Brown Girl Dreaming

Woodson, J. (2014). Brown girl dreaming. New York: Penguin Group.

Brown Girl Dreaming is an inspiring story about a girl who was raised in South Carolina as well as New York. Her memoire written in poems tells us about how life was in the 60’s and 70’s during the Civil right Movement. We read about situations we can relate to such as divorce, death in the family, religion, and illness. The author did a marvelous job, we can picture ourselves as we are reading the text.  Beautifully created.

Analysis: How would this book appeal to "your" library? How would you sell these books? What other books has the author written?  Are they similar or different?

This book would appeal to the readers in my library due to our demographics. Being from Deep South Texas we can relate to the injustices of being Hispanic.  In the 1960’s we too went through segregation we Hispanics could not speak Spanish in school. We also had marches like the one with Cesar Chavez, we just wanted to be treated fair and just. Readers can identify themselves with the author because we too went through some of the circumstances she did.  This book would appeal to the readers who like to read historical books as well as readers who like books about overcoming hardships.  

I would sell this book by telling the readers we are not the only ones who have gone through these injustices.  This book gives us hope and strength to stand up for what we believe in. This book tells the story of a young girl, just like you all who endured things she thought she couldn’t handle, but in the end she persevered, so can you. Never give up and remember we are all equal.

The Other Side is a wonderful book that is similar to Brown Girl Dreaming because it deals with segregation. The style the author has of expressing her views with text is phenomenal. You feel as though you are actually in the story.  The characters feel very real.  Locomotion is also similar to Brown Girl Dreaming, in the sense that Lonnie and his sister suffer a lot of hardships and loss, but in the end they persevere.  Just like Jackie in Brown Girl Dreaming Lonnie losses family members and tries all that he can to try to reunite himself with his sister. Both these stories deal with love, loss, and hope.  We Had a Picnic This Past Sunday is different because it more of a picture book.  It talks about a family who get together for a picnic and talks about the different family members in the family. This is more of young reader’s book, the fascinating illustrations bring out the text.