I have to admit, it has been a while since I read this book, but from what I can remember this book brought to light a lot of issues that one confronts growing up and approaching adulthood. The main character is forced to deal with a lot of heavy matters as many young people must do by no choice of their own. Reading this book made me think of the things that we experience as children that we don't stop to consider until years later.

In a thrift store my eyes were drawn to the bright orange cover of a book I'd never seen before. As I moved closer I saw the title "Autobiography of a Family Photo", and a picture of a beautiful child with her eyes closed, and her face slightly scrunched against the sun.

I opened the book to the first page of the first chapter and read: "I died once. And then I died again. And then, death had no hold on me. Simple. As simple as this: Yesterday I woke up and the sky was full of blues, changing, arching over themselves. Sitting there, I watched it. And this is what I was thinking: This girl sitting here with her arms wrapped around her legs is not a girl but a woman. And in the woman there are a million little girls, bottled, muted. A million half-lives, with dark arms reaching upward, others stooped into bending, still as glass. A million girls. Dark. Bellowing. Multiplying. Chaos. Hari-Kari. War. It is inevitable. And this sky is not a sky but simply the color blue, the chaos of blue, the inevitability of blue--sky, lake, mallard, sea. Sea. Simple as..."

I was captivated. After purchasing the book no one could pull me away until I had read every last word--poetic, brilliant, familiar. A work of fiction; she writes about incest, sexual abuse, losing her beloved (gay) brother in the war, sexual exploration and becoming her own woman within a complex world.

This book has found a place in my heart alongside my other favorite authors.

I began Autobiography of a Family Photo after finishing Sandra Cisneros' House on Mango Street. As I read, I couldn't help but compare the two. What most impressed me was how Jacqueline Woodson created a convincing child's voice, yet at the same time, wove more sophisticated elements into the story. Woodson's writing style, transitions, and overall conception makes Autobiography of a Family Photo a complex, poetic read.

Maizon Singh is a black girl who lives with her grandmother. She is happy where she lives and the school she goes to (P.S. 102). Her friend Margaret also lives on the same street as Maizon does. They are very close friends and spend much of their time together. Maizon's Grandmother is always there for here when she needs her and Margaret's mother gives Maizon good advice. This family is happy together on Madison Street until the day Maizon parted. Maizon is accepted by Blue Hill, a school far from home. Maizon's Grandmother urges her to go, while Maizon secretly does not want to go and does not want to disappoint her. At school, she realizes how beautiful it is there. Not only is the place beautiful, but the teachers are nice, there are wonderful classes, and Maizon has a nice roommate. There are only 5 black students at Blue Hill and feels lonely. A part of her is missing from Blue Hill, she longs to go home. She is homesick and feels different from the others. In the end, Maizon has to make the tough choice of staying and pursuing the scholarship she wants or will she go home and find the piece of her that is missing, most likely, her family?

Maizon Singh is a black girl who lives with her grandmother. She is happy where she lives and the school she goes to (P.S. 102)
. Her friend Margaret also lives on the same street as Maizon does. They are very close friends and spend much of their time together. Maizon's Grandmother is always there for here when she needs her and Margaret's mother gives Maizon good advice. This family is happy together on Madison Street until the day Maizon parted. Maizon is accepted by Blue Hill, a school far from home. Maizon's Grandmother urges her to go, while Maizon secretly does not want to go and does not want to disappoint her. At school, she realizes how beautiful it is there. Not only is the place beautiful, but the teachers are nice, wonderful classes, and a nice roommate. There are only 5 black students at Blue Hill and feels lonely. A part of her is missing from Blue Hill, she longs to go home. In the end, Maizon has to make the tough choice of staying and pursuing the scholarship she wants or will she go home and find the piece of her that is missing?

Maizon at Blue Hill is the sequel to Last Summer with Maizon. In short, it is about Maizon in a boarding school where she feels not entirely happy and returns home. I thought that it was not bad. I didn't really understand the slang of some of the characters either. Anyway, I thought that it was a little short and a simple book. Overall, I think it deserves at least four stars.

(Mary)

Jacqueline Woodson's book, Lena, was a very adventurous and exciting book to read. This book would appeal to students of any age. It is about two sisters, Lena and Dion, who run away from their abusive father shortly after their mother died. The book later goes on to explain their troubles and many adventures on their way to find their mother's relatives. Lena and Dion can not afford to make one wrong move. Will they ever make it to find Mama's relatives? Find out in this unforgettable tale of Lena and Dion as they travel the trail to make their dream come true.

In Lena, Jacqueline Woodson continues the story of Lena and Dion Bright, the two sisters who leave Chauncey, Ohio, to escape the clutches of their abusive father in I Hadn't Meant to Tell You This. Woodson allows the reader to travel with Lena and Dion through Ohio and Kentucky in an effort to find a place called home. Lena and Dion hitch hiking leads to them meeting several people, the final person being an African-American woman "Miz Lily," who is perceptive enough to realize that the girls are homeless. This is a must read for all who read Woodson's I Hadn't Meant to Tell You This.

Feni, a 12-year-old, does not want her mother to let Rebecca, a 15-year-old pregnant girl from Harlem, stay with them. But her mother insists this is something she must do, for her old school friend (Rebecca's mother).

Feni and Rebecca do not get along at first. Rebecca seems in awe of the middle-class luxuries that Feni takes for granted, and Feni resents and is angered by Rebecca's pregnancy. However, Feni and Rebecca gradually learn to respect and even like each other.

There is a great feeling of an extended family in this book, with Feni's mother, Feni's mother's best friend, Marion, Marion's partner, Clair, past reminences of Fenni's loving grandmother, and telephone conversations with Feni's father all providing a large net of love. Although the adults show their love differently, and Feni is not always sure of it, you get the feeling that this is one very loved child...and that that love and respect give her a solid base to accept and become close friends with Rebecca.

The Dear One was intense, moving, and powerful. I couldn't put it down. The relationship between the two girls was very believeable, and the issues of teenage pregnancy, lesbianism, and class difference were dealt with incredibly well and with great insight. I highly recommend this book.

The last summer with Maizon was a good book. The book was somewhat confusing in the being of the book. You had to figure out who everyone was and who everyone belong to. After you figured that out the book easy to read. The book kept me interest the whole time. You did not know what was going to happen next.
I thought the book was sad at different points because I did not what the childrens feeling to get hurt. I felt bad for Margaret and her brother. They did not have a dad or a mom that was around that much. I felt that her mother wanted to be there for Margaret but she could not be there because of her father being in the hospital.

I found this book to be very absorbing but definitely intended for the mature reader (17 and older.) If you plan to purchase it for a school library, be sure to read it in its entirety first. Several of the writings contain strong language and explicit sexual material.