Jacqueline Woodson’s newest book, “Brown Girl Dreaming,” beautifully combines poetry and memoir to tell the story of her youth.
Woodson was raised in South Carolina, and later in New York City, and in this book, she writes of the reality of growing up in both the North and the South with the remnants of the Jim Crow era. She writes of her siblings, her mother, learning to read and write and struggling with being raised as a Jehovah’s Witness. Her experiences are captured in these poems, and through reading them and experiencing them with her, a reader catches a glimpse of the soul of a girl.
The silhouette on the cover of a girl carrying a book, butterflies escaping from it and swirling through the crepuscule sky, points to the universality of this story. This girl could be any girl, and the reader is invited to take a step into her shoes for three hundred or so pages.
At the same time, the title reminds us that our shared humanity contains specific stories, and this one belongs specifically to a certain kind of person. “Brown Girl Dreaming” tells the story of African-American girls, who grew up during the ‘60s and ‘70s. By paying attention to this story specifically, we can learn more about ourselves as a nation, as a culture and as a human race.
Many try to categorize books as “girl books” or “boy books,” but the truth is that one person’s story, regardless of age, gender or race, can and does speak to all who are willing to listen. “Brown Girl Dreaming” just wants people to listen to its words. They are quiet but strong, unsure but curious. They grace the page with delight, eager to leave the confines of the physical book and enter the mind of the reader.
Each poem in this book is only a page or two long, and it would be easy to plot through them all in one sitting. However, these poems, packed full of rich images and poignant moments, deserve more time and attention than that. They deserve to be read and re-read, really thought about and reflected on.
The simple experiences and thoughts that become poems are as precious as childhood itself. A series of poems throughout the book entitled “How to Listen” perfectly captures this: “What is your one dream, / my friend Maria asks me. / Your one wish to come true?”
Or her simple, self-aware “p.s. 106 haiku”: “Jacqueline Woodson / I’m finally in fourth grade. / It’s raining outside.”
Each poem tells a moment, and these moments weave together to create a beautiful narrative of childhood and life that any reader can appreciate.
Woodson has previously written many books for young adults and children, including “Hush” and “Locomotion.”
Her works have won much recognition; “Brown Girl Dreaming” was a finalist for the National Book Award for Young People’s Literature this year.
