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Summary and Reviews of Remember Us by Jacqueline Woodson

Remember Us by Jacqueline Woodson

Remember Us

by Jacqueline Woodson
  • BookBrowse Review:
  • Critics' Consensus:
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  • First Published:
  • Oct 10, 2023, 192 pages
  • Paperback:
  • May 2025, 192 pages
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About This Book

Book Summary

Winner: BookBrowse YA Book Award 2023

National Book Award winner Jacqueline Woodson brings readers a powerful story that delves deeply into life's burning questions about time and memory and what we take with us into the future.

It seems like Sage's whole world is on fire the summer before she starts seventh grade. As house after house burns down, her Bushwick neighborhood gets referred to as "The Matchbox" in the local newspaper. And while Sage prefers to spend her time shooting hoops with the guys, she's also still trying to figure out her place inside the circle of girls she's known since childhood. A group that each day, feels further and further away from her.

But it's also the summer of Freddy, a new kid who truly gets Sage. Together, they reckon with the pain of missing the things that get left behind as time moves on, savor what's good in the present, and buoy each other up in the face of destruction. And when the future comes, it is Sage's memories of the past that show her the way forward. Remember Us speaks to the power of both letting go ... and holding on.

Excerpt
Remember Us

After the year of fire
vines rise up
through the rest of our lives
of smoke
of flame
of memory.
As if to say
We're still here.
As if to say
Remember us.

1

The moon is bright tonight. And full. Hanging low above the house across the street where an orange curtain blows in and out of my neighbors' window. Out and in. And past the curtain there's the golden light of their living room lamps. Beyond that, there is the pulsing blue of their tele­vision screen. I see this all now. I see a world continuing.

And in the orange and gold and blue I'm reminded again of the year when sirens screamed through my old neighborhood and smoke always seemed to be billowing. Somewhere.

That year, from the moment we stepped out of our houses in the morning till late into the night, we heard the sirens. Down Knickerbocker. Up Madison. Across Cornelia. Both ways on Gates Avenue. Down Ridgewood Place. Rounding the corners of Putnam, Wilson, Evergreen ...

...

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    BookBrowse Awards
    2023

Reviews

BookBrowse Review

BookBrowse

Winner: BookBrowse YA Book Award 2023

Woodson strikes an excellent balance of accessibility and poignancy with her writing, lending the novel genuine appeal to a broad readership. While Remember Us is aimed at younger audiences and her adolescent protagonist feels authentic, its themes of place, memory, identity, and belonging will ring true for readers of any age. It never seems as though Woodson is patronizing younger readers by simplifying the complex themes and emotions at play, and she never resorts to clichés or saccharine prose...continued

Full Review Members Only (574 words)

(Reviewed by Callum McLaughlin).

Media Reviews

Booklist (starred review)
The deeply moving novel from National Book Award winner Woodson is both elegant and accessible...A poignant portrayal of a historic neighborhood and an outstanding ode to the grief and gift of growing older. Woodson is one of the most esteemed figures in children's publishing, and her historical fiction especially can't be missed.

BookPage (starred review)
Packs an understated but powerful punch... . Sage's deep sense of nostalgia intertwines with a palpable fear of those fires, which act as a metaphor for Sage's recognition that her body and her world are changing: The present is constantly turning into the 'once was.' ... Remember Us has the feel of a new classic, ageless in its universal themes while wonder­fully rendering a spe­cific time and place. The pure magic of this novel is that Woodson somehow makes read­ers feel as though they are experiencing these moments of growing up along with Sage. Woodson flawlessly intersperses explosive moments—and games of basketball—among quiet, reflective scenes while responding to Sage's weighty fears with reassurance about the permanence of loving memories.

Horn Book (starred review)
This lyrical first-person upper middle-grade novel taps into a wide array of emotional truths and preteen sensibilities. Passages on loss and memory feature palpable sadness, but there is also a tender exploration of the enduring power of friendship and love, the discovery of inner strength and resilience, and the need to balance an appreciation for what 'once was' and what may be. Woodson again delivers an appealing protagonist whose voice will resonate with readers in a nuanced coming-of-age story worth remembering.

Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
[A] beautifully lyrical narrative of change, healing, and growth...An exquisitely wrought story of self and community.

Publishers Weekly (starred review)
Woodson draws on her experiences growing up in Bushwick in the 1970s and '80s to craft a nostalgic-feeling ode to the unexpected. Short chapters offer swift glimpses into momentous happenings in Sage's life, while organic dialogue and mesmerizing prose lay bare a narrative that encourages learning to move with the ebbs and flows of life.

School Library Journal (starred review)
Another remarkable ode to Brooklyn and memory from the incomparable National Book Award winner...The power of community and friendship permeates every word in this middle grade novel for all readers. A truly masterly work.

The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books
The emotions and challenges feel ever current... . The slice-of-life narrative steers readers through weighty emotions and contemplations on friendship, grounding the connections between notions of identity, family, and home with tactile imagery. The vividness of Sage's world gives an urgency to the story, calling up the immediacy of youth, while the reflective tone softens some of the more painful memories, assuring to children that these things will pass, and that fires will not burn forever.

Reader Reviews

Divya Ann Mathew

Remember Us: A Poignant Journey of Identity and Connection in Jacqueline Woodson's Masterpiece
"Remember Us" by Jacqueline Woodson is a poignant and beautifully crafted exploration of the challenges and transformations that shape adolescence, set against the backdrop of a neighborhood in turmoil. The novel follows Sage, a young girl navigating...   Read More
Anthony Conty

Deep YA
“Remember Us” by Jacqueline Woodson is the kind of Young Adult Fiction that reminds you while adults seek out the genre. If your kid has any identity issues, read it. Seeing a rising seventh grader navigate her stuff while the only neighborhood she ...   Read More

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Beyond the Book



The Fires of 1970s New York City

In her novel Remember Us, author Jacqueline Woodson draws from her own experiences growing up in 1970s New York. Her protagonist's hometown of Bushwick is plagued by housefires, landing it the callous nickname "The Matchbox."

Bushwick wasn't the only community affected by numerous fires at the time. Records show that by mid-1974, the number of serious blazes across the city of New York had risen by 40% over the past three years. Worse still, the civilian death rate from fires had risen by 35% over just the past year. Brooklyn, where Bushwick is located, and the Bronx were hit particularly hard. In seven Bronx census tracts, fires destroyed more than 97% of buildings throughout the '70s, while a further 44 tracts in the borough lost more ...

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