Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson

Bibliography

Woodson, J. W. (2014). Brown Girl Dreaming. Penguin Group USA. ISBN 0399252517

Plot Summary

Jacqueline Woodson in an African American girl telling her story in a Brown Girl Dreaming. Her mother is from the south while her father is from up north. Her parents are from opposite ends of the United States were colored people are treated differently. Mary Ann and Jack eventually go their separate ways. Their views and feelings about the south cause turmoil between them. This leads Mary Ann to leave Jacqueline’s father and move in with her parents in Greenville, South Carolina.

The south is very different from the north. There is visually still more racism and segregation in the south. Jacqueline her bother Hope, sister Odella, mother, and grandparents live in Greenville in an area known as Nicholtown which are mostly colored people. The children get attached to their grandparents and Jacqueline even begins to call her grandfather daddy.

Jacqueline’s mother eventually decides to move to the north once again since most of her friends and relatives have all moved away. She leaves to find a suitable place to take her children. While she is gone Jacqueline’s grandmother imposes her religion onto the children and makes them Jehovah’s witnesses. When Jacqueline’s mother returns for them, she does not come alone. Everyone is surprised for it is a new addition to the family, a little brother named Roman. Jacqueline keeps wondering why he is so pale and looks so different than her.

When the family arrives in New York it takes some time to find a suitable place to live. The first apartment was not in good standings and in the second apartment the family had to move again due to a loss in the family.  They finally became situated and the girls began to attend school. Odella became an over achiever, but Jacqueline struggled academically.

The children return to Greenville every summer. In the first summer as July arrived the children went back to South Carolina with the exception of Roman. Roman was hospitalized due to him ingesting paint from the walls. During this time Jacqueline begins to comprehend the racism and segregation in the south and decides she wants to stand up for what she believes in. Jacqueline’s grandfather is more and more ill each time they go down to visit.  Until eventually he passes one spring day.  This leads Jacqueline’s grandmother to sell the house in Nicholtown and move to Brooklyn with them.

Jacqueline loves making up stories, but just wishes they were as easy to write.  She finds a friend in Maria a Latin girl living near her home. They are inseparable and Jacqueline cannot get enough of Maria’s mom’s food. Jacqueline feels a little threatened when Diana moves in next door, but eventually gets over it when Maria refers to her as family. Jacqueline and Maria grow up and experience things together from getting in trouble for doing graffiti to trying to imitate Angela Davis. The story ends with Jacqueline addressing what she believes in and the pages that came before it demonstrate how they shaped who she became to be.

Critical Analysis

When I first checked out this book at my local library it immediately captured my attention. In the cover one can see a little girl with braids standing as the sun sets holding a book that is releasing an array of blue and yellow hues. Of course the many awards stamped in the cover do not go unnoticed. Jacqueline Woodson’s poetic composition of her early life in a Brown Girl Dreaming is nothing less than astonishing. It is a wonderful book of verses that signify a time in in which individuals experienced segregation and racism. It demonstrates the African American culture in terms of religion, family dynamics, beliefs, values, language, and many more.

Its written based on what the author experienced as a child growing up during the post-civil war era so one can tell that there is authenticity in the text and events. As the book proceeds Woodsen becomes older and her poems become more personal and intricate. She tells her story in verse growing up in the south and the north during the 1960s and 1970s.  During this time she begins to discover who she is and who she wants to become. It can be a book that adolescents can relate to. Woodsen’s wonderful work is accompanied by a set of family pictures which give readers a visual representation of the characters within the book. Overall, it is a great read even for children that are not fond of books written in verses, they are sure to enjoy it.

Review Excerpts

• Boston Globe-Horn Book Award Honor for Nonfiction (2015)
• Coretta Scott King Award for Author (2015)
• Claudia Lewis Award for Older Readers (2015)
• Goodreads Choice Award Nominee for Middle Grade & Children's (2014)
• National Book Award for Young People's Literature (2014)
• Newbery Honor (2015)
• Review in GOODREADS: “Jacqueline Woodson, one of today's finest writers, tells the moving story of her childhood in mesmerizing verse.” 
• Review in KIRKUS: “A multiaward–winning author recalls her childhood and the joy of becoming a writer.”
• Review in NATIONAL BOOK FOUNDATION: “Using words that sing with both the complexity and simplicity of a symphony, and memories that both sting and inspire, Jacqueline Woodson’s Brown Girl Dreaming is an intimate journey of victory, sorrow, and discovery.” 
• Sibert Honor (2015)
• YALSA Award Nominee for Excellence in Nonfiction (2015)

Connections

This book brings others a view into a different culture and backgrounds. It shows how Jim Crow Laws and the results of the Civil War affected children and families. It’s a story written in short verses that captures the reader for it shows how a girl discovers herself. Other books similar to this:

Walker, Alice. The Color Purple. ISBN 0671727796

Curtis, Christopher Paul. The Mighty Miss Malone. ISBN 0385734913