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“An acute study of those tender moments of becoming, this is an ode to girlhood, inheritance, and the good trouble the body yields.”—Raven Leilani, author of Luster
FINALIST: The New American Voices Award, The Carol Shields Prize for Fiction, The VCU Cabell First Novelist Award, The New American Voices Award, The Center for Fiction First Novel Prize
ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: PopSugar, Kirkus Reviews
If you really want to know, we are the color of 7-Eleven root beer. The color of sand at Rockaway Beach when it blisters the bottoms of our feet. Color of soil . . .
Welcome to Queens, New York, where streets echo with languages from all over the globe, subways rumble above dollar stores, trees bloom and topple over sidewalks, and the funky scent of the Atlantic Ocean wafts in from Rockaway Beach. Within one of New York City’s most vibrant and eclectic boroughs, young women of color like Nadira, Gabby, Naz, Trish, Angelique, and countless others, attempt to reconcile their immigrant backgrounds with the American culture in which they come of age. Here, they become friends for life—or so they vow.
Exuberant and wild, together they roam The City That Never Sleeps, sing Mariah Carey at the tops of their lungs, yearn for crushes who pay them no mind—and break the hearts of those who do—all while trying to heed their mothers’ commands to be obedient daughters. But as they age, their paths diverge and rifts form between them, as some choose to remain on familiar streets, while others find themselves ascending in the world, beckoned by existences foreign and seemingly at odds with their humble roots.
A blazingly original debut novel told by a chorus of unforgettable voices, Brown Girls illustrates a collective portrait of childhood, adulthood, and beyond, and is a striking exploration of female friendship, a powerful depiction of women of color attempting to forge their place in the world today. For even as the conflicting desires of ambition and loyalty, freedom and commitment, adventure and stability risk dividing them, it is to one another—and to Queens—that the girls ultimately return.
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Creators
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Publisher
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Release date
January 4, 2022 -
Formats
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OverDrive Listen audiobook
- ISBN: 9780593416402
- File size: 128166 KB
- Duration: 04:27:00
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Languages
- English
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Reviews
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October 18, 2021
Andreades’s underwhelming debut follows a group of young women of color who grow up in the “dregs of Queens.” Narrated using the first-person plural “we,” the story follows the trajectories of girls who, by age 10, have learned to never talk back, stay quiet in the face of bullying, and accept that the outside world is oblivious to their different shades of brown (more than a dozen of their names are first heard in reference to the teachers’ confusion over who is who: “They call us Khadija, Akanksha, Maribeth, Ximena, Breonna, Cherelle, Thanh, Yoon, Ellen”). At 13, they secretly crush on brown boys (considered “trouble” in their parents’ eyes) and experiment with makeup to make their skin lighter. At 15, they part ways, as some start high school outside of Queens, while others stay near home. At 18, a rift forms as they leave for different colleges and realize that in their home neighborhoods, they must downplay their intelligence and keep their ambitions to themselves. Still, they try to stay in touch as they navigate predominantly white spaces. The prose is often simplistic, and there is little character complexity beyond the women’s contrasting paths. Unfortunately, the first-person-plural narration robs the work of nuance and oversimplifies complex ideas about race and identity. Agent: Jin Auh, the Wylie Agency. -
Narrator Tashi Thomas assuredly navigates this debut collection of vignettes. Told in seven parts, the audiobook explores the coming-of-age of young immigrant women of color as they grow up in vibrant Queens, New York. Thomas nails the collective choral voice of the girls, narrating the story through the first-person plural "we" with versatility and range. She captures the musicality in Andreades's lyrical prose and skillfully conveys the girls' frustrations and struggles in trying to reconcile their aspirations with their roots. Her tone and timing while channeling the sass of the girls are spot-on. Though the story may be seen as an oversimplified group experience of brown girls, Thomas elevates it with a bold, resonant voice. V.T.M. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2022, Portland, Maine -
March 1, 2022
The story unfolds in a diverse neighborhood known as "the dregs of Queens." It is here that a group of young women create circles of friends that expand and contract as they confront life's increasingly complex questions. What clothes to wear? What high school to attend? What dream to follow? Stay or leave? Stick to one's own kind or branch out? Marry, pursue a career, have children? Embrace or reject the family heritage? Revisit the past or move on? Confront death as a friend or an enemy? Andreades's debut conveys the depth and breadth of the lives of young women like Nadira, Gabby, Naz, Trish, and Angelique, as well as the inescapable truths that make us all human. The audiobook is beautifully read by Tashi Thomas. VERDICT Andreades's novel will appeal to those who enjoy literary fiction; highly recommended for public libraries.--Joanna Burkhardt
Copyright 2022 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
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