Maureen : Littérature Anglaise

Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde --> LELE

Jacqueline Woodson is an author who writes books targeted at children and adolescents. She has written stories since she  was a child and she loves telling and transforming lies into fiction.The first book she wrote was about her own family history but she loves writing about African-Americans and the family in general.

"I wanted to write about communities that were familiar to me and people that were familiar to me. I wanted to write about communities of color. I wanted to write about girls. I wanted to write about friendship and all of these things that I felt like were missing in a lot of the books that I read as a child" J.Woodson.

This year in class we have studied her short story "My Crazy Beautiful World". This story combines the themes of freedom, insecurity, religion and childhood. She tells the story of Angela, a 16 years-old girl who speaking about when she was 12. She is different to the other girls physically, and she says that her sister, Dana, is more intelligent and her bestfriend, Maria, is prettier than her which makes her a bit insecure. We can discover that Angela is very close to her grandmother. When she brushes her hair, you can see that there is complicity between them. In this part, jacqueline Woodson uses her own story in relation to his relationship with his grandmother, as she says in an interview "there was a single mum and grandmother, and that was family". In this story there is the theme of freedom, at her age she's not free to do what she wants but she will seek this freedom she doesn't have. She is a Jehovah Witness, her religion is not the same that her classmates. Her grandmother plays a meaningful role in her life and she is uncompromising in her religion. Angela's faith is another part of her identity that defines her in the eyes of other. By writing this short story, Jacqueline Woodson has integrated passages of his own life by referance at  African-American history.

I think you have to read this story at least once mainly if you are a teenage girl because you can identify yourself as Angela ! I have come to appreciate this story because I recognized myself in Angela's insecurity and probably a lot of people felt this feeling at a time of their life. I recommend this book because I'm sure you will love discover Angela's story and it's very easy to read !