Rating: 5/5 stars
Content: no bad language, or sexually explicit content, but it does cover some “mature” topics such as race, feminity, and poverty.
In a Nutshell:
Jade is an African – American girl from a poor neighborhood who attends a mostly white private school on scholarship. She takes every opportunity she gets to better herself and takes multiple after-school programs, including Woman to Woman, a mentorship program for “at-risk” girls. Jade learns to speak up for herself and not to give up.
What I Loved:
I may or may not have said this before: I love reading about diverse characters. It gives me a window into their lives and allows me to understand others like them. The characters in Piecing Me Together were very diverse and full of personality.
I get so excited finding characters that are artists! I love this aspect of Jade’s character. Artistic characters are hard to find, at least for me, and reading a character that I can relate to on that level is a really cool experience.
I also liked that the author put a Spanish word at the beginning of each chapter to set the stage for what the chapter covers. It’s an interesting idea, and adding a fun element for me, especially since I’m learning Spanish in school this year.
The character’s relationships were portrayed beautifully. I liked how dynamic they were. It was very realistic. I also enjoyed the mentor-mentee relationship that Jay has and the community that is displayed in Southern Portland.
This book was relatable. Although there were some issues in Piecing Me Together that I couldn’t completely relate to, I was able to relate to the characters on others. For example, I couldn’t relate to Jade’s experience with racism, but I could relate her thoughts about the Portland Shooting to my experience hearing about El Paso, in August. I also related to her description of the jealousy she feels when her friend doesn’t have to try on hundreds of dresses before finding one that fits.
Reading a book that covers topics such as the ones in Piecing Me Together and doesn’t include hardly any language, was a delight. Many authors will write beautifully about hard topics, and dirty it with language to make it more “realistic”. Not so with Renee Watson (at least that I can tell).
What I Didn’t Love:
The plot was slow for most of the book. This isn’t a bad thing, though, and it definitely didn’t take away from the importance of the story. Still, in some parts, it was hard to see exactly what the conflict was.
Mary Catherine Andrews says
Great review! I love those pictures, by the way!
ElizabethAnne Andrews says
Thank you, Mary Catherine! I am glad that you like them. 😄