Brown Girl Dreaming: Final Thoughts

After finishing up Brown Girl Dreaming, I started to think about how some people have multiple struggles in their life that they have to deal with. The book touched on topics like segregation and racism, religion, separation of parents, and even deaths of loved ones. Jackie had to learn how to cope with these things at such a young age. To me she seemed like she was a mature child growing up because of the things she had to deal with.

Reading about Jackie's life was very interesting to me, however it was kind of irritating not being able to read about some of the details and explanations that I wish the book would have covered. I would have liked to know more about Roman’s birth father and even more about Jackie’s father too. As readers we know very little her actual father, and nothing at all about Roman’s. This also makes me wonder more about Jackie’s mother and what type of woman she is. We know that she is a very hard working woman who wants what's best for her kids. She teaches them to talk properly, use their manners, and act well behaved. It is evident that she loves her children very much,  I would just like to know her from a more personal viewpoint.

In the last half of the book, Jackie, although still a young child, is finally starting to discover new things about herself. She is not very happy about moving away from her grandparents and heading to New York with her mother. As the story progresses, though, New York turns out to have good opportunities for the young girl. Some of the great things to happen to her include finding her best friend, Maria, and also discovering her love for writing. Her teacher even starts to notice what a great writer Jackie is. The book ends with Jackie saying good things about everyone important to her. As readers we can tell that she is going to grow up to be a strong exceptional woman who is eager to find good in the world.