Brown Girl Dreaming

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Woodson, J. 2014. Brown Girl Dreaming. (Newbery Honor Book 1^st Edition). Nancy Paulsen Books. ISBN-10: 0399252517

PLOT SUMMARY

National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature, Jacqueline Woodson, shares an amazing story about childhood, family, religion, change and hope, in Brown Girl Dreaming. Woodson takes readers into a vivid childhood journey that feels pure and honest. The main character, Woodson herself, tells her story starting from birth to her latter childhood years, including descriptive accounts of family members, friends, and different homes. Her birth came about in the midst of social reform and civil rights movement in America. Her father is never in the picture, and her mother attempts to find a place to make her dreams come true. Constantly moving from South Carolina to New York, Woodson is never fully complete in either home. She struggles to understand segregation, discrimination, and religion. Woodson finds hope in writing, although she struggles in reading and academics, unlike her gifted sister. Her talent is later noticed by a teacher. The theme of “how to listen” is repeated throughout the autobiographical poem and is depicted in the ending to serve the purpose of self-discovery.

·       John Newbery Medal 2015

·       National Book Award for Young People’s Literature 2014

·       NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Literature Work- Youth/Teens 2015

CRITICAL ANALYSIS

Woodson is an exceptional author that engages readers in her own personal life journey in Brown Girl Dreaming. Woodson is born in a chaotic time of change, “I am born as the South explodes, too many people too many years enslaved, then emancipated but not free, the people who look like me keep fighting and marching and getting killed.” As a child Woodson struggles to find her place in this world of injustice. Woodson makes several references to historical figures in the start of her story. In the beginning of the story she wonders what type of woman she will be in the fight for equality, “I do not know if these hands will become Malcolm’s—raised and fisted or Martin’s—open and asking or James’s—curled around a pen. I do not know if these hands will be Rosa’s or Ruby’s gently gloved and fiercely folded calmly in a lap, on a desk, around a book.” She knew she had a purpose for being born in the midst of the civil rights movement. Woodson also includes references to her family tree and the connections and struggles they endured from slavery, segregation, to the social reform in the 60s and 70s in America.

Throughout the narrative poem, Woodson seems to be emotional, observant, and hopeful of her writing capabilities. Writing stories make Woodson dream of all the possibilities, “But now when summer comes our family gets on a plane, flies to Africa Hawaii Chicago.” Although her stories are fictional, she is able to create her own reality where everything is perfect and the possibilities are endless. Woodson writes, “In my writing, there is a stepfather now who lives in California but meets us wherever we go. There is a church, not a Kingdom Hall. There is a blue car, a new dress, loose unribboned hair.”

Students will be able to relate to Woodson’s poems because she endures struggles with family, friends, teachers, and her own self. She has problems at home, as well at school. She never had a father to raise her, and her mother was constantly absent in her life. Her grandparents raised her grandmother forced a religious upbringing. Woodson’s stories resonate with many other children trying to find their place in this world through the chaos.

EXCERPTS

PUBLISHERS WEEKLY: “The writer’s passion for stories and storytelling permeates the memoir, explicitly addressed in her early attempts to write books and implicitly conveyed through her sharp images and poignant observations seen through the eyes of a child. Woodson’s ability to listen and glean meaning from what she hears lead to an astute understanding of her surroundings, friends, and family. Ages 10–up.” (2014)

THE WASHINGTON POST: “Radiantly warm . . . Her playful but determined side remains strong amid the many memories and dreams.” (2014)

THE HORN BOOK: “A memoir-in-verse so immediate that readers will feel they are experiencing the author’s childhood right along with her . . . Most notably of all, perhaps, we trace her development as a nascent writer, from her early, overarching love of stories through her struggles to learn to read through the thrill of her first blank composition book to her realization that ‘words are [her] brilliance.’ The poetry here sings: specific, lyrical, and full of imagery. An extraordinary—indeed brilliant—portrait of a writer as a young girl.” (2014)

SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL: “Mesmerizing journey through [Woodson’s] early years . . . Her perspective on the volatile era in which she grew up is thoughtfully expressed in powerfully effective verse . . . Woodson weaves a patchwork of her life experience . . . that covers readers with a warmth and sensitivity no child should miss. This should be on every library shelf.” (2014)

CONNECTIONS

Classroom Activity: Students will describe their childhood home setting through free verse short poem. Students will share and discuss in small groups.

Library Activity: Students will conduct research about the Civil Rights movements and important historical figures. Students will write and display their own short free verse poems about the person of their choice. Ex. Martin Luther King, Rosa Parks, etc.

Jazynka, K. 2012. National Geographic Readers: Martin Luther King, Jr. (Readers Bios). National Geographic Children’s Book. ISBN-10: 1426310870