#another brooklyn

[5soswfttwtaf]

finished my second book of this month, but also of the last almost 3 years. both are short, just a bit over 100 pages, but books. fully read. by me.

i gave them both a 3,5 rating, i didn't enjoy them as much as i used to enjoy reading before the full scale war. but knowing that i finally read something-classics too!!-made me feel refreshed, and maybe not as dumb as i usually feel.

[ekute-ile]

Book 32, 2022: 'Another Brooklyn' by Jacqueline Woodson.

August, Gigi, Angela and Sylvia. 1970s Brooklyn. Girlhood. Family. Dreams. Realities.

Weltanschauung.

[hungryfictions]

jacqueline woodson, another brooklyn

[whilereadingandwalking]

In this lyrical novel, August reminisces on her young girlhood in Brooklyn, about moving there from the South with her father and brother, about forging female friendships and how their group of girls would come together, splinter, love each other, discover each other's darkest truths. Another Brooklyn by Jacqueline Woodson is a beautiful novel, short and so, so sweet. 

Angela, August, Gigi, and Sylvia find each other and hold onto each other. Together, their stories craft a story of heartbreak, loss, betrayal, and what it means to grow up female and Black, with all its pressures, complications, and risk. We need more books about female friendship, and this novel spins their story in such a perfect way, while also exploring August's trauma and her nostalgia for a Brooklyn where her and her three friends were inextricably tied to each other. This book captures a rich sense of place, of Bushwick in a particular time, of religion and white flight and addiction and the blues. It does all of this and more in this vivid story that's somehow only 175 pages long. 

Content warnings for classism, sexual harassment and assault, mental illness, drug use and addiction, colorism, child abuse and neglect.

[theweedyke]

I lifted my head to look up into the changing leaves, thinking about how at some point, we were all headed home. At some point, all of this, everything and everyone, became memory.

— Jacqueline Woodson, Another Brooklyn

[snreads]

Another Brooklyn by Jacqueline Woodson

Rating: ★★★★

Another Brooklyn was a stunning narration of the life of a young girl and her friends, growing through the years in Brooklyn. Different lives, different tragedies, but they still all came together to be practically one being as ephemeral as it may have been. I think the author’s writing was amazing; it was interesting, unique, and engaging. This was a quick read when I actually had the time to sit and read it, but I think it was a great read.

--

Saylor Rains

Find me on Goodreads.

[johannathedreamer]

Anyone else in love with her writing?

[bookriot]

It’s time for another edition of Cover Face-Off!

We at the Riot are big Jacqueline Woodson fans; we especially love her 2014 award winning novel-in-verse, Brown Girl Dreaming.

Last year she published Another Brooklyn, her first adult novel in two decades. It’s just been released in paperback, and the covers are pretty different. Take a look at the two cover designs, then cast your vote for which one you prefer.

http://bookriot.com/2017/07/24/cover-face-off-another-brooklyn-jacqueline-woodson/