Genre
I chose this book to fill the informational/biographical requirement for this project. Woodson’s (2014) book is a Coretta Scott King award winner, as well as a Newberry Honor book.
Targeted Age Group
The age group for this book is geared towards ages 10-14.
Summary
Brown girl dreaming is Woodson’s autobiographical reflection on a variety of aspects of life, all while growing up Black in America.
Justification
I chose this book because Jacqueline Woodson is a prominent American author, and I wanted to learn more about her through this autobiography.
Evaluation
There is so much to love about the style and language of Woodson’s (2014) autobiography brown girl dreaming. True to the love of writing that she observes in herself throughout the book, her free verse poetry is emotionally evocative and visually draws readers into the places that she lives and experiences throughout her life. Even one line of poetry—simply her name—takes on deep meaning within the context of Woodson’s (2014) written reflections on her name (p. 244). One of my favorite quotes from the book comes from the poem “gifted,” where Woodson (2014) writes, “I want to catch words one day. I want to hold them / then blow gently / watch them float / right out of my hands” (p. 169). This is just one example of the way Woodson’s creates expressive and beautiful images. When I read this quote, I picture myself picking a dandelion from the grass and blowing its loose seeds out into the wind. Another reader may picture blowing bubbles from a bubble bath, another may picture blowing dry leaves picked up from the autumn ground. Woodson (2014), writing about her love of words, creates an image of an experience that can be recalled in a variety of ways from various readers, and it is this kind of imagery and diction that makes up the whole of her autobiography.
There isn’t just one central theme to Woodson’s (2014) autobiography; the themes that penetrate her book are varied, multifaceted, and clear. She discusses memory, friendship, religion, family, through her experience of growing up Black in America. One example of the way Woodson’s (2014) themes are woven throughout the book is the way she writes about her experience of being the youngest child in the family, until another brother comes after her. At first writing about her own birth, she says that her older brother wanted to send her back to the hospital, not understanding that “something so tiny and new can’t be returned” (Woodson, 2014, p. 19). Later, when her brother Roman is born, she writes that “I want to send it back to wherever babies live before they get here” (Woodson, 2014, p. 138). She, like her older brother, lacks the understanding that new babies are there to stay (or perhaps, understands this just enough to realize that things will be different). Finally, after Roman has to be taken to the hospital, she writes that “I am finally / the baby girl again, wishing / I wasn’t” (Woodson, 2014, p. 188). The interconnectedness of each of these stories demonstrates Woodson’s (2014) exploration of the topic of family in her book, and this type of clarity of writing and interwoven text is what defines the writing in this book.
Finally, Woodson’s (2014) autobiography is an authentic look at her life. She writes about joy and fear, about love and hate, about community and what ‘home’ is. Her recollections of the history and figures around the civil rights movement of the sixties and beyond also remind readers of the joy and pain, revolution, community, and change that was going on during these years of her life. Her first iteration of the poem “how to listen,” of which there are ten throughout the book, states that “each laugh, tear and lullaby / becomes memory” (Woodson, 2014, p. 20). Not just in the text, but in her notes at the end of the book, Woodson (2014) discusses memory; what is remembered, who is remembered, where memories begin and end, and where they come back. Her ode to memory in this book lends itself to the authenticity of her words; she values remembering, and readers can trust Woodson (2014) to remember these things well, and to convey them well to her audience.
I want to make one more comment on this book, which is more a personal observation than a specific evaluation. Early on in the book, Woodson (2014) describes a moment with her sister. The excerpt is below:
“How amazing these words are that slowly come to me. / How wonderfully on and on they go. / Will the words end, I ask / whenever I remember to. / Nope, my sister says, all of five years old now, / and promising me / infinity” (Woodson, 2014, pp. 62-63).
Woodson (2014) learns early on of the infinity of words, and her love of them is what makes this autobiography so memorable. Towards the end of the book, she writes, “Words are my brilliance” (Woodson, 2014, 248). That brilliance, that love for and way with words is evident throughout this book, and I would encourage anyone who loves reading and writing to make time for this autobiography. Happy reading!
References
Woodson, J. (2014). brown girl dreaming. Nancy Paulsen Books.
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