Piecing Me Together

"It’s incredible how much insight can be wrung from familiar stories when they are approached thoughtfully and grounded by close observation. For example, while the challenge of being a scholarship student at an elite private school has been canvassed pretty thoroughly ever since Tom Brown first had his school days, Renee Watson manages to find fresh life in this old narrative. With poetically efficient writing, Watson manages to create astonishingly nuanced relationships, sneaking 86 undercurrents into conversations with fewer than 17 words – all resulting in a richly complex story about whom we imagine needs help and what women – across age, class and race divides – really have to teach one another."