Brown Girl Dreaming

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Brown Girl Dreaming is the memoir of author, Jacqueline Woodson, where she talks about her upbringing. At an early age, her mother leaves her father in Ohio and moves her and her siblings to Greenville, South Carolina for a short period of time. All of the kids become incredibly close with their grandparents as they sit in on Jehovah's Witness meetings and outings of other sorts. One of the topics we talked about in class was the role of secondary family members taking the place as guardians. In the text, the kids refer to their grandpa as "daddy" a number of times. The role of "mom and dad" unfortunately falls on the grandparents and that is extremely prevalent in today's society as well. Today, more and more teen pregnancies leave young mothers incapable to handle for their child and requires the assistance of a third party. I think this theme is important because it allows individuals in Jacqueline's position to see that even in those kinds of situations that there is a light at the end of the tunnel and that you can make life however you want to. This novel reads beautifully, in my opinion. Woodson writes the chapters in free verse, which makes it easy to read and gives it an added flow that most novels do not get. Being a memoir with lots and lots of historical context, Woodson brings this era to life by using her colorful vernacular and real life events to bring awareness to certain situations. I could definitely see myself teaching this text in an English classroom, which could fit in almost any unit out there. I could also see myself using this in a social studies class, especially an eighth grade history class where the main focus is South Carolina history. Woodson includes details about the Civil Rights Movement and different scenarios of segregation that she experiences while living in Greenville, South Carolina. Using this text could serve as an aid to those struggling with the material to allow them more of an actual storyline to follow along with.

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