REVIEW: Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson

Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson is a critically acclaimed memoir written in verse. Winner of the 2014 National Book Award, a Newberry Honor Book, winner of the Coretta Scott King Book Award and a Kirkus Reviews Best Middle Grade Book of the Century, Woodson’s memoir traces her childhood as she grows up in South Carolina and New York City. At the heart of the story is Woodson’s family: her restless mother searching for a sense of home, her gifted sister, her faithful Jehovah's Witness grandmother, and her kind but stubborn grandfather, all of whom shape her understanding of life and the world around her. The backdrop of the memoir is the burgeoning Civil Rights Movement and the everyday racism Woodson and her family experience. 

Woodson’s tone throughout the memoir is lyrical and reflective as she expertly evokes the hazy nostalgia of a Southern childhood with descriptions of sticky, summer heat and the sounds of crickets singing her to sleep. Her style is conversational and accessible for young teens as she draws her reader in with immersive sensory imagery. Most of the memoir is written in free verse, with several haikus sprinkled throughout, “Somewhere in my brain/each laugh, tear, and lullaby/becomes memory.” Woodson also uses experimental syntax to mirror natural speaking patterns “Even Coraandhersisters / can only bother us” to further draw the reader into her world. Rhyme is not used in the poems in the traditional sense, but Woodson’s poems still maintain a musical quality through Woodson’s use of repetition, “And stars/and tears/and hope.” 

Brown Girl Dreaming is an emotional memoir. Woodson describes intense feelings of love, joy, and hope as well as anger, sadness and fear. As an African American girl in the South and later in the North, Woodson aptly describes the racism and discrimination she and her family face, “In stores downtown/we’re always followed around/just because we’re brown,” but she does not give up hope for a better world. Woodson references sit-ins, marches, and Martin Luther King Jr. throughout her memoir which provides a real-world example of history as students explore the reality of a young girl's experience during the Civil Rights Movement in America. While initially written for a middle-grade audience, Brown Girl Dreaming is extremely relevant for older ages as well due to the mature topics covered. High school students can continue to relate to Woodson’s life experiences of family and belonging, racism and prejudice, as well as faith and hope. Despite the heavy themes, Brown Girl Dreaming, is an exceptional, hopeful text that describes the reality of African American life in the 1960s without profanity, explicit language or descriptions of violence. 

sometimes, 

no words are needed

Deep winter and the night air is cold. So still,

it feels like the world goes on forever in the darkness

until you look up and the earth stops

in a ceiling of stars. My head against 

my grandfather’s arm,

a blanket around us as we sit on the front porch swing.

Its whine like a song.

You don’t need words

on a night like this. Just the warmth

of your grandfather's arm. Just the silent promise 

that the world as we know it

will always be here.

The strength of this poem is its emotional impact. To introduce it to teens, I would set the scene and create a cozy atmosphere by turning off the overhead lighting, playing a wintertime ambience on the Smart Board and ask students to imagine a cold, quiet winter night before reading the poem aloud. I would then ask them to think of a time when they felt safe and warm in their lives.

Woodson, Jacqueline. Brown Girl Dreaming. Nancy Paulsen Books, 2014. ISBN 9780399252518