Brown Girl Dreaming
Caution. Age: 12+. A Catholic review of this book for parents.
Our review
Lovely poems about family, grief and growing up Black under Jim Crow. A strict, loving grandmother, a gentle grandfather and a hard-working mother give the book its heart. But the faith shown is Jehovah's Witness teaching, and the ending creed puts God beside evolution and the Bible beside the Qur'an, as if all beliefs were equal. That dissolves the faith the book first honors.
For parents
Read aloud from 10, independent reading from 12. Common Sense Media and Plugged In say 10, but the religious content needs a parent nearby. Ask what Jacqueline's grandmother got right about God's gifts. Then read her last poem together and ask: can the Bible and the Qur'an both be true? (CCC 845-848).