brown girl dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson

Genre: Memoir in Verse

Grade Level: 7-12

Interest Level: 8-12

Themes: identity, coming of age, family, love, friendship, 

Awards: Coretta Scott King Award, John Newbery Medal, National Book Award for Young People's Literature, NAACP Award for Outstanding Literary Work - Youth/Teens

What I Thought
Just the title made me want to read Jacqueline Woodson's latest work(and because I love everything Jacqueline Woodson). I, like Crystal Paul, of Bustle, learned many things growing up as a black girl reading books about white people. Mostly I learned that black girls, brown girls, black/brown people didn't belong in books.  Although I never consciously questioned this reality, subconsciously, I knew like many marginalized groups of people, it was because my life, my stories, were not important, they didn't matter. I too drew pictures of little blond haired, blue -eyed girls in my stories for school and dreamed of the day that I would grow up to be a princess like the ones in my books. I was a brown girl dreaming, unfortunately, the princess in my dreams didn't match the princess in my mirror.

Thank the book gods that Jacqueline Woodson's childhood in verse is filled with the kind of eloquent stories, images and word pictures that validate blackness, and little brown girls dreaming of stories where they belong. It is an accessible, eloquent glimpse into the reality of a little girl learning to grow and find her place in the world.

Instructional Possibilities
Woodson's works are wonderful for responsive instruction and this book is no different. Structured in five parts there are multiple ELA lessons on structure, theme, characterization, conflict, imagery, word choice and of course endless poetry lessons. Because it is in five parts  each section could be read independently. The poems can be read independently as well,  or grouped thematically without reading the entire book. It is  full of lessons for social studies,  on civil rights, protest, the northern migration of blacks, religious studies as Woodson was raised Jehovah's Witness, and comparing/contrasting life in the south vs. life in the north. The text can also be compared/contrasted with other texts, both fiction and non-fiction from various time periods historical and contemporary, as a way to explore themes, ideas and social realities. 

Cultural Authenticity
There are many wonderful opportunities for authentic discussion of culture in this text.  In how to listen #2, one of several haikus in the book, Woodson recalls "in the stores downtown, we're always followed around, just because we're brown"  This poem is simple enough to use with primary grades, and/or can be used along with other poems in the book, not only to discuss  prejudice and discrimination, in the 60's/70's, but to compare to current  events. In hair night, Woodson takes us to a familiar scene in many a  black kitchen on a Saturday night, and the smells of biscuits, burning hair and Dixie Peach hair grease seem to float up from the page. Though this remembrance will ring true for many little brown girls, it is a wonderful opportunity to discuss/compare/contrast, the significance of hair in various cultural groups. Hair is deeply rooted to identity in many cultures and should not be viewed as a superficial trait. Woodson even provides an opportunity to juxtapose the significance of hair within the black community. In the  selection afros, when her uncle comes over with his hair "blown out into an afro" a young Woodson begs her mother for the same hairstyle.  Even today the "state" of black hair is controversial in the black community. Straightened, natural, cornrows, locs, long or short, the ways in which blacks choose to represent their identity through their hair continues to cause discussion/controversy. This selection moves to further  paint a picture of the larger social context of the time, when black was becoming beautiful and black families all over the country were validated and affirmed by the black people and music of Soul Train on Saturdays. 

In miss bell and the marchers, Woodson opens the door to Miss Bell's house where civil rights marchers are having a meeting.  Woodson thinks maybe the people bringing foil covered dishes as they arrive, are gathering for a prayer meeting, until she sees them close the blinds. The turmoil of the south and the civil rights movement weaves its way through the book with the grace of Miss Bell, "And even though Miss Bell works for a white lady who said 'I will fire you in a minute if I ever see you on that line!' Miss Bell knows that marching isn't the only thing she can do, knows that people fighting need full bellies to think and safe places to gather." Not only is Woodson witness to the grace of Miss Bell but the power of Angela Davis, and in power to the people, young Jacqueline and her best friend Maria walk through the streets of Brooklyn with their fists raised in the air Angela Davis style.
Woodson's remembrances are many more than hair and protests. We walk with her along the streets of Brooklyn and sit on the front porch in South Carolina with her grandparents. We are with her at the Kingdom Hall meetings, and at her best friend Marias house eating arroz con habichuelas and tostones. We get to see, hear and touch the entirety of Woodson's world with delight, curiosity, sadness, joy and remembering.

Take a walk. Take a ride. Go get this book.

April is National Poetry Month - Hip Hop Speaks to Children edited by Nikki Giovanni

Genre – Poetry

Grade Level:  K – 8

Interest Level: K-10

Themes – 

This book has GOT to be in your collection. It is a must have for the poetry, history and the artwork. Published in 2008, it is already timeless.

Nikki Giovanni edited this collection of poems, lyrics, raps that range in topic from everyday activities like walking to the store to get candy, or getting sent to the principals office to more ideological topics of  love, equality and having a dream.

Just as diverse, are the author’s Giovanni has included.  In this collection you will find classic poetry titans like Langston Hughes, Gwendolyn Brooks and Pedro Pietri;urban legends Gil Scott Heron and Tupac; cultural icons like Maya Angelou, and Queen Latifah; and contemporary wordsmiths, Common,  Kanye West and Jacqueline Woodson.  This collection represents generations of African American and urban stories and experiences.

Nikki Giovanni’s scholarship, and creative genius, along with her knowledge, appreciation and understanding of  hip hop culture, make her the perfect conduit for this celebration of stories, rhythm, language and hip hop.  Her goal is not only to celebrate hip hop, but to evidence the essential elements of hip hop  throughout history.

In addition to the delight of simply reading and/or listening to the selections in the book(a cd is included), there are many instructional possibilities. These begin with Giovanni’s introduction which takes the reader on a historical journey of language and rhythm. She discusses oral tradition, music, vernacular,  and other forms of expression, laid against a timeline of African American History. The introduction is worthy of  a lesson(s)  that would be relevant in history, ELA and possibly music. It provides an opportunity for meeting common core requirements as an informational text. In addition, at the end of the book, there is biographical information about the editor/advisors, illustrators and all contributors. This could lend itself to more in depth biographical studies of the many diverse authors and illustrators represented in the collection.

The illustrations, with credit to several wonderful illustrators are beautiful and  worthy of picture walks, critical viewing and discussion on their own. The 51 poems provide many choices for lessons in ELA, music, social studies, as core or supplemental material.

This collection not only provides an excellent responsive, instructional opportunity to provide  your students, but also for the educator who needs to increase his/her cultural knowledge of hip hop culture, youth culture, urban culture and African American culture. Move to the beat of cultural responsiveness, in Hip Hop Speak to Children.

Don't walk, get yo' groove and go get this book!

Locomotion by Jacqueline Woodson

Genre: Story in Poems

Grade Level: 4-8

Interest Level: 4-8

Themes: family, loss/grief, foster care, resilience, poetry

Sensitivity Issues: topic of parents death in a fire

Lonnie C. Motion is 11 years old and with the help of his teacher is finally finding a way to deal with the loss, grief and change that struck his life at the age of 7. 

Locomotion is one of my favorite Jacqueline Woodson books. Not only because the pages paint a vivid picture of Lonnie C. Motion, a wonderful 11 year old African American boy, but because it is a great book for instruction and engagement.

This is a story in poems. Poems that are assigned by a teacher, Ms. Marcus, who tells Lonnie to “write it down before it leaves your brain.” Right there on the first page, in the first poem, we learn who Lonnie is. “I tell her about the smoke and she says Good Lonnie, write that. Not a whole lot of people be saying Good Lonnie to me…”  I know this 11 year old Lonnie, not many people tell him what he does right, but many people are waiting for him to do something wrong. Ms. Marcus, however, gets him to write a whole book of what is in his head. The fire, his parents, the foster homes, his little sister and many ideas, thoughts and occurrences in between occupy the words on his pages.

This book is great for read alouds, reading in small groups and/or , reading independently. The poem format will be non-threatening for struggling readers, but it provides many opportunities for critical thinking/discussion, interpretation  of literary elements, and explicit discussion/learning about African American language.  If you are teaching poetry, then students can learn right along with Lonnie’s free verse, haiku, sonnets, epistles, epitaph. There are many ways to be creative, while addressing common core standards, but more importantly, many ways to see into the heart and mind of young black boy, that is at risk of being thrown away, feared, ignored or lost. 

Thank goodness the fabulous Ms. Woodson shows us a way to VABB our black boys, and our underserved, in this wonderful book.

Don’t walk...go get it.

Sugar Hill by Carole Boston Weatherford

Historical Verse

Grade Level: K-4

Interest Level: K-4

Themes:  African American History, Harlem Renaissance, Famous African Americans

Related Text: Ellington Was Not a Street by Ntozake Shange

Sugar Hill is a delightful picture to add to your classroom library, not just for Black History month, but for always.  Sugar Hill, a historic neighborhood in New York City’s Harlem, was a thriving center for black culture during the early twentieth century. Carole Boston Weatherford takes us on a stroll through this neighborhood to learn and reflect on a time when famous African Americans, like Duke Ellington, Zora Neale Hurston and W.E.B Dubois , walked the streets with Harlem’s other black residents, and the appreciation for art, education, and culture was palpable.   

This book has great instructional possibility. It is not text heavy and the vibrant, yet simple illustrations, are perfect for picture walks through the text with emerging readers.   The simple, rhyming verse provides repetition and various font types/colors, which make it a good choice for a variety of effective read alouds. For example,  “Sugar Hill, Sugar Hill where life is sweet,” repeats five times in the book which provides an opportunity for Choral Jump In reading. The text has a rhythm that draws the reader in, helping to create the vibrancy  of life that was  Sugar Hill during this time in history.

Informational text at the back of the book is a bonus for reading instruction. There is an author’s note that provides information on Sugar Hill and it’s residents, as well as brief “Sugar Hill’s Who’s Who” biographies on some of the neighborhoods most famous residents.

Go ahead, go get it. Your classroom library will thank you.

See also - Ellington Was Not a Street by Ntozake Shange

Zora and Me by Victoria Bon, T.R. Simon

Historical Fiction

Grade Level: 4-7

Interest Level: 4-7

Themes: racism, segregation/Jim Crow south, storytelling, curiosity and imagination, southern roots/life, absence of father’s

Sensitivity Issues: Use of the ‘N’ word, black males die (not graphic)

This book is delightful. The voice of the narrator will draw the audience into the world of the small, all black, community of Eatonville, Florida and Zora Neale Hurston's friends and family. We get a glimpse of how Zora's creative imagination keeps everyone trying to figure out if her stories are truth, lies, or just the way she makes sense of the world. We do learn that early on, Zora is confident of her ability to tell stories and entertain others with them.

This book was written to be read aloud, in true folklore/tall-tale fashion. It has great instructional possibility. The language is rich, the historical facts are compelling, and the dialogue creates humor and suspense. The female leads are strong, and well developed for the books 180 pages. Zora's curiosity, and imagination are central to the movement of the story. The book also contains a biography of Zora Neale Hurston, and a timeline of her life.

The book does have a few sobering moments, as it opens with man being killed by an alligator. Subsequently, we learn that the main characters father left town to find work, and never returned, a traveling man the children meet and befriend is found murdered with his head missing, and then a strange, quiet man who is the subject of Zora's tall-tales dies in his sleep. All of this misfortune concerning the men of Eatonville however, lends itself to many discussion and instruction possibilities, not the least of which is Zora's "coming of age" and learning the truth about life. These truths, include one characters decision to "pass" for white which is the source of both confusion and tragedy. Zora wades through it all within her circle of family, friends and support and does so with audacious determination and curiosity.

How It Went Down by Kekla Magoon

Realistic Fiction

Grade Level: High School

Interest Level: 7-12

Themes: choices, courage, community, crime/violence, having different points of view, relationships, urban life/experiences, black male life,

Sensitivity Issues: profanity, a couple of subtle sexual references

Related Texts: You Don’t Even Know Me by Sharon Flake

I was reluctantly eager to read this book because of it’s immediate application to all that is going on in urban cities across America, and because of my own experience with young black men dying too soon.   I wanted however, to read and find an engaging story,  but more importantly I wanted to find cultural authenticity.

I did find cultural authenticity. The depictions of  urban/black youth, generational perspectives, socio-economic perspectives, community relationships, complicated choices, loyalties and sometimes contradictions, were all authentic. And although at some points the narrative felt stereotypical and/or superficial, overall the story is a nuanced glance into seven sad, devastating days for a black community and black family.

This book will work well for instruction and/or in a classroom library. Many students will find his/her experiences validated and affirmed, but will also find stories that help build and bridge towards an empathy and understanding for different viewpoints/perspectives.

Each chapter is a character/community member who is touched by the death of Tariq Johnson in some way. We get to see inside the hearts and minds of many people who knew him, or knew of him, but painfully, as in real life, we never get to hear from the victim himself.  We see the victim through the eyes of many, as a hero, a thug, and a  threatening black male.  More importantly however we see Tariq, as a typical adolescent, a brother, a son, a friend,  and a human being.

Kekla Magoon writes a story with strong instructional possibility, even within the areas that might seem problematic, such as characters or situations that might seem stereotypical such as Tariq’s connection with a gang. It is typical for black male victims to be vilified and while I didn’t initially want to see this in this story, it provides an opportunity for critical discussion.  At some points the multiple characters/viewpoints seem to blur together, but in the midst of tragedies such as these where social media, images  and sound bytes converge, the feelings, viewpoints and truth do often meld together in a commotion of separate realities. 

Get this book. Read it for yourself.  Read it with your students.

Firebird by Misty Copeland

Biographical Verse

Grade Level: K-3

Interest Level: K-5

Themes:  perseverance, believing in yourself, overcoming obstacles, determination, hard work, following your dreams

Firebird, by Misty Copeland is a picture book that you want in your collection. Especially, but not only for little brown girls dreaming of dancing, but for any girls dreaming of being something or somewhere that  rejects their skin color, body type and/or circumstance.

Copeland’s story is authentic because it subtly captures the dreams and the fears of children who want to be more than their experience dictates. It also reflects the very real barriers of rejection that marginalized people face. 

It is not text heavy, and Christopher Meyer’s illustrations are perfect for picture walks through the text with beginning readers.   While the text is simple enough for those learning to read, it is also rich in imagery and figurative language, making it instructionally appropriate for many grade levels. Copeland’s figurative language is sprinkled with a few dance terms, and there is a beautifully, effective culturally specific simile “pirouetting tightly as the curls on our heads”. This will resonate with  many little black girls dreaming of doing things that black girls “don’t do”. We know from Copeland’s real life story, that this tale has a  happy ending. She teaches of not giving up, or listening to the naysayers, but instead pressing on as she did to spin wishes for other children.

Copeland ends her book with an inspirational letter to her readers telling of her journey from a little girl who didn’t fit in,  to the second African American soloist at the American Ballet Theater. 

Beautiful book. Don't walk, dance to get it.

Why We Can't Wait 

“Perhaps it is easy for those who have never felt the stinging darts of segregation to say, “Wait”…..When you are fighting a degenerating sense of ‘nobodiness’ – then you will understand why we find it difficult to wait.” Why We Can’t Wait, Martin Luther King Jr.

Perhaps it is easy for those who have never struggled to read. Perhaps it is easy for those who know how to sit still, be quiet and listen all day. Perhaps it is easy for those who look, sound and act like the teacher. Unfortunately, too many students understand that “degenerating sense of nobodiness” on a daily basis.  Who are the students in our classrooms who experience that “nobodiness” regularly?

In this text, King explained the urgency felt by those who had endured enough. They had endured enough nobodiness. They had endured enough disrespect, humiliation, violence and despair. There are students that we see everyday who have endured enough. They have endured enough of being told everything that they have done wrong, but little of what they have done right. They have endured enough of not being told the rules to the game that they are losing. They have endured enough of “only” someone’s else story in the book and someone else’s picture on the wall.  We should feel an urgency to be responsive to those who have endured enough.

We are in a “We Can’t Wait” moment, right now. As protests rage on our streets, as the gap between the “haves” and the “have nots” grows ever wider, and the options for those ignored and underserved in our classrooms become even more invisible, we can’t wait.

We can’t wait to learn who are students are. We must take an interest in the skills and gifts that they bring to the classroom, especially those that we don’t usually value as “school appropriate” talents and gifts. We should not wait to learn the difference between cultural behaviors and misbehaviors. We cannot wait  to recognize our “first thought” before it becomes a deficit response, and we can not wait to validate and affirm through authentic texts so that EVERY student sees him or herself  when they open the book in class.

Responsive Reads is here because we can’t wait.