General Information
Title: Brown Girl Dreaming
Author: Jacqueline Woodson
Genre: Poetry
Publisher: Puffin Books
Date of Publication: 2014
Cover Design: Theresa Evangelista
Lexile Level & Target Audience
Lexile: 990L
Age Range: 10-14
While suitable for boys and girls alike, this text may have a greater appeal to female readers, as the poems are from the perspective of Jacqueline herself.
Brief Summary
Brown Girl Dreaming is an intimate collection of poems about Woodson's childhood and adolescent years; growing up during the 1960's and '70s during the Civil Rights movement, Woodson and her siblings travel back and forth between South Carolina (where her grandparents live) and New York (where her mother is). We follow Woodson along an emotional journey as she struggles to find "home" and unravels her own unique identity, gifts, and passions.
Evaluation: Pros & Cons
Pros:
1. Emotion is portrayed openly and unashamedly. In an age in which so many YA novels contain narrators who "apologize" for their emotions and feelings, this book will help students believe that the depth of their emotions are not strange or shameful, as Woodson so honestly, freely, and beautifully opens up her own.
2. It gives an intimate glimpse into an important time in our history. Growing up during the Civil Rights movement of the '60s and '70s, this book gives students an "inside" perspective into the mind and emotions of a young girl who is trying to make sense of the world around her, a world in which she and her race are met with intense prejudice and persecution; reading from Woodson's personal thoughts and experiences during this period helps to "cut the distance" that is so often felt when simply reading of these events in a textbook.
3. Woodson and her family members are authentic characters. Sure, we know that these poems are written by a "real" narrator about "real" people, but Woodson makes us believe this by her elegant use of description and her craft of phrases which contain incredible depth of meaning and complex connotation. Woodson's natural voice comes out effortlessly in her poems, and readers will easily "feel" her presence as they read, helping them to readily connect to Woodson herself and to the characters (family members) that she presents.
Cons:
1. The structure and format won't appeal to all readers. I don't know that this is necessarily a true "con," but it is worth mentioning that the poems are pieced together in a sort of "random" nature––though they are, for the most part, chronological. Some readers may find this difficult to follow and/or off-putting. That being said, this book would work well as a choice read and/or additional option for advanced readers.
2. Place and setting are sometimes confusing. Perhaps the author did this on purpose, but, at times, the description of place and setting was confusing, as Woodson jumps between South Carolina and New York City; it took a bit of time to straighten out which sides of her family were which, too, but that's something easily "fixed" with a review of the "family tree" (found in the beginning of the book).
3. Certain aspects of the Jehovah Witness religion are criticized. Though Woodson certainly does not condemn the Jehovah Witness religion, she is honest about some of the aspects which she found challenging and/or unenjoyable about it; this could prove challenging if the student reading––or someone they know––is part of this religion, but I think it can be handled well with proper care and sensitivity.
Literary Elements
Italics: Woodson uses italics to separate speech from her own thoughts and narration, which is helpful in differentiation, but subtle enough that it doesn't take away from the flow of her verse (as quotation marks may have).
Free Verse: Even without a rhyme scheme, Woodson manages to make her writing flow smoothly and rhythmically across the page, showing us where to "pause" with the use of line breaks, spaces, and punctuation; the result is a captivating style that students can work to emulate in their own free verse writing.
Repetition: Aside from the occasional repetition in individual poems, Woodson also uses repetition in the titles of her poems; for example, one "series" of poems is entitled "how to listen," with subsequent poems in this series named "how to listen #2," "how to listen #3," and so on. This creates a common thread that readers begin to look for and tie together throughout the book.
Mini-lesson Idea(s)
Students could engage in a reader response called a "Found Poem," in which they create their own poem by only using lines from the novel (it may help for students to include the pages for each line to aid in class discussion). The poem could illustrate a theme in the story, follow a character's development, or even highlight descriptions of scenery and place.
Cheers!
- Aubrey
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