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I did manage to read three of Jacqueline Woodson‘s books for #authoramonth ! #AAMJW #jacquelinewoodson @Soubhiville

That time I met Jacqueline Woodson: she was so kind and friendly! This was at 2015 ALA, when she was being celebrated for so many awards for Brown Girl Dreaming! I‘ve also seen her speak a couple times since then, and she is so inspiring! #AuthorAMonth #AAMJW

May is drawing to a close #AuthorAMonth readers. 🙂

Please comment below with the number of books by Jacqueline Woodson you read. Or if you prefer to post a collage of your reading, just use the hashtag #AAMJW and be sure to tag me so I see it.

#AuthorAMonth is a no-pressure challenge in which we read books by a voted on author each month. Read as many or as few as you like. At the end of the year there is a prize box for “Most Read.” ⬇️

Had it not been for #AuthorAMonth I likely wouldn't have picked this up, but it was a swift moving and interesting glimpse into the author's childhood in the 1960s and '70s. A memoir in verse, Woodson tells about her family's brief time in Ohio, then the years in South Carolina before moving up to New York City. Each short poem gives a few words about a person, place, thing, or feeling and though it is low on a continuous narrative, ⬇️

This books follows the Batiste family for twelve days surrounding Hurricane Katrina as it hits Bois Sauvage, a fictional town in southern Mississippi. We see the events through the eyes of Esch, fourteen years old and the lone daughter in a motherless family. Her father isn't much of a nurturer or bread-winner, so it's up to Esch and her brothers Randall, Skeetah, and Junior to care for each other with the little they have. The book starts out⬇️

I will never know how it truly feels to be black in America but books like this certainly help me to better understand the struggles and feelings that black folks have day in and day out. Every one of these essays packs a punch and covers an aspect of black existence, past present, or future. Jesmyn Ward put together an impressive lineup of experiences and her introduction, and later her essay, set the stage.⬇️

April is drawing to a close #AuthorAMonth readers.

Please comment below with the number of books by Jesmyn Ward you read. Or if you prefer to post a collage of your reading, just use the hashtag #AAMJW and be sure to tag me so I see it.

#AuthorAMonth is a no-pressure challenge in which we read books by a voted on author each month. Read as many or as few as you like. At the end of the year there is a prize box for “Most Read.” ⬇️