#VelshiBannedBookClub: ‘Brown Girl Dreaming’ with Jacqueline Woodson
Jacqueline Woodson’s “Brown Girl Dreaming” is the first book of prose to be featured on the #VelshiBannedBookClub. It is autobiographical – following Woodson’s childhood as a “brown girl” in the late 60s and 70s, split between segregated Greenville, South Carolina and New York City. Jacqueline grapples with her growing awareness of the Civil Rights movement, her identity and individuality, as well as the power of community. Woodson vividly and skillfully captures the mind of a young person searching for sure footing in a fragmented world. It is widely celebrated, winning the prestigious National Book Award for Young People’s Literature in 2014 as well as a Newbery Honor Award, and the NAACP Image Award. “I’m always surprised when people want to keep stories from young people,” says Woodson on book banning. “Which, of course, shows us the power of these stories.”