In this slim volume, Jacqueline Woodson delivers a powerful emotional story told from the perspective of a woman named August. As August goes through her memories, she uncovers a litany of sorrow and vibrant life. The book is under two-hundred pages and it’s written in a very discursive, lyrical style. It’s minimal and observational, but it packs a serious punch. In many ways, the book revolves around August and her small circle of friends, Sylvia, Gigi and Angela, as they grow up young, black and female in the Brooklyn of the 70s, but we also delve into August’s relationship with her father and brother and the trauma created by her mother’s suicide. Even in her minimal style, Woodson is able to sketch all four girls so that they feel real; they all come from different backgrounds and have different dreams and yet they navigate the same dangerous world. And through all of this, Woodson is getting at a lot of ideas: death, grief, sexuality, girlhood, racism, classism, dreams, destiny. And all of that is filtered through what is perhaps the book’s central lens: the exploration of memory. It’s really an astonishing book. On the surface, it’s a quick read, but the characters sketched here and the ideas explored will stay with me for a long time. Do yourself a favor and check out this devastating novel; it’s an absolute masterpiece. 4 stars.
tl;dr – beautifully, but minimally, written, this short book is a quick read, but it’s rich in ideas and the characters will stay with you for a long time; a gorgeous, emotionally powerful masterpiece. 4 stars.