PUTNEY — This February, the community is invited to celebrate African-American History Month by reading Brown Girl Dreaming, by Jacqueline Woodson, the 2017 Vermont Reads selection. According to a news release, the book is a beautiful memoir of the author's childhood, written in verse, which tells the story of a young person finding her voice and examines the strength of family bonds.
In reflecting on the book, Ms. Woodson said, “Raised in South Carolina and New York, I always felt halfway home in each place. In [this book], I share what it was like to grow up as an African American in the 1960s and 1970s, living with the remnants of Jim Crow and my growing awareness of the Civil Rights movement. It also reflects the joy of finding my voice through writing stories, despite the fact that I struggled with reading as a child. My love of stories inspired and stayed with me, creating the first sparks of the writer that I was to become.”
Woodson's memoir is appropriate for ages 10 to adult and all are encouraged to attend the book discussion and series of events.
Vermont Reads brings communities together around stories, ideas, and activities that are important to the life of towns of all sizes. In this spirit, Putney Public Library is circulating copies of Brown Girl Dreaming to encourage as many people in the Putney community to read on the same topic.
Putney Public Library has partnered with Putney Central School, The Putney School, and The Grammar School for this year's Vermont Reads project.
In addition, Putney Public Library will host a series of events around the themes of poetry, civil rights, race, and local history in observance of African American History Month.
The first event, on Thursday, Feb. 2, at 7 p.m., is “Daisy Turner's Kin.” Vermont folklorist Jane Beck shares the story of the Turner family, a multigenerational saga spanning two centuries, played out across three continents.
The saga was related to Beck by Daisy Turner, a Grafton resident born to freed slaves, who had listened to her father, Alec Turner, recount stories of the family past. Her captivating narrative covers the early 19th century British-African trade, shipwreck, birth of a biracial child, slave trading, enslavement, plantation life, escape, Civil War, moving north, battling racism, buying land, and settling on a hilltop in Vermont that became a family center.
Daisy also shared her own life story, a powerful and rare account of the African American experience in New England, from the 1880s forward.
For a complete list of other library events in February, visit putneylibrary.org. The Putney Public Library is located at 55 Main St. These events are all free and open to the public.