Teaching to adolescents, I am always on the lookout for a great book that grabs you right away.  Many adults have short attention spans, but young adults? Even shorter.  This novel is actually a memoir, but it’s told in poetry form.  The author hooked me right away, and I was drawn not only to the language and word choice, but the gripping story that unfolded.  I could not put it down. Brown Girl Dreaming, by Jacqueline Woodson Genre: memoir (told in poetry form) Summary: This memoir is about a young African American girl born in Ohio in the 1960s.  At a very young age, her mother leaves her father to move back home to South Carolina and takes Jacqueline (the author and narrator) and her two siblings with her.  Her mother then leaves for New York City, to try to obtain a job and a better life for her children.  While she is gone, Jacqueline is raised by her grandparents.  Later, her mother returns for the children, and she spends the rest of her childhood …