Reviews

Another Brooklyn by Jacqueline Woodson

misterintensity's review against another edition

3.0

August’s return to her old Brooklyn neighborhood on the occasion of her father’s illness and subsequent death brings back memories of her girlhood during the 1970s. This bittersweet tale of being a girl during 1970s Brooklyn is a nostalgic look at a Brooklyn which no longer exists. There is a strong sense of the events and places which affected African Americans, particularly girls, during the period. August’s friendship with Sylvia, Angela, and Gigi is an authentic portrayal young female friendship. Although the narrative is nonlinear it is easy to follow due to Woodson’s lyrical prose. However this book may not appeal to readers used to more traditional storytelling style. Being that it takes place in 1970s Brooklyn, August and her friends navigate through their lives in a believable manner. Overall this is an authentic look of life in Brooklyn before gentrification.

http://blackreadersadvisory.blogspot.com/2016/08/another-brooklyn-by-jacqueline-woodson.html

solasuaine's review against another edition

hopeful reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

caoxtina's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

amanda884's review against another edition

reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

searssarah's review

dark emotional reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

margaridamaro's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

ecnolte's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

rqcha's review against another edition

medium-paced

4.0

hannahjeanie's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful reflective sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

dlberglund's review against another edition

3.0

I read this all in one sitting (with a dog on my lap), but it defies being easily packaged. It has the lyricism and poetic nature of other Woodson writing, and though it is officially billed as an adult novel (at only 170 pages), it feels like it wants to be After Tupac and D Foster (crossed with Brown Girl Dreaming). The narrator, who has just buried her father returned to Brooklyn after a long absence, always feels like a lost and empty little girl to me. Her relationship with her brother is touching, but neither he nor the other secondary characters feel fully flesh. It's as if everything is seen from underwater, or through a broken window: dreamlike. Things happen in the novel, everyone is broken in some way, but it all seems to happen off stage, in between the moments of friends whispering or walking arm in arm. And for me, that wasn't quite enough.