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thechanelmuse's review against another edition
5.0
Brown Girl Dreaming tells the story of Jacqueline Woodson's childhood in verse in the 1960s and 1970s, living amongst the remnants of Jim Crow, the growing awareness of the Civil Rights movement, and finding her voice within that space through writing stories.
Everyone knows my sister
is brilliant. The letters come home folded neatly
inside official-looking envelopes that my sister proudly
hands over to my mother.
Odella has achieved
Odella has excelled at
Odella has been recommended to
Odella’s outstanding performance in
She is gifted
we are told.
And I imagine presents surrounding her.
I am not gifted. When I read, the words twist
twirl across the page.
When they settle, it is too late.
The class has already moved on.
I want to catch words one day. I want to hold them
then blow gently,
watch them float
right out of my hands.
Just call her Jacqueline "Lyrical" Woodson, everybody. Her writing is always delightful.
Everyone knows my sister
is brilliant. The letters come home folded neatly
inside official-looking envelopes that my sister proudly
hands over to my mother.
Odella has achieved
Odella has excelled at
Odella has been recommended to
Odella’s outstanding performance in
She is gifted
we are told.
And I imagine presents surrounding her.
I am not gifted. When I read, the words twist
twirl across the page.
When they settle, it is too late.
The class has already moved on.
I want to catch words one day. I want to hold them
then blow gently,
watch them float
right out of my hands.
Just call her Jacqueline "Lyrical" Woodson, everybody. Her writing is always delightful.
bibliophile80's review against another edition
4.0
Read for AACPL’s 2019 February book challenge (by a person of color).
mariahistryingtoread's review against another edition
3.0
I don’t really like poetry so I don’t read it much. Therefore, I really can’t weigh in all that much on this book. I’ve read two other Jacqueline Woodson’s books and based on her writing style in those, I feel poetry was the perfect way for her to present her autobiography. In my limited experience she normally has a loose, airy kind of way of writing that is very reminiscent of poetry anyways.
It was fine for me. I think other people will get more out of it than I did simply because of how little I care for the genre. I can’t recommend one way or the other because I do not have strong feelings either way.
It was fine for me. I think other people will get more out of it than I did simply because of how little I care for the genre. I can’t recommend one way or the other because I do not have strong feelings either way.
savaging's review against another edition
4.0
Anti-racist free-verse memoir: I think I've finally found YA lit I can appreciate.
This is mostly because of the end section, which explores Woodson's first understandings of Black Power and the Panthers as a young girl. Like this section from "the revolution"
This is mostly because of the end section, which explores Woodson's first understandings of Black Power and the Panthers as a young girl. Like this section from "the revolution"
When I hear the word
revolution
I think of the carousel with
all those beautiful horses
going around as though they'll never stop and me
choosing the purple one each time, climbing up onto it
and reaching for the golden ring, as soft music plays.
The revolution is always going to be happening.
I want to write this down, that the revolution is like
a merry-go-round, history always being made
somewhere. And maybe for a short time,
we're a part of that history. And then the ride stops
and our turn is over.
We walk slow toward the park where I can already see
the big swings, empty and waiting for me.
And after I write it down, maybe I'll end it this way:
My name is Jacqueline Woodson
and I am ready for the ride.