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3.97 AVERAGE
3.97 AVERAGE
“another brooklyn,” by jacqueline woodson is a coming of age novel(la) centered around august, a black brooklyn transplant by way of tennessee. with jarring metaphors that fold in on themselves, august grapples with death, love, growth all while trying to become a woman in the world of brooklyn. it is both strange and familiar, both new and ancient; it is the truth and a truth.
rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ four out of five stars. the story is written beautifully with complex characters. however, there is so much left unsaid and undetected, that it leaves the novel feeling incomplete.
similar vibes: the house on mango street by sandra cisneros (novella); transcendent kingdom by yaa gyasi (novel); my brilliant friend by elena ferrante (novel); drown by junot diaz (collection of short stories).
cw/tw: sexual assault, suicide.
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instagram: @alli.maj
rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ four out of five stars. the story is written beautifully with complex characters. however, there is so much left unsaid and undetected, that it leaves the novel feeling incomplete.
similar vibes: the house on mango street by sandra cisneros (novella); transcendent kingdom by yaa gyasi (novel); my brilliant friend by elena ferrante (novel); drown by junot diaz (collection of short stories).
cw/tw: sexual assault, suicide.
—
instagram: @alli.maj
This book is stunning! I found several parts pretty shocking. Really enjoyed the language and fluidity.
Another Brooklyn is yet another stellar piece of work from Jacqueline Woodson. In this novel, we follow August as she looks back on the memories of her childhood in Brooklyn after she runs into one of her oldest and closest friends from that time. What a walk down memory lane it is. And what a fantastic story about sisterhood and how that evolves over time, when the rose colored glasses are taken off.
One of my favorite aspects of this book is how well this story balances detailing August’s life at home and in the neighborhood and the many different relationship dynamics with her father, brother, tight knit group of girlfriends, boyfriend, neighbors, etc… It’s all so beautifully intertwined and every word brings such life to the story. There is no wasted space within the pages of this book.
Through August’s memory, we explore more life than death but death, yes, and in more ways than one. The death of a loved one, a stranger, a friendship, a relationship one thought was romantic and true, and so on. We explore what it means to be together, to be surrounded by the people you love and still be alone. We explore the desire, that yearning for peace that we all have and how unconsciously in sync our deepest desires are with the people that we choose to live our daily lives with. The people, who are just as or most lost, more found than us but with us, for us, all the same.
Who can we trust with our secrets? Who can we hurt? Who can we change? Help grow? Walk away from. With the truth, who can we stand our grand to? Can it be ourselves? Can it be the Brooklyn we grew up in, another Brooklyn than the one we see through the lens of now with clearer eyes (yes, I’m going to do it), with fuller hearts? One of August’s friends asks in the novel, “What keeps keeping us here?” What a loaded question. What a wonderful peek into that answer.
In all of this coming of age, of realization, there’s age, there’s limitation and that was displayed so well here, reminding us adults what it was like being under a parent’s control and feeling restricted, even with a little breathing room. It’s not easy. Trying to move forward or in any direction, really and being so stuck, feeling like you’re drowning. All of this just above the poverty line in a neighborhood full of horny boys and men, ready to cop a feel at any moment. It’s a lot to handle. Being a black girl anywhere but especially where you are desired. And where can you go from here as a kid? How do you walk on from, move forward from point A (all of the above) to point B?
Another Brooklyn tells such a beautiful story about so many things in such a short amount of words, telling it across a few different ages of August’s life and it flows so masterfully. I loved it and I know you will too. P.S. it’s a great summer read. So get to it.
One of my favorite aspects of this book is how well this story balances detailing August’s life at home and in the neighborhood and the many different relationship dynamics with her father, brother, tight knit group of girlfriends, boyfriend, neighbors, etc… It’s all so beautifully intertwined and every word brings such life to the story. There is no wasted space within the pages of this book.
Through August’s memory, we explore more life than death but death, yes, and in more ways than one. The death of a loved one, a stranger, a friendship, a relationship one thought was romantic and true, and so on. We explore what it means to be together, to be surrounded by the people you love and still be alone. We explore the desire, that yearning for peace that we all have and how unconsciously in sync our deepest desires are with the people that we choose to live our daily lives with. The people, who are just as or most lost, more found than us but with us, for us, all the same.
Who can we trust with our secrets? Who can we hurt? Who can we change? Help grow? Walk away from. With the truth, who can we stand our grand to? Can it be ourselves? Can it be the Brooklyn we grew up in, another Brooklyn than the one we see through the lens of now with clearer eyes (yes, I’m going to do it), with fuller hearts? One of August’s friends asks in the novel, “What keeps keeping us here?” What a loaded question. What a wonderful peek into that answer.
In all of this coming of age, of realization, there’s age, there’s limitation and that was displayed so well here, reminding us adults what it was like being under a parent’s control and feeling restricted, even with a little breathing room. It’s not easy. Trying to move forward or in any direction, really and being so stuck, feeling like you’re drowning. All of this just above the poverty line in a neighborhood full of horny boys and men, ready to cop a feel at any moment. It’s a lot to handle. Being a black girl anywhere but especially where you are desired. And where can you go from here as a kid? How do you walk on from, move forward from point A (all of the above) to point B?
Another Brooklyn tells such a beautiful story about so many things in such a short amount of words, telling it across a few different ages of August’s life and it flows so masterfully. I loved it and I know you will too. P.S. it’s a great summer read. So get to it.
This book is beautiful and captures what growing up as a woman is like. Even though I didn't grow up as Jacquiline did and at a different time, it connected with my experience as a young woman. Female friendships were center stage and I couldn't have loved how this was depicted more.
Her writing style spirits me away and I become a part of the world she is telling us about. It's lyrical and rhythmic, yet real.
Woodson's Another Brooklyn follows the life of August, her family, and her three closest friends as they navigate through Brooklyn in the 1970s. This novel, while brief, needs to be read slowly, carefully. It is poetic and profound. Time well spent.
This book is poetry. The low reviews confuse me but I don't think they get it.
This was a quick read - very well written, somewhat poetic even, but short. It was about a set of girlfriends coming of age in Brooklyn in the 1970's. As many young friendships ultimately fall apart, these do, which you learn early, as the current day is interspersed with memories of the past. There are first best friends, feelings of belonging, and betrayals. A beautiful portrayal of both childhood and growing out of it, this book captures that nearly perfectly. Brooklyn as a place also becomes a character as their neighborhood changes with their growth towards independence.
This was a lovely little book, a loving letter to the childhood of a young Black girl in Brooklyn, not hesitating to show the uglier sides of life and still managing to show the beauty that life can give you when you create your group of friends in similar situations.
It follows August, Sylvia, Angela and Gigi as they come together and grow as young friends. It shows their home lives, their dreams and aspirations and how those dreams can either come true or be shattered by the reality of their lives.
It was just a really lovely book to read.
It follows August, Sylvia, Angela and Gigi as they come together and grow as young friends. It shows their home lives, their dreams and aspirations and how those dreams can either come true or be shattered by the reality of their lives.
It was just a really lovely book to read.