown Girl Dreaming
- BIBLIOGRAPHY
Woodson, Jacqueline. 2014.
Brown girl dreaming. New York, NY: Nancy Paulsen Books. ISBN 9780399252518
- PLOT
SUMMARY
In this
memoir written in verse Woodson describes the experiences she shared growing up
in different parts of the country. She describes her birth in Ohio, her
family's move to South Carolina, and the last move they made to New York. She
shares experiences with friends, family, loss, religion, and the changing political
climate that was present in the background of it all.
3.
CRITICAL
ANALYSIS
.
Woodson’s memoir is filled with so much imagery the reader is pulled into
her world and given a moment to delight in it as she once did. The “lemon-chiffon
ice cream” being “slurped up” from the “pale yellow wafer cone”, Saturday night
with its smell of “biscuits and burning hair” her sister’s “clear soft voice
opening the world”. The language she uses when describing her mother’s loss “a
new pain where once there wasn’t pain/ a hollowness where only minutes before/
she had been whole.” captures loss do well I get choked up just reading it over.
“too much air between words” becoming “the missing” after loss is such a unique
use of language and imagery. This whole book is bursting at the seams with
examples of the language, imagery, and emotion described above.
The book itself is organized into 5 parts. 5 big areas of Woodson’s life.
Ohio, South Carolina, The move to New York, Discovering she wants to be a writer,
and solidifying her purpose and beliefs after the death of her grandfather. There
is a really helpful table of Contents that helps navigate the story, a family
tree, and pictures of her family shared in the back.
- REVIEW EXCERPT(S)
ALA
Notable Children's Books
Starred
review in Booklist: “Her mother cautions her not to write about her
family, but, happily, many years later she has—and the result is both elegant
and eloquent, a haunting book about memory that is itself altogether memorable.”
Starred
review in Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books
Coretta
Scott King Author Award
Starred review
in Horn Book Magazine: “The poetry here sings: specific, lyrical, and
full of imagery: "So the first time my mother goes to New York City / we
don't know to be sad, the weight / of our grandparents' love like a blanket /
with us beneath it, / safe and warm." An extraordinary--indeed
brilliant--portrait of a writer as a young girl.”
Starred
review in Kirkus Reviews: “Woodson cherishes her memories and shares
them with a graceful lyricism; her lovingly wrought vignettes of country and
city streets will linger long after the page is turned. For every dreaming girl
(and boy) with a pencil in hand (or keyboard) and a story to share.”
Starred
review in Library Media Connection: “This is a beautifully crafted work
that should be read for its own sake, but it also works well to meet Common
Core Standards.”
Starred
review in Publishers Weekly: “Woodson's ability to listen and glean
meaning from what she hears lead to an astute understanding of her surroundings,
friends, and family.”
Newbery
Honor Book
Robert F.
Sibert Informational Book Honor
Starred
review in School Library Journal: “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.”
Voice of
Youth Advocates (VOYA)
- CONNECTIONS
*This
story can begin conversations about family, friends, religion, and
discrimination.
*Invite
students to write their own free verse poem about any of the topics mentioned
above.
*Invite
students to write a letter to the author sharing moments they loved,
connections they made to their own lives, or any questions they had.
*Other books
written by Jaqueline Woodson:
Woodson, Jaqueline.
Before the ever after. ISBN 9780399545436
Woodson,
Jaqueline. Harbor Me. ISBN 9780525515142
Woodson,
Jaqueline. The year we learned to fly. ISBN 9780399545535
Woodson,
Jaqueline. The day you begin. ISBN 9780399246531
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