Cartoons & Comics in learning

Woodson, J. (2014). Brown girl dreaming. NY, NY: Nancy Paulsen Books: An Imprint of Penguin Group.

Written in verse and from the perspective of a child, Woodson relates the story of her own upbringing, beginning with her birth in Columbus, Ohio in 1963: “a girl named Jack,” after her father, full of limitless potential.  Although she and her siblings are esteemed members of the Woodsons of Ohio, her mother, of South Carolina origin, often disagrees with her father over whether they belong in the North, or the segregated South, which he disdains; a disagreement reminiscent of that between the parents in The Watsons Go to Birmingham--1963.  Also in a similar vein, the children do not fully understand the conditions they must endure when visiting the South.  

Following their parents’ final fight, they go with their mother to live with their maternal grandparents, who believe in having faith and fighting for what’s right.  They love their time in Greenville, but it ends when they eventually move on to New York, where they join their mother and new baby brother. As time progresses, Jackie--a name she takes when she cannot write her full name in cursive--finds her “forever friend” Maria, of Puerto Rico.  

She loses her aunt to an accident and her beloved uncle to prison, her grandfather to years of smoking; she nearly loses her baby brother to lead poisoning.  All the while, she takes her time reading and writing, even when her creative endeavors are chastised at school and at church. She becomes enamored with Angela Davis, but does not truly understand why there is even a need for the Black Panthers, or why “someone would have to die, or even fight for what they believe in.”  Finally, a teacher tells Jacqueline what she longs to hear: “You’re a writer,” and she begins to fall into a better understanding of herself and her place in the world.

This is a memoir of cherished times, even through the difficulties, and it’s clear that Woodson draws on the rich experiences of her childhood across her numerous writing projects.  While its audience is older elementary or middle grades, younger readers may enjoy Woodson’s illustrated work of historical fiction, This Is the Rope: A Story from the Great Migration.