Title: Red at the Bone
Author: Jacqueline Woodson
Published: 2019
Call #: Af/Woodson
Red at the Bone written
by National Book Award winner Jacqueline Woodson author of Brown Girl Dreaming and
Another Brooklyn is a poignant examination of what it means to be a black
girl in America today. Told from the multiple perspectives of Melody, a
16-year-old girl, her parents Iris and Aubrey and Iris’s parents. This novel examines the decisions made in life
while still too young to understand the consequences and all that follows. Melody is the result of an unplanned
pregnancy of 16-year-old Iris and Aubrey and how their lives go forward as a
result of this. The story starts as Melody is making her coming of age ceremony
wearing the dress that Iris should have worn when she was 16 but couldn’t
because of her unplanned pregnancy. As
Melody turns three Iris goes off to college leaving Melody and Aubrey behind to
live with her parents. As Iris goes further away towards her independence so
too does their family closeness. This
novel is told from multiple perspectives and goes back into the past and tells
important moments in their lives. This
poetic story examines class, education, racial prejudice, ambition,
mother-daughter relationships, parenthood, and teenage pregnancy. For fans of
Jesmyn Ward and Colson Whitehead.
Lynn D.
Popular Materials Librarian