Watson, R. (2017). Piecing
me together. London: Bloomsbury.
This is a coming of age story for a young African American
girl Jade. Jade is trying to make a positive impact in her life by taking
every opportunity. She is on a scholarship from a mostly white school and is
e3xpereincing that fish out of water feeling. Jade knows what she wants unlike
most teenagers. She knows that she wants to escape her poor neighborhood, go to
a great college on a scholarship, and eventually buy her mama the house she
isn’t able to afford on her own.
The book follows Jade's year of school as she faces challenges
with friends, her mentor, and discusses topics of racial identity (both within
and outside of the black community), history & politics, and the thing
that's most important to Jade—her art. She makes beautiful collages and is
inspired by her life to put pieces together as she tries to come to terms with
her own identity as a young woman, a black girl, and someone straddling so many
divides. This book was a true resonate with me as an African American
woman I see myself in this beautiful complicated heroine as she pieces herself
together. Piecing Me Together has received
several awards including Newberry Medal Nominee, Los Angels Times Book Prize
Nominee for Young Adult Literature, Coretta Scott King Award for Author.
Grade Level Recommendation: 7th-12th
Below is a book talk with the author Renee Watson with
Urban Teachers
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