BROWN GIRL DREAMING

Jacqueline Woodson’s linked poems weave scenes of political change while growing up amid the Civil Rights movement and scenes of personal upheaval upon moving from her grandparents’ peaceful South Carolina home to Brooklyn. Her voice is wistful and dreamy as she savors rich sensory memories like crickets, “who seem to know their song is our lullaby,” and sitting beside her beloved grandfather on “a front porch swing thirsty for oil.” She gives poignant last lines graceful emphases: “Will we always have to choose between home and home?” she ends one, letting its loneliness echo and linger. Her narration is a testament to the emotional power of words and how, even as a child, she knew she possessed that power. ”Stories are like air to me,” Woodson says. “I breathe them in and breathe them out, again and again.” S.W. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2014, Portland, Maine [Published: SEPTEMBER 2014]