Another Brooklyn by Jacqueline Woodson

February is Black History Month, making it the perfect time to cross "a book by a person of color" off of my Popsugar Challenge list. For this category, I chose Another Brooklyn by African American author Jacqueline Woodson. I already considered myself a fan of Woodson based on her work in the young adult genre, especially Brown Girl Dreaming, a memoir of her childhood written in verse. Another Brooklyn, a novel for adults, kept appearing on all the "best of 2016" lists that I came across. Interested to see if her work for grownups would be as great as her work for younger readers, I dove in.

Another Brooklyn centers around a woman named August. At the beginning of the novel, she is attending her father's funeral. On the way home, she happens to run into an old childhood friend, which triggers a stream of memories from her youth that fill the remainder of the novel. The memories concern August's adolescence in Brooklyn, including her experiences growing up without a mother, the close friendships she forms with three girls from the neighborhood, going through puberty, attracting unwanted attention from men, and struggling to find her path in life as a new adult. The memories flit across the pages just like real memories play across our minds, out of order, missing information, and in short bursts. There isn't one driving narrative in Another Brooklyn. Instead, it is a journey through the collection of experiences that helped form August as a person. The novel feels like a dream - slightly surreal and always moving. This technique invites the reader to think about the text and try to full in the gaps in the story.  

This book was beautiful and engaging. It's a slim little volume, easily read in just one or two sittings, but the impression it leaves is lasting. Woodson's language feels poetic and authentic. She explores issues relating to racial inequality, poverty. womanhood, religion, friendships, and family in a way that feels moving and true. I was transported to Brooklyn while reading and came to care about August and her friends, each of whom were dealing with their own troubles and drawing on the strength of each other survive. I raced through the story because I couldn't put it down.

Another Brooklyn is one of those novels that puts you in a trance - you just can't focus on anything else until you finish reading it. Even after that, you're stuck thinking about the characters for days. This is a truly great book, and Jacqueline Woodson is an important voice in literature for both young adults and older audiences. This is not merely a great novel by an author of color, it is a great novel period. This is a new favorite for me.


Challenge Tally
Popsugar Challenge: (A book by a person of color) 12/40 
Mount TBR: previously owned 12/60