Another Brooklyn, by Jacqueline Woodson

Another Brooklyn begins as middle-aged August returns home for her father's funeral. She spends some time with her brother, but is drawn back to the past where she remembers her friends from childhood when she first moved to Brooklyn from Tennessee. August, her father, and her brother lived in an apartment building in Brooklyn during the 1970s. Through these flashbacks we learn that August's mother became severely depressed after her own brother was killed during the Vietnam War. August believes that eventually her mother would be joining them in Brooklyn. In the meantime, she and her brother are enrolled in school and begin to build a life in Brooklyn.

August's most important childhood memories come from her friendship with three other girls, Gigi, Sylvia, and Angela. Through their stories, she shares with the reader the many facets of life in Brooklyn in the 1970s. From music to politics, religion, romance, drugs, and crime, she explores the many forces that affected her and her friends and family. It is only later that we learn that her mother committed suicide before they left Tennessee, and it took August many years to accept that fact herself. Most heart-wrenching for August, however, is the way her small group of friends came apart as they grew up. It seems that she has never had another close friendship since that time in her youth.

This is a very slight book, but it packs a big emotional punch for the reader. What comes across the most is the sense of sadness and loss. How losing a parent at a young age and being thrown into a difficult new situation can be so isolating to a young child. Author Jacqueline Woodson usually writes for a young adult audience, so it's understandable how she can write so eloquently about childhood sadness and suffering. At the same time, she's able to bring 1970s culture in Brooklyn to life. I really enjoyed Another Brooklyn and highly recommend it.

Jacqueline Woodson. Another Brooklyn. New York: Amistad, an imprint of HarperCollins, 2016. 171 pages. ISBN 9780062359988.