Red at the Bone

"Red at the Bone is a slim novel that has all the heft of a family saga but reads like poetry. Jacqueline Woodson’s writing is spare and beautiful. The story spans three generations of two families brought together by an unexpected teenage pregnancy. The pregnant young girl, Iris, decides to keep the baby, much against her parents’ wishes. Then she lets her parents and the baby’s father, Aubrey, raise the child while she goes to college. As the book travels backward and forward in time, we learn the story of each character and see how this birth affects them all. As the novel drew to a close, I found myself wanting more. Then Woodson nailed the ending, leaving me thoroughly satisfied and awed by her talent."