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4.32 AVERAGE
4.32 AVERAGE
This was just so good. I knew it would be, and I was still surprised by how powerful the poems were (this is how a verse novel should be: actual poetry; more than just language arranged in lines). I felt it was accessible for younger kids who could appreciate the simple, vivid language about friendship, family, loss, and moving, and it offers multiple layers for older readers who can catch the political unrest of the time, the primer of African American history that is offered, the blossoming of Jackie's ambition, her questioning of her faith. I caught the haikus that seemed to mark each time she learned anew "how to listen." I looked up Angela Davis and Shirley Chisolm. I feel like this is a book to re-read.
Favorite parts:
p. 62 the beginning
p. 145
p. 227 Stevie and me
p. 249
Favorite parts:
p. 62 the beginning
p. 145
p. 227 Stevie and me
p. 249
This gem is so rich and full of beautiful imagery of a life journey from South Carolina to New York and back again. From Daddy's garden to the classroom. Real life during the Civil and Women's Rights movements, told in an approachable and honest way. A girl seeking to find her way through life through words.
"How amazing these words are that slowly come to me
How wonderfully on and on they go."
Favorite poem:
how to listen #7
"Even the silence
has a story to tell you
just listen. Listen."
Jacqueline Woodson
brown girl dreaming
"How amazing these words are that slowly come to me
How wonderfully on and on they go."
Favorite poem:
how to listen #7
"Even the silence
has a story to tell you
just listen. Listen."
Jacqueline Woodson
brown girl dreaming
Magical. She paints such engaging images of her life and her past. Inspiring.
Woodson's award-winning verse memoir chronicles her childhood in the '60s at the peak of the civil rights movement. Although I can see why this is labelled as a children's book, it has a lot to offer readers of any age. The free verse didn't feel especially like poetry to me--I'm not sure if that's a good thing or not? Instead, this read more like a series of chronological vignettes, exploring Woodson's family and her years growing up in both the south and New York. I especially loved her descriptions of feeling split between her two homes, something I've wrestled with as an adult.
I have had this on my list for 2 years but hadn't read it because I don't really like to read poetry. What a shame that I waited so long - Listening to it is a whole other thing as you can feel the flow of the words as a story. It was touching and moving and sad and wondrous as you can experience the moments when she starts thinking of herself as a writer. The author tells her story in verse of growing up African American in the remnants of Jim Crow and the beginning of the Civil Rights movement.
I implore you to listen to the verse called “The Training" and not feel shame and sadness.
Highly recommended as an audio book, read by the author.
I implore you to listen to the verse called “The Training" and not feel shame and sadness.
Highly recommended as an audio book, read by the author.
I am so surprised at how much I loved this title. Woodson's writing was simply beautiful; thoughtful and nuanced.
Some thoughts:
1. I liked the verse/poem prose form of the story, but I wanted to know more about such a fabulous writer's childhood. I now have more questions than answers.
2. I wonder if students will enjoy the form of the story. Is this one of those books that adults like more than the intended audience? I can't wait to see what my middle school students think of the story.
3. Beautiful poems make for a beautiful story. I feel like I need to read it again slowly and possible out loud to fully appreciate the form of the story. I found my self rereading because I read too quickly and lost the rhythm in my head of the story.
4. I like a different story that makes you think. This book does that. Beautiful.
1. I liked the verse/poem prose form of the story, but I wanted to know more about such a fabulous writer's childhood. I now have more questions than answers.
2. I wonder if students will enjoy the form of the story. Is this one of those books that adults like more than the intended audience? I can't wait to see what my middle school students think of the story.
3. Beautiful poems make for a beautiful story. I feel like I need to read it again slowly and possible out loud to fully appreciate the form of the story. I found my self rereading because I read too quickly and lost the rhythm in my head of the story.
4. I like a different story that makes you think. This book does that. Beautiful.
This book is accessible to a wide range of audiences, beautifully written, left me longing for more from the author.