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"Remember Us"

Written by Jacqueline Woodson
       
Image Source: Penguin Random House
"Remember Us" is set in Bushwick, Brooklyn which becomes known as "The Matchbox" after a series of fires burns down home and home. Sage is a twelve year old girl trying to figure out her place as she struggles to connect with her girl friends and feels more at ease on the basketball court with the guys. Her father was a firefighter and killed in the line of duty. That summer Freddy moves into the neighborhood and he just understands Sage. When a child in the neighborhood is killed in yet another fire, Sage begins to process her own loss.
        Woodson's style of writing and dialogue reads almost like a book in verse. Giving it an engaging, fast pace that is easy to follow for a child reader. Sage feels like a creditable character as the story was inspired by Woodson's experience with fires in her own neighborhood as a child. Much of the dialogue is also written in a way that kids talk today, which helps with the relatability. The theme of grief may be a hard concept for some children to relate to but most can relate to the theme of community throughout the story.

Woodson, Jacqueline. Remember Us. Nancy Paulsen Books, 2023. 178 pages. TR. $10.73, ISBN 978-0-399-54546-7.
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