"no one believes a whole book could ever come
from something as simple as
butterflies that don't even, my brother says,
live that long.
But on paper, things live forever.
On paper, a butterfly
never dies."
"Brown Girl Dreaming" is a powerful, emotional, and timely collection of poems describing the childhood of a brown girl growing up in the 1960s.
As both author and protagonist, Jacqueline Woodson is stuck between the South of her mother's family and the North of her father and her future, trying to come to terms with her own identity when home has so many complex and contrasting connotations.
"and then there was only a roaring in the air around her
a new pain where once there wasn't pain
a hollowness where only minutes before
she had been whole."
Amidst a scramble by many to better understand the Black experience, "Brown Girl Dreaming" has emerged as a go-to recommendation for those 10 years old and up. Curious, I read it in a day at the beach and found myself incredibly moved.
This work's blend of personal experience, cultural explanation, and universal themes made me believe that "Brown Girl Dreaming" should be mandatory reading for not just elementary school students, but all of us.
"I believe in one day and someday and this
perfect moment called Now."
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