The reason why I chose to inform my audience about Jacqueline Woodson, is because I fell in love with her writing from reading her novel Another Brooklyn. Jacqueline does such a wonderful job in visualizing the scenery in her words that you can just get lost in her vocabulary and the story she is presenting to her audience. Being a young, African-American female is where an automatic connection between me and Jacqueline started. She has such an amazing output on life for African American females but also just African Americans in general. Jacqueline brings awareness to the issues in the African American culture in regards to racism, economic status, but also the history of the African American culture. Through her writing you’re given an inner lens to see different aspects of the African American community that you may not be aware of if you’re a different race or just haven’t experienced those issues. There are so many major themes within the work of Jacqueline that I know anyone can find some connection between themselves and her work.

Outside of the African-American community, sexuality and gender are also major themes that are shown throughout the different work of Woodson’s. As people grow older, their interests change and their sexuality may fluctuate as well. It tends to be a hard time for people to come to terms with their sexuality – if they’re not heterosexual – which can be a scary thing to experience especially if you feel that the world does not agree with who you want to be. And I know that people of ALL ages struggle with their sexuality and that reading Woodson’s work can help the readers become comfortable with who they are. I recommend adding Jacqueline Woodson to your need-to-read list, so we can all enjoy her work together.