BOOK REVIEW: Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson

When people first ask what type of books or literature I like reading, my first response is poetry. This book was not only enjoyable because it was written in poetic verse, but because the storytelling was fluid and filled with imagery.

In this poetic memoir, Jacqueline Woodson recalls her childhood: born in Ohio, and raised in the South before moving to New York City.

Named after her father, Woodson begins by providing background information of the tumultuous time that occurred between her parents after her birth, resulting in her mother loading up their three children and herself to move back down to the South and live with her parents.

There's the idea of changing the way African Americans are perceived in the 1960s and 1970s through the eyes of an African American child, which is much different than history books, or the adult essays of the time.

It is through the innocent eyes of Woodson that the reader sees how she doesn't understand that the color of her skin excludes her from certain liberties in life, or certain advantages. And,this idea, ladies and gentlemen, breaks my heart.

I don't understand racism--and I'm not talking about the denotation, I'm referring to connotation. Since I'm not a POC, I've never been taught to keep my eyes down, had to sit at the back of the bus, or forced to wait in a long line at a store because of how I look.

And that is what makes that book phenomenal. The reader gets a peek at what life was like for a young African American girl trying to be successful in a society that has been taught to suppress her.

Geared for middle readers, ages 10+, although I wouldn't hesitate to read this with my seven-year-old, the memoir can be a great tool to begin discussions about racism and the Civil Rights Movement, and even about Jim Crow Laws. In fact, one could even teach their children about slavery, because Woodson's grandfather, whom she called Daddy, was one generation removed from slavery.

And, the teaching doesn't stop there. Family issues are brought up many times in the memoir, from the children being raised by their grandparents for awhile, to then moving to New York City to live with their mother, to having another sibling, to the youngest child getting lead poisoning from eating paint, the idea of social justice runs deep.

RATED: 5 Stars

NOTE: I bought and paid for the book on my own, and did not receive any compensation for this review.