Brown Girl Dreaming tells the story of the author’s childhood, in verse.

In her poems, Woodson shares her experiences growing up as an African American during the 1960s and 1970s in South Carolina and New York. Her poems express her life with the remnants of Jim Crow laws and her budding awareness of the Civil Rights movement.

Her poems also reflect the happiness she found in writing after struggling to read as a child. Each line is accessible and moving as the reader gets a glimpse of Woodson’s childhood quest to find a place in the world. 

Lexile Measure: 990L

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©2014. Middle school, high school. 5 x 8 inches. Softcover, 368 pages.