Jacqueline Woodson received a 2023 Guggenheim Foundation Fellowship, a 2020 MacArthur Fellowship, the 2020 Hans Christian Andersen Award, the 2018 Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award, and the 2018 Children’s Literature Legacy Award, and she was the 2018–2019 National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature. Her NY Times bestselling memoir, Brown Girl Dreaming, won the National Book Award, the Coretta Scott King Award, a Newbery Honor, and the NAACP Image Award. Her dozens of books for young readers include Coretta Scott King Award and NAACP Image Award winner Before the Ever After, NY Times bestsellers The Day You Begin and Harbor Me, Newbery Honor winners Feathers, Show Way, and After Tupac and D Foster, and Each Kindness, which won the Jane Addams Children’s Book Award.
“Exceptional. . . . Written in lyrical prose, Remember Us is a
poetic time capsule from the 12-year-old Sage, an African American
girl living in the Bushwick section of Brooklyn during the 1970s. .
. . What struck me about this novel was not only its commemoration
of those horrific Bushwick fires . . . but also how Woodson
conjures such a captivating, elegiac story from their ashes. . . .
Will help tweens process their grief after trauma.” —The New York
Times Book Review
* “An African American tween’s world is turned upside down by
mysterious fires in her neighborhood and by self-doubt as she comes
of age. . . . Drawing on her own experiences growing up in
Brooklyn’s Bushwick neighborhood during the ’70s and ’80s, Woodson
has crafted a beautifully lyrical narrative of change, healing, and
growth. Her ability to evoke time and place is masterful; every
word feels perfectly chosen. Sage is an irresistible character with
a rich interior life, and her relationships with her mother and her
friend Freddy are exceptionally well drawn. An exquisitely wrought
story of self and community.” —Kirkus Reviews, starred review
* “Another remarkable ode to Brooklyn and memory from the
incomparable National Book Award winner. . . . Set during the
1970s, this nostalgia-tinged novel takes place when Bushwick was
known as ‘The Matchbox’ because of the fires that plagued its
streets. . . . The often wistful text is lyrical, but the nostalgia
never overwhelms the narrative. Woodson’s economy of language
expertly presents the microcosm of Sage’s community of friends and
neighborhood kids and the macrocosm of the external world that
threatens to destroy it. Sage’s journey to finding herself while
trying to navigate these two worlds will resonate with readers
young and old. The power of community and friendship permeates
every word in this middle grade novel for all readers. A truly
masterly work.”—School Library Journal, starred review
* “This lyrical first-person upper middle-grade novel taps into a
wide array of emotional truths and preteen sensibilities. Passages
on loss and memory feature palpable sadness, but there is also a
tender exploration of the enduring power of friendship and love,
the discovery of inner strength and resilience, and the need to
balance an appreciation for what ‘once was’ and what may be.
Woodson again delivers an appealing protagonist whose voice will
resonate with readers in a nuanced coming-of-age story worth
remembering.” —Horn Book, starred review
* “Woodson draws on her experiences growing up in Bushwick in the
1970s and ’80s to craft a nostalgic-feeling ode to the unexpected.
Short chapters offer swift glimpses into momentous happenings in
Sage’s life, while organic dialogue and mesmerizing prose lay bare
a narrative that encourages learning to move with the ebbs and
flows of life.” —Publishers Weekly, starred review
* “The deeply moving novel from National Book Award winner Woodson
is both elegant and accessible, and the novel-in-verse approach
works wonderfully here, with occasional chapters consisting of only
a few dramatic lines. Bushwick and its inhabitants are fully
fleshed out with incredible detail and immense tenderness, and Sage
immediately feels like a dear friend. A poignant portrayal of a
historic neighborhood and an outstanding ode to the grief and gift
of growing older. Woodson is one of the most esteemed figures in
children's publishing, and her historical fiction especially can't
be missed.” —Booklist, starred review
“The emotions and challenges feel ever current. . . . The
slice-of-life narrative steers readers through weighty emotions and
contemplations on friendship, grounding the connections between
notions of identity, family, and home with tactile imagery. The
vividness of Sage’s world gives an urgency to the story, calling up
the immediacy of youth, while the reflective tone softens some of
the more painful memories, assuring to children that these things
will pass, and that fires will not burn forever.” —The Bulletin of
the Center for Children's Books
* “Packs an understated but powerful punch. . . . Sage’s deep sense
of nostalgia intertwines with a palpable fear of those fires, which
act as a metaphor for Sage’s recognition that her body and her
world are changing: The present is constantly turning into the
‘once was.’ . . . Remember Us has the feel of a new classic,
ageless in its universal themes while wonderfully rendering a
specific time and place. The pure magic of this novel is that
Woodson somehow makes readers feel as though they are experiencing
these moments of growing up along with Sage. Woodson flawlessly
intersperses explosive moments—and games of basketball—among quiet,
reflective scenes while responding to Sage’s weighty fears with
reassurance about the permanence of loving memories.” —BookPage,
starred review
* “National Book Award-winner Jacqueline Woodson uses personal
experience to honor her childhood in Remember Us, a poignant work
of middle-grade historical fiction about how a little-known event
shapes one girl's transition to young woman. . . . Woodson expertly
frames Sage's feelings about this awkward life transition through
text that is gentle yet lands with force and aching accuracy. . . .
Sage's lyrical, accessible first-person narration features a
history lesson hidden within the dynamic experience of Woodson's
rounded characters. Fans of Woodson should appreciate this novel,
which builds and expands upon some of the autobiographical aspects
of Brown Girl Dreaming.”—Shelf Awareness, starred review
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