Remember Us by Jacqueline Woodson - ADVISABLE

Remember Us by Jacqueline Woodson, 192 pages. Nancy Paulsen, 2023. $19. 

Content: G (deaths mentioned- no descriptions) 

BUYING ADVISORY: MS - ADVISABLE 

AUDIENCE APPEAL: AVERAGE 

12yo Sage loves basketball - she always has, and she is always able stay with and surpass the boys who come to her home court in her Bushwick neighborhood. That summer is a summer of little and big changes for Sage, her family, and her neighborhood. First there’s Freddy - a new boy, who is also a good friend. Then there are the fires - no one knows when one will start, but whole buildings are burning, forcing families out, and sometimes killing. Plus there is the stranger who challenges Sage’s right to be on the court and the fire that gets Sage in deep trouble with her mother. It’s a summer of revelation and upheaval. 

A book for the girls who are left behind as others give up their play for makeup and boys. A slice of life looking at an emotionally turbulent year, but a year of growth in Sage’s life. As someone who knows about the 1970’s fires in poor NYC neighborhoods, that part was really interesting. I don’t want to call this sweet, or quiet, but those are really the words that come to mind, but it’s more the “sweet” that we use as a “awesome” and the “quiet” that we use for a book that will linger after the reading. And the great cover will sell it for you. 

Cindy Mitchell, Library Teacher, MLS