Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.97 AVERAGE
3.97 AVERAGE
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
This coming-of-age novel for adults is a beautifully-wrought meditation on growing up female. While the story described is a specific one, Woodson excels at capturing with few words emotional experiences that resonate across age/race/culture. It's a quick read, but a memorable one. A great gift for young women, and a story in which women of all ages and backgrounds will see themselves.
emotional
funny
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
emotional
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
N/A
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
Another Brooklyn is a story that feels like a memory—hazy, nostalgic, and so real that it stays with you long after you close the book. Jacqueline Woodson’s writing is pure poetry, every sentence carefully crafted to hit you right in the heart. It’s not a long book, but it’s packed with so much depth.
The friendship between August, Sylvia, Gigi, and Angela was so familiar. It brought me back to the feeling of being young and thinking your friends will be with you forever. Their bond was strong, but you could feel the cracks forming as they all tried to figure out who they were in a world that didn’t always feel safe. The way Woodson explores girlhood, grief, and the quiet impact of loss had me feeling all kinds of emotions.
I loved how Another Brooklyn captures the bittersweet beauty of growing up. The flashbacks felt like they mirrored real life—how certain moments stay crisp in your mind while others blur into the background. My only reason for not giving it 5 stars is that I wanted a little more. More of the girls' stories, more of August’s life beyond her memories. But maybe that’s the point—some stories aren’t meant to be told in full, and some things are never fully explained.
If you love books that feel like lyrical snapshots of girlhood, love, loss, and friendship, Another Brooklyn will stay with you. It’s short but powerful, like a song that leaves you in your feelings.
This book is a brief and beautiful homage to memory and grief, and a stirring portrait of a childhood in 1970s Brooklyn. It is simple and sad, subtle instead of overtly heartbreaking. The narrator tells the story of her childhood, her friendships with neighborhood girls, and her inability to accept her mother's suicide. Though it is over in a mere three hours in audio form, it was powerful and truly the perfect length. I always love Jacqueline Woodson's words.
Wow. Reading this portrait of a girl coming of age in 1970s Bushwick feels like riding up the first hill on the Cyclone. Woodson's novel covers it all -- friendship, loss, addiction, sex, white flight, the Vietnam War -- in a subtle and moving way. I read it in two days, and not (just) because it is short.