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Brown Girls
Brown Girls: A Novel | Daphne Palasi Andreades
29 posts | 25 read | 32 to read
"This remarkable, deeply moving story brings you deep into the hearts and souls of a tight-knit group of friends--girls growing up in Queens, the polyglot borough of New York, where the streets sprawl for miles and echo with voices from all over the world, and the scent of bubbling oil, chopped garlic, and grilled meats waft through open windows as night comes to the neighborhood. Here Nadira, Mae, Trish, and Aisha become friends for life--or so they vow. Together they learn to survive all that the street throws at them--schoolyard bullies, clueless teachers, and the leering gaze of men who trail behind them wherever they walk. Exuberant and wild, they are daughters of immigrants from different diasporas, but in Queens their backgrounds blur and blend: they sing Mariah Carey at the tops of their lungs, pine for boyfriends who pay them no mind--and break the hearts of those who do--all while balancing the cultures they came from and the one they find themselves in. In small brick houses, their fathers snore on armchairs after long shifts, while mothers command them to be dutiful daughters, obedient young women. But as the years go by, and their own adulthood nears, choices must be made about their futures. Cracks and fissures form as some find themselves drawn to the allure of other skylines, beckoned by lovers and jobs foreign to what they knew back home. Some of the girls become wives and mothers to a new generation of brown girls; while others embark on a migration baffling to the generation before them, journeying back to the countries their parents fled for the 'better life' in America"--
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quote
charl08
Brown Girls: A Novel | Daphne Palasi Andreades

But how could this be?

We leave, we leave, we leave. We always leave. It is in our blood to leave.

But perhaps it's also in our blood to return.

Why did we ever believe home could only be one place? When existing in these bodies means holding many worlds within us. At last, we see.

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charl08
Brown Girls: A Novel | Daphne Palasi Andreades
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We listen to our classmates say, my grandfather, father, and brother all went to this college but besides that, I REALLY didn't have a leg up. Try not to roll our eyes to the back of our heads.

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charl08
Brown Girls: A Novel | Daphne Palasi Andreades
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[We spend] two thousand eight hundred and eighty hours over the course of four years in art classes.... this means we must also spend four years of our lives rolling our eyes at dance majors pirouetting atop lunch tables, drama students monologuing before answering questions in Pre-Calc, and instrumental music majors barging into class playing the intro to "Careless Whisper" by George Michael on their saxophones.

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charl08
Brown Girls: A Novel | Daphne Palasi Andreades
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If I wear all my clothes on the plane, I can totally fit these books in my suitcase (she lied to herself...)

Tamra 😂 1y
jlhammar Very excited for the new Gendry-Kim! 1y
batsy Great stack! I've read the top and the bottom ones and really liked both. 14mo
See All 7 Comments
Anna40 Haha! I came back from my last trip with about ten books! And that was me resisting temptation. I could‘ve bought more. 14mo
charl08 @Tamra @Anna40 every trip I think things will change... 14mo
charl08 @batsy loving the short stories so far. 14mo
charl08 @jlhammar I was so pleased to see this on the shelves: I didn't know it was out. 14mo
59 likes7 comments
review
S3V3N
Brown Girls: A Novel | Daphne Palasi Andreades
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Pickpick

Poetically written. I enjoyed how this book was set up and the writing style.

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Chelsea.Poole
Brown Girls: A Novel | Daphne Palasi Andreades
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Pickpick

From the plural “we” perspective, brown girls of Queens tell their stories from childhood through adolescence and adulthood. They form relationships, they struggle, they persevere. Some become mothers, others begin careers but through it all they connect with one another.
I listened to the audiobook which was excellent. This was at once a wide take on the lives of the titular brown girls, as a whole, but also includes scenes from a singular life.

squirrelbrain I listened to the audio on this - loved the ‘we‘! 1y
91 likes3 stack adds1 comment
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Lindy
Brown Girls: A Novel | Daphne Palasi Andreades
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review
Lindy
Brown Girls: A Novel | Daphne Palasi Andreades
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Pickpick

A song, an incantation, a celebration of brown-girlness in first-person plural. Poetic vignettes follow a multi-ethnic group of friends, growing up in the 90s in Queens NYC. From childhood into old age—and some die too young. Their parents are immigrants from Asia, Africa, Latin America & the Caribbean. They are straight & queer, shy & brash, leave & stay, have children & remain childless. A joyful, complex portrait of being American.

squirrelbrain This was great on audio! 2y
Leftcoastzen Lovely tea cozy ! 2y
Lindy @squirrelbrain Glad to hear that Helen! 2y
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Lindy @Leftcoastzen Thanks. I got the knitting pattern from Leah @LeahBergen 😊 2y
LeahBergen I still need to make one for myself. 😄 2y
Lindy @LeahBergen 🧶✔️ 2y
Chelsea.Poole Great review! 1y
Lindy @Chelsea.Poole thanks ☺️ 1y
charl08 Just read this recently - what Chelsea said 👏👏 12mo
Lindy @charl08 It‘s a great book, isn‘t it? 12mo
charl08 Lovely - hope she has more to come. 12mo
34 likes11 comments
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Lindy
Brown Girls: A Novel | Daphne Palasi Andreades
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Why did we ever believe home could only be one place? When existing in these bodies means holding many worlds within us.

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Lindy
Brown Girls: A Novel | Daphne Palasi Andreades
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Brown girls brown girls brown girls who, in their bones, are beginning to understand that they are the sum of many identities, many histories, at once.
The colonized, the colonizers. Where do we fall?

26 likes1 stack add
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rmaclean4
Brown Girls: A Novel | Daphne Palasi Andreades
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Pickpick

Short-listed for the Carol Sheilds Prize. Told in a choral voice throughout this short novel. I admire the writing, but the chorus also held me at arms length. Worth a read. 3 🌟 #carolsheild

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Melismatic
Brown Girls: A Novel | Daphne Palasi Andreades
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Pickpick

Quick lil read - a bit like a long essay, detailing growing up non-White in multicultural Queens. Got my copy autographed by the author. 💖

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megnews
Brown Girls: A Novel | Daphne Palasi Andreades
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Pickpick

Impressive debut. A window into the world of brown girls coming of age and navigating adulthood between two worlds-ancestral lands and the “Promised” land, brown and white. Beautiful language. I will be watching for more from Andreades.

squirrelbrain I listened to this and it was so good on audio! 2y
56 likes2 stack adds1 comment
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ManyWordsLater
Brown Girls: A Novel | Daphne Palasi Andreades
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Supervising baby ballerinas.

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Mitch
Brown Girls: A Novel | Daphne Palasi Andreades
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It‘s that time of year - when my inbox gets filled with lists! Love a good list!

charl08 Yay! 👏👏👏 2y
TheBookHippie I love a good list!!! 2y
AllDebooks Lists are fab but book lists are the next best thing to books 2y
82 likes3 comments
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emmaturi
Brown Girls: A Novel | Daphne Palasi Andreades
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Pickpick

A coming-of-age story about a group of friends living in Queens. It examines their lives from girlhood to adulthood, from the good to the bad.

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Sarahreadstoomuch
Brown Girls: A Novel | Daphne Palasi Andreades
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Pickpick

This audio felt so much like poetry, that I had to check a print copy to see if it actually was written in verse. (It‘s not). It‘s also written in plural first person voice, or a Greek chorus made up of all the brown girls growing up in “the dregs of Queens”. There‘s no plot, but rather a series of scenes that make up lifetimes, not centered on pain & tragedy, but not dismissing it either, but celebrating the lives of brown girls.

MicheleinPhilly I just purchased the e-book as it was/is on super sale. 2y
Sarahreadstoomuch @MicheleinPhilly nice! I hope you enjoy it too! 2y
22 likes2 comments
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Lauren890
Brown Girls: A Novel | Daphne Palasi Andreades
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Pickpick

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ I loved this book about girls/women growing up in Queens NY. It‘s written as a chorus of voices (reminded me of the Virgin Suicides) and it‘s very effective this way. I highly recommend and hope to pick up whatever she writes next!

Addison_Reads This sounds really good. Great review. 2y
21 likes2 stack adds1 comment
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Sydneypaige
Brown Girls: A Novel | Daphne Palasi Andreades
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A novel written in second person, which I found interesting. I like the way it evoked experiences that are likely familiar to so many folks in the US. It had short chapters and stories and because it‘s written in second person, you‘re swept along in experiences, rather than characters individually. Also it didn‘t center pain of Brown girls; the author let them be girls, complex and excited and full of hormones, etc while also not denying pain.

9 likes1 stack add
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Floresj
Brown Girls: A Novel | Daphne Palasi Andreades
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Pickpick

Really enjoyed this quick book about growing up in Queens with friends who are like family. Explores the many directions that life takes people and the complications of making different decisions than those around you. Racism is interwoven. Well written.

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Cinfhen
Brown Girls: A Novel | Daphne Palasi Andreades
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Pickpick

What Jaclyn Woodson did for Brooklyn, Daphne Andreades does for Queens. Written as a singular WE, Brown Girls is a collective story of all girls of color but a mix of many places; Asia,India, Middle East,South & Central America, Mexico etc. Told in vignettes the author traces a group of childhood friends from elementary school through adulthood up until March 2021. It worked in many ways but it also belittled 👇🏽

Cinfhen their lives, I thought by making their experiences as one. A pick for its gorgeous prose and interesting style but I hope her next book is more structured and straightforward. 3y
Megabooks This one has really stuck with me. 3y
83 likes2 stack adds2 comments
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JenReadsAlot
Brown Girls: A Novel | Daphne Palasi Andreades
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Pickpick

Really enjoyed this one!

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wallacereads
Brown Girls: A Novel | Daphne Palasi Andreades
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“If you really want to know, we are the color of 7-Eleven root beer. The color of sand at Rockaway Beach when it blisters the bottoms of our feet. Color of soil. Color of the charcoal pencils our sisters use to rim their eyes. Color of grilled hamburger patties. Color of our mother‘s darkest thread, which she loops through the needle.”

12 likes1 stack add
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Andrea313
Brown Girls: A Novel | Daphne Palasi Andreades
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Pickpick

There is so much that I loved about this book- the writing which encompasses both prose and poetry; the way it puts into words the joy and frailties of female friendship; the nature of our changing relationships to our homes, our families, ourselves; but mostly I loved the choral narration, the first-person plural and the way it allows for both the grand sweep of shared experience and the intimate, singular personal details. Highly recommend!

43 likes1 stack add
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Megabooks
Brown Girls: A Novel | Daphne Palasi Andreades
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Pickpick

This book is brilliant. Queens is one of the most diverse areas in America, yet many white people see all brown as the same. Having the women speak as a chorus allowed Andreades to group their shared experiences like microaggressions and ties to family/home countries while still expressing many different cultures and life choices these women represent from 14 to 40. The direction of the #audiobook is exquisite. A short (4.5 hour) must listen.

tokorowilliamwallace My best friend since third grade---an Irish-Colombian---was born in Queens. 3y
BarbaraBB Stacked. Very interesting review and that cover 😍 3y
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Cinfhen I lived in Queens my first 3 years of marriage while hubs was in law school. Will definitely listen to this one 😍 3y
squirrelbrain I‘ve heard lots of good things about this… stacked! 3y
Megabooks @tokorowilliamwallace I‘m sure she had lots of interesting experiences. I‘ve read it is a very vibrant, diverse area. 3y
Megabooks @BarbaraBB @squirrelbrain I hope you both enjoy it. It done differently that most books, and it adds such flair (as opposed to being gimmicky). I‘m really glad so many people are stacking it. Slim book that packs a punch! 3y
Megabooks @Cinfhen ah! You will probably read many things you noticed while living there. I had an ex who lived in Astoria in his 20s (the 1990s). I loved his stories. 3y
Cinfhen I lived in a very homogenous Jewish neighborhood called Kew Garden Hills, but I know exactly where Astoria is. My local BIG supermarket was there!! 3y
Megabooks @Cinfhen cool! It‘s neat how there is diversity but also little parts where one can find their ethnicity in NYC. It is an amazing place! 3y
KarenUK Great review Meg! Stacked! 3y
Megabooks @KarenUK thanks! I hope you enjoy it! 3y
Cinfhen 👍🏻💓 3y
109 likes12 stack adds14 comments
blurb
Megabooks
Brown Girls: A Novel | Daphne Palasi Andreades
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A different kind of #audiocoloring!

Enjoying this audiobook!

Well-ReadNeck 😂🙌🏼 3y
Crazeedi Love it!! 3y
KarenUK Can‘t wait to see the results! 💕 3y
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Megabooks @KarenUK just posted it to my Instagram stories! 💇🏻‍♀️ 3y
Cinfhen Hahaha 🤣 saw the photo!!! Gorgeous ♥️love the cut & color - perfect for your skin tone 🥰 3y
Megabooks @Cinfhen thanks! 🥰😘 I actually like it more than my natural color! I have a wonderful stylist! (edited) 3y
Cinfhen Agreed!! Sometimes we can tweak what nature gave us😁 3y
BarbaraBB Looking good 🤩, just saw your email! 3y
Megabooks @BarbaraBB @Cinfhen thank you both so much. 🥰🥰 Popped you a quick email back. So excited about my good doctor news too. It was a great Monday!! 3y
Cinfhen GREAT NEWS 💕💕💕 3y
Megabooks @Cinfhen for sure!!! 👍🏻👍🏻💜 3y
102 likes11 comments
blurb
Megabooks
Brown Girls: A Novel | Daphne Palasi Andreades
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#NewReleaseTuesday #audiobook

Excited about this one after I received a blurb from Emma Straub through Goodreads!

Cinfhen Haven‘t seen or heard a single word about this book! Very curious 🤗 3y
Megabooks @Cinfhen me too! It uses a chorus of women apparently, and I enjoy it when authors go off the beaten path. 👍🏻 3y
71 likes1 stack add2 comments
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Kangaj1
Brown Girls: A Novel | Daphne Palasi Andreades
Mehso-so

Finished my December #doublespin @TheAromaofBooks

I did not love it. Creative storytelling, but the use of "we" did not allow me to connect with any characters.

TheAromaofBooks Great progress!! 3y
17 likes1 comment
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Well-ReadNeck
Brown Girls: A Novel | Daphne Palasi Andreades
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Pickpick

A wonderful novel told in vignettes of four brown girls who are best friends growing up in Queens. #ARC

55 likes3 stack adds