Book Review: Brown Girl Dreaming

Library Volunteer Opportunity
Love books? Love to write? The RSSAA Library Program is looking for volunteers (older students or adults) who would like to write occasional, brief reviews of books from the library collections for publication in the RSSAA Announcements, on the Library Blog, and in our Online Catalog. Please contact us in person or by email at librarians@steinerschool.org. 
~Thank you, from your Librarians!
Read more about Library Volunteers on our blog here.

We welcome our first volunteer reviewer, Kate H. (LS parent) and invite you to read her recent review of the award-winning book Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson.

You can check out this book from the Ellie Klopp Library and read Katie's book review here...

BOOK REVIEW by Kate H.:

Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson

Author Jacqueline Woodson tells the stories of her childhood in verse full of vivid images, real-life adventures and memorable family and friends. She and her older brother and sister grew up in the 1960s and 1970s, spending summers with her grandparents in Nicholtown, a town for "Colored people" outside of Greenville, SC. During the school year they lived in Brooklyn, NY. The author brings to life all the scents and sounds of her country and city homes, and the differences between the South and the North. She describes her early struggles to learn to read, her sadness while taking care of her beloved grandfather when he becomes ill, and the process of falling in love with words and poetry. Her childhood memories of confronting loss, illness, family conflict, racism and bigotry are softened somewhat by the web of love and protection that her extended family weave around her and her siblings.  

Throughout these stories, the author comments on the nature of stories and storytelling:

"How can I explain to anyone that stories are like air to me, I breathe them in and let them out over and over again."
Woodson encourages her reader to explore the magical process of translating feelings and memories into written words on paper. She writes:

"Even the silence has a story to tell you. Just listen. Listen."
Brown Girl Dreaming has won five major literary awards and would be enjoyed by readers grade 5 and up.

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