Brown Girl Dreaming
Brown Girl Dreaming is a youth novel by the American writer Jacqueline Woodson and the American illustrator Ryan Thomann. The author describes her childhood in verse. Woodson covers topics such as family, home, friendship, loss and the history of the African American civil rights movement .
Brown Girl Dreaming was published in 2014 by Nancy Paulsen Books / Penguin Group in English .
The book was awarded a Newbery Honor (2015), the National Book Award for Young People's Literature (2014) and the NAACP Image Award (2015) , among others . The press writes about Brown Girl Dreaming : "These poems will be stored in our cycle for the next few years" ( The New York Times ) "Woodson cherishes her memories and passes them on to her readers in graceful poetry" (Kirkus Reviews) and "[E] in an extraordinary, brilliant portrait of the author as a young girl" ( The Horn Book ).
content
In verse-shaped anecdotes , the author Jacqueline Amanda Woodson tells the story of her childhood. Her poems give the reader an insight into the life of an African American woman in the 1960s and 1970s in the midst of the civil rights movement and deal with home and the conflict about growing up in the north and south. Her eloquent verses also reflect the joy of having found your own voice and thus the path to writing. The book is divided into five chronological chapters.
Chapter 1
The first chapter of the book revolves around the protagonist's early childhood. Starting with her birth in Columbus , Ohio , the reader gets to know Woodson's life, her emotional world and family for the first time. This consists of Jacqueline's mother Mary Anne, her father Jack Austin, her sister Odella Caroline and her brother Hope Austin. Mary Anne's parents, Gunnar and Georgiana, also play a major role. Some time after Jacqueline was born, Mary Anne and her children moved from the north to live with their parents in the south, in Greenville , South Carolina . Mary Anne's siblings moved to New York long ago, which is also the Woodson family's destination. The homeland in the north distinguishes Jacqueline and her siblings from the other children in the south and this is how the first conflict of the divided homeland manifests itself.
Chapter 2
The second chapter of the book takes place after moving to Greenville, South Carolina and is filled with touching, funny, and sad anecdotes, all of which revolve around the new life in the South. After moving, Mary Anne felt the need for her own home. Once again she thinks about following her siblings to New York and quickly decides to visit them at least for a while. When she returns, it is clear that she and the children will actually move to New York. To organize everything, Jacqueline's mother travels to New York again a short time later, this time for a longer period of time. Meanwhile, she leaves the children with their parents. The siblings and the grandparents enjoy the time together. They live in their grandparents' house in Nicholtown, an area of Greenville where only colored people live. After initially longing for Ohio, Jacqueline slowly developed a bond with her new home. The grandparents and siblings spend a lot of time together. Friends, neighbors and chance encounters also appear. Jacqueline tells of places and moments with her family that embellished her childhood and of the incipient love for writing. She tells of her father and the emptiness he left behind when he left. She shares how she found her faith through studying the Bible with Grandmother Georgiana and became one of Jehovah's Witnesses. But despite the feeling of being at home and the well-sheltered life under the love of the grandparents, the move to the south brought major changes and difficulties. The existing longing for Ohio, the feeling of a divided homeland and the problems that come with their origins make the siblings to create. Because at this point in time the African-American civil rights movement is taking place in Greenville, which is present through reports on the radio, in conversations with Grandfather Gunnar and on the streets of Greenville. When she was bringing her children up from Greenville after some time, Mary Anne Irby came home with news: She was pregnant with a fourth child. Jacqueline is not particularly enthusiastic about Baby Roman or the upcoming move to New York and begins to miss Greenville before she even leaves town.
Chapter 3
At first Jacqueline is horrified: The New York that she only knows from stories and her ideas does not correspond to reality at all. She describes it as gray, cold, loud and crazy and is sure that she will never call it home. The apartment in Brownsville, Brooklyn that her mother found for the family is also a disaster, and Jacqueline is happy to see them move out soon. They move to Herzl Street, into a house where Jacqueline's aunt Caroline and her boyfriend Bernie live and where more and more people from Greenville are gradually coming. It creates a family feeling, her mother Mary Anne is happy and so Jacqueline is slowly beginning to feel at home there. But then Aunt Caroline falls and dies as a result of the fall. Everything changes again and the family moves into a pink house on Madison Street. The entertaining feeling of home in her aunt's house has disappeared and Jacqueline begins to miss Greenville, the south and the life with her grandparents more and more. Without being able to write at all, one day Jacqueline gets her first notebook. Later she wrote her name in it for the first time and discovered her love for writing. When Jacqueline was six years old, she enthusiastically went to school for the first time. As in Greenville, the brothers and sisters continue to go to the Kingdom Hall with Grandmother Georgiana every Sunday to strengthen their faith . But Jacqueline soon realizes that she is playing the role of a “real” believer rather than being one. She disagrees with some views and begins to question things. In addition, the disadvantages are increasing: no Halloween, no Christmas, no birthdays. There are only two other Jehovah's Witnesses in Jacqueline's class, two girls named Gina and Alina. But while Gina is a “real” believer, Alina, like Jacqueline, feels more like an actress. Uncle Robert, Mary Anne's brother, later moves to New York. Time flies in New York: Jacqueline goes to school, to the Kingdom Hall on Sundays, and to the park with her uncle. Her family in Ohio and the memories of her father are increasingly forgotten. When Baby Roman has to go to the hospital for a while because he has eaten paint on the wall and now has lead in his blood, Jacqueline and the rest of her siblings drive back to their grandparents in South Carolina with her uncle Robert. Grandfather Gunnar is ill in her absence and can no longer work and Grandmother Georgiana has taken a full-time job. The children therefore spend their time in the day care center with Mrs. Hughes and in the all-day school, which bothers them. They are bullied because of their appearance and their different-sounding language, and the feeling of a divided home is all the stronger. Then summer ends in the south and Jacqueline, Hope Austin and Odella Caroline return to New York.
Chapter 4
Back in New York, Roman finally comes home after a long series of hospital stays, and the four siblings are reunited. In the meantime, Jacqueline met Maria. The Mexican girl lives on the same street as her and the two become very close friends. They spend a lot of time together, swap their own food for that of the others, spray graffiti on walls, smoke chewing gum cigarettes and secretly listen to the radio in Maria's room. In addition to her everyday life, Jacqueline devotes herself more and more to telling and writing stories, but the latter is not so easy for her at first. With the help of lyrics and stories, she learns a lot about language and thus develops a feeling for writing. In the summer everyone is going back south to Greenville. But it's different from the times before: Jacqueline's grandfather Gunnar is sicker and most of the summer he is in bed. While her siblings play outside, Jacqueline spends many hours with her grandfather. At the end of the summer Uncle Robert is bringing them all back to New York. Back in Brooklyn, Jacqueline writes her first book, a book filled with seven poems about butterflies. Uncle Robert is arrested for theft and sent to prison for a long time, where his family visits him. Jacqueline's family gets a call from grandmother Georgiana and heads south again. Shortly after they arrive in Greenville, Jacqueline's grandfather Gunnar dies. A funeral follows in the form of a parade through Nicholtown.
Chapter 5
After Gunnar's death, Georgiana sells the house in Nicholtown and follows her remaining family to New York. With the death of their grandfather, the world of the Woodson family changed once again. Jacqueline's life goes on, but the gaps in the people she has lost remain and she wonders how her life could have been different. When Robert got out of prison, he converted to the Muslim faith. He wears a black cap and tells about Muhammad, the holy place of Mecca and the strength of black people. Maria and Jacqueline, however, are increasingly concerned with the Afro-American civil rights movement. They become Angela Davis fans and wish they could join Black Panthers , but they cannot really understand the revolution and its opponents. Uncle Robert tells Jacqueline that she won't learn anything about it in school because the revolution is taking place in the streets. Jacqueline's passion for writing is intensified in the context of the civil rights movement. After reciting her self-written poem about them, her teacher applauds her and Jacqueline feels her dream of becoming a writer is getting closer and closer. After all, Jacqueline unites all the opposites of her life and realizes that it is herself who has the power to decide how each story will be.
characters
main characters
Jacqueline Amanda Woodson
Jacqueline Amanda Woodson is the protagonist of the book. Brown Girl Dreaming is told from her point of view . Her family consists of her father Jack Austin Woodson, her mother Mary Anne Irby and her siblings Odella Caroline Woodson, Hope Austin Woodson and Roman Irby. She got her name from her father Jack, which is why she is also called "Jackie". She cherishes the desire to become a writer from an early age, even if it initially only expresses itself by telling stories. At school she is often compared to her older sister. Jacqueline likes to think up stories, for example about her father who left the family early. She is one of Jehovah's Witnesses, but the strength of this belief decreases the older she gets.
Mary Anne Irby
Mary Anne is the mother of Jacqueline, Odella Caroline and Hope Austin and the ex-wife of Jack Austin. Her parents are Georgiana and Gunnar. She was born in Greenville, South Carolina and has three siblings: her sister Caroline moved to New York, her brother Robert is saving money to follow her, and her brother Odell was killed in a car accident. Mary Anne later moves to New York, Brooklyn, with her three children. During one of her stays in this city, she becomes pregnant and gives birth to another boy, Roman.
Georgiana Scott Irby and Gunnar Irby
Georgiana Scott Irby and Gunnar Irby are the grandparents of Jacqueline, Odella Caroline, Hope Austin and Roman and the parents of Mary Anne, Robert, Caroline and Odella. They have a house in Greenville, South Carolina. Georgiana Scott works as a part-time teacher, but since there is not enough money, she joins the women on the other side of Greenville's white, more affluent population two days a week. Later, when her husband is too sick to work, Georgiana takes a full-time job. She is religious and speaks to her grandchildren about the Bible she keeps in her bedside table. Gunnar dies from smoking cigarettes. After the death of her husband, Georgiana moves to live with her daughter Mary Anne in New York.
Odella Caroline Woodson
Odella Caroline Woodson is Jacqueline's older sister and named after her uncle Odell, who was killed in a car accident, and her aunt Caroline. Her nickname is "Dell". She is very smart and reads a lot.
Hope Austin Woodson
Hope Austin Woodson is the older brother of Jacqueline and a quiet character. He can sing very well, which nobody knows for a long time, and is interested in chemistry. He's also passionate about comics and superheroes.
Minor characters
Jack Austin Woodson
Jack Austin is the father of Jacqueline, Odella Caroline and Hope Austin and the ex-husband of Mary Anne. He left his three children and his wife.
Grace Vivian Whitfield Woodson and Hope Austin Woodson
Grace Vivian Whitfield Woodson and Hope Austin Woodson are the paternal grandparents of Jacqueline, Odella Caroline and Hope Austin, and the parents of Jack Austin. Grace and Mary Anne are close, but otherwise they don't have much contact with the family. The south brings Grace and Mary Anne closer together as they are both from Greenville and they are home to each other.
Odell Irby
Odell Irby is the brother of Mary Anne, Caroline and Robert and the son of Georgiana and Gunnar. He dies in a car accident. Jacqueline's sister Odella Caroline is named after him.
Caroline Irby
Caroline, also known as Aunt "Kay", is the sister of Mary Anne, Robert and Odell and the daughter of Georgiana and Gunnar. She is the first of the three siblings to live in New York. She dies as a result of a fall.
Robert Irby
Robert Irby is the brother of Mary Anne, Caroline and Odell and the son of Georgiana and Gunnar. Due to theft, he spends a time in jail and then converts to the Muslim faith.
Dorothy
Dorothy is Mary Anne's cousin and best friend. She and her children visit Mary Anne and the children sometimes. Dorothy's children, however, do not play with Jacqueline and her siblings because they cannot understand their language.
novel
Roman is Mary Anne's fourth child and is also Jacqueline's brother. He is white and has soft, brown curls and eyelashes. When he ate paint on the wall and, as a result, has lead in his blood, he is hospitalized for some time.
Maria
Maria is Jacqueline's best friend and is of Mexican descent. They share their food, secretly listen to the radio and smoke chewing gum cigarettes together.
Greenville neighbors
Cora and her sisters live across the street. Her mother left to run away with a pastor. They tell Jacqueline that the devil lives in mushrooms and Grandmother Georgiana warns her grandchildren about these children. The boy with the hole in his heart lives up the street. He sometimes sits in the Woodsons' garden and listens to them telling stories. He doesn't speak much himself, and when he does, it is only to ask Jacqueline and her siblings questions about their mother, New York and Ohio. The three brothers live down the street. They're in their dark house all summer and don't come out until late at night when their mother comes home from work. They are all near friends of Jacqueline, Odella Caroline and Hope Austin, but the grandmother forbids the siblings from playing with them.
Gina and Alina
You are the only two other Jehovah's Witnesses in Jacqueline's class. But while Gina is a “real” believer, Alina and Jacqueline feel more like actresses.
Literary criticism
Brown Girl Dreaming received an overall positive response from the press. The National Book Foundation praised: "Jacqueline Woodson's 'Brown Girl Dreaming' is an intimate tale of victory, suffering and discovery, written in words with the complexity of a symphony and filled with memories that torment and inspire" (National Book Foundation). The National Public Radio noted positively, "Woodson opens a window for young people on the history and learn as much by their readers as her" (National Public Radio). The School Library Journal stated that the book was "an accessible and engaging tour de force" (School Library Journal).
Nominations and Awards
| date | Nomination / award |
|---|---|
| 2014 | National Book Award for Young People's Literature |
| 2015 | Newbery Honor |
| 2015 | NAACP Image Award |
| 2015 | Coretta Scott King Author Award winner |
| 2015 | Sibert Honor winner |
| 2014 | Los Angeles Times Book Prize finalist |
| 2015 | ALA Notable |
| 2015 | Bank Street College of Education's Claudia Lewis Award |
| 2016 | New York Times Book Review Notable Children's Book |
| 2014 | Kids' Indie Next List |
| 2014 | Kirkus Best Books |
| 2014 | Publishers Weekly Best Book |
| 2014 | School Library Journal Best Book |
| 2014 | Horn Book Fanfare |
| 2014 | BookPage Best Children's Book |
Web links
- Reading sample of the original language version of the book
- Original language publisher website for the book
- Author's website
Individual evidence
- ^ Sunday Book Review - Jacqueline Woodson's 'Brown Girl Dreaming' The New York Times, August 22, 2014 (accessed December 6, 2016)
- ↑ Kirkus Review Brown Girl Dreaming Kirkus, August 28, 2014 (accessed December 6, 2016)
- ↑ Review of Brown Girl Dreaming The Horn Book, September / October 2014 (accessed December 6, 2016)
- ↑ 2014 National Book Award Winner, Young People's Literature National Book Foundation, (accessed December 6, 2016)
- ↑ Jacqueline Woodson On Being A 'Brown Girl' Who Dreams National Public Radio, September 18, 2014 (accessed December 6, 2016)
- ↑ Best Books of 2014 School Library Journal, (accessed December 6, 2016)