Book Review: Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson

Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson

I picked up Brown Girl Dreaming from our high school library after reading rave reviews and enjoyed it from the first page all the way until the end.

Summary by Goodreads: 

National Book Award Winner

Jacqueline Woodson, one of today's finest writers, tells the moving story of her childhood in mesmerizing verse. 

Raised in South Carolina and New York, Woodson always felt halfway home in each place. In vivid poems, she shares what it was like to grow up as an African American in the 1960s and 1970s, living with the remnants of Jim Crow and her growing awareness of the Civil Rights movement. Touching and powerful, each poem is both accessible and emotionally charged, each line a glimpse into a child’s soul as she searches for her place in the world. Woodson’s eloquent poetry also reflects the joy of finding her voice through writing stories, despite the fact that she struggled with reading as a child. Her love of stories inspired her and stayed with her, creating the first sparks of the gifted writer she was to become.

Normally I don't pick up books written in verse, but I am so glad I did.  Jacqueline Woodson writes in a way that I was able to visually imagine each poem as the story unfolded.  I was able to delve into her life growing up in a time when discrimination was against the law, yet still prevalent throughout the country. Born in Ohio, yet moving back and forth between her grandparents in South Carolina and New York, Woodson deals with the remnants of the Civil Rights movement.  Each poem is a history lesson that is told in a way that children and young adults can understand and will want to discuss. This is one that I can't wait to share with my own children and book talk to our students at school.