Remember Us by Jacqueline Woodson

Remember Us is a quiet novel that ponders the conundrum of change and permanence.

Remember Us by Jacqueline Woodson. Nancy Paulsen Books (PRH), 2023, 192 pages.

Reading Level: Middle Grades, ages 10-12

Recommended for: ages 10-15

That was the year when, one by one, the buildings on Palmetto [Street] melted into a mass of rock and ash and plaster until only a few were left standing. Walls we threw our balls against and chased each other around . . . We said Well, nothing lasts for always, right? . . . We were just some kids making believe we understood, But we didn’t. Not yet.

The narrator, Sage, is writing from an adult perspective of a life-changing summer: when her Bushwick neighborhood became known as “The Matchbox” for the number of fires. There’s little explanation of what caused the fires; that’s not the point. The point passing time and fading memory, and what we hold onto and let go.

Sage has an unusual name for a girl, and an unusual ambition: to become the first female player in the NBA. The boys acknowledge her skill but laugh at her goal—all except Freddy, the new kid. Freddy understands her. That may be the first requirement for true friendship, and over the summer their bond intensifies through sorrow and tragedy as well as triumph and joy. Midsummer, Sage suffers a huge blow to her confidence, one that her overworked mother can’t reach and the neighborhood kids don’t get. Except Freddy. Summer’s end brings a move and a separation, but they’ll remain friends forever, if only in memory.

This is a thoughtful novel, with no great mystery to untangle or life-threatening challenge to overcome. But there are smaller challenges, and throughout Sage and Freddy find their footing on the basketball court. At root is the age-old philosophical question of change and permanence, and Woodson balances them with understated grace. Both her main characters survive the summer: altered, yet more themselves. “Nothing lasts for always,” except the essence of us.

Overall Rating: 4.5

• Worldview/moral value: 4
• Artistic/literary value: 5

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Also at Redeemed Reader:

• Reviews: More by Jacqueline Woodson: Before the Ever After and Brown Girl Dreaming.

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