"Brown Girl Dreaming" by Jacqueline Woodson - An Inspiring Coming-of-Age Memoir

James Hazlett: To read with a student

United States on Sep 29, 2023

Beth Weir: My students and I loved this book! Jacqueline is a talented author, with a gift for imagery. highly receomment (taught to my 8th grade ELA class).

United States on Sep 13, 2023

David: good read

United States on Sep 08, 2023

Harvis: That was loved. Beautiful book.

United States on Aug 30, 2023

Misty McClaskey: This was a great read that had me all kinds of nostalgic. Jacqueline Woodson is a world renowned author, but this book is her memoir of growing up a “brown girl dreaming.” This is actually written in free verse poetry. She tells her story of her family and lineage. She was born right here in central Ohio, writing about Lancaster, Nelsonville, Columbus, Circleville… I thought that was so cool! Her parents do not stay together and she soon finds herself living with her grandparents in South Carolina. She was born in the 60s, a brown girl trying to navigate a world that did not want to include her. It seemed like such a simpler time that I wish I could have been a part of. The English teacher in me thought this book was brilliant. However, don’t be scared of the poetry aspect. She weaves her free verse so effortlessly, you are caught up in her growing up and her family ties and Jacqueline experiencing life through her child eyes and you don’t really even notice that it is poetically written… just that it’s beautifully written. This one is being added to my classroom library. I can’t wait to share this one with my students!

I take this quote from Jacqueline’s...

United States on Apr 09, 2023

Sai: The story is in poems and very American, I had to explain a few things to my 9 year old in the UK

United Kingdom on Nov 06, 2021

David M. Track: I'm using this book with a class of students and the reception has been so heartwarming. The language is approachable. The style is artful and engaging and the subject matter is important.
This week it received the greatest compliment of all: a student asked, "Do you have any more books like this?" I'm so glad this book exists.

Canada on Oct 28, 2021

swati: Good book for pre teens who are interested in memoirs and historical fiction

India on Feb 21, 2021

NorineNorine: BROWN GIRL DREAMING

This remarkable novel told in verse is the memoir of Jacqueline Woodson ( @jacqueline_woodson ). In these verses she shares what it was like to grow up in the 60's & 70's in South Carolina & New York amidst the remnants of Jim Crow and during the Civil Right Movement. I initially picked this book up because it seemed to be an easy and fun middle grade read. But it turned out to be so much more ...
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As a woman of color it was refreshing to read about the hot comb, the freshly starched Sunday clothes and the colorful ribbons in her hair. Her stern but very warm and loving grand parents who would help raise her and her siblings put a smile on my face, simply because it made me realize that there are more similarities than differences when it comes to growing up black. Some things are the same no matter where you come from. 😊
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For me, the most fascinating verses were those about anything Civil Right Movement related. It was interesting to learn about the training for the sit-ins and the non-violent marches that made a difference for colored people all over the world for decades to come. These actions were the beginning of the...

Netherlands on Feb 20, 2017

thecinnamongirl.blog: I was inspired to read this book after hearing a wonderful interview with the author on NPR’s Fresh Air with Terri Gross. The idea of a memoir for young adults written in poetry really intrigued me. I immediately ordered it, along with the author’s next book, Another Brooklyn, on Amazon. The books arrived, and this one is particularly beautiful-looking: a silhouette of a young black girl holding a book, awash in a blue-green-yellow swirl of butterflies, and festooned with prestigious literary awards. Needless to say, my expectations for this book were very high.

Perhaps if my expectations had not been so high I would be giving this book a higher rating right now. As it is, I have positive and negative things to say about it. On the positive side, it is a lovely feel-good childhood memoir. It provided me when many, many, warm-and-fuzzy feelings throughout. You really feel that the author felt deeply loved as a child, although, if you read between the lines, it is pretty obvious that she was probably quite poor growing up, her father seems to have abandoned the family, and then her mother suddenly gets pregnant by an unidentified man, and the father of that boy (Roman)...

Canada on Sep 20, 2016