"If you want your children to be intelligent, read them fairy tales. If you want them to be more intelligent, read them more fairy tales." Albert Einstein

10 November 2014

Brown Girl Dreaming


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

Woodson grew up both in South Carolina and New York, different places with very different cultures and issues of race. With a foot in each place, Woodson tells the story of her childhood and the things she loved about living in the city and about living with her grandmother in the deep south.

Wow. A memoir/autobiography written by a young adult author and the book is written in blank verse. There's a lot to love here. The lyrical quality of the writing makes this book very easy to read, and the poetic style will draw fans of Ellen Hopkins and other authors of novels in verse. I shelved this book in the biographies, but it doesn't spend much time on the shelf. Strongly recommended.

Recommended for: middle grade, tweens, teens, fans of Woodson's other work
Red Flags: racist language (used appropriately for the time/place)
Overall Rating: 5/5 stars

Read-Alikes: Dark Sons, October Mourning: A Song for Matthew Shepard, Miracle's Boys

No comments: