Red at the Bone

Locations
Call Number: Fiction / Woodson, Jacqueline, Adult Book / Fiction / General / Woodson, Jacqueline
On Shelf At: Downtown Library, Pittsfield Branch, Traverwood Branch, Westgate Branch

Location & Checkout Length	Call Number	Checkout Length	Item Status
Downtown 2nd Floor 4-week checkout	Fiction / Woodson, Jacqueline	4-week checkout	On Shelf
Downtown 2nd Floor 4-week checkout	Fiction / Woodson, Jacqueline	4-week checkout	On Shelf
Downtown 2nd Floor 4-week checkout	Fiction / Woodson, Jacqueline	4-week checkout	On Shelf
Pittsfield Adult Books 4-week checkout	Adult Book / Fiction / General / Woodson, Jacqueline	4-week checkout	On Shelf
Pittsfield Adult Books 4-week checkout	Adult Book / Fiction / General / Woodson, Jacqueline	4-week checkout	On Shelf
Traverwood Adult Books 4-week checkout	Adult Book / Fiction / General / Woodson, Jacqueline	4-week checkout	On Shelf
Traverwood Adult Books 4-week checkout	Adult Book / Fiction / General / Woodson, Jacqueline	4-week checkout	Due 05-13-2024
Westgate Adult Books 4-week checkout	Adult Book / Fiction / General / Woodson, Jacqueline	4-week checkout	On Shelf
Westgate Adult Books 4-week checkout	Adult Book / Fiction / General / Woodson, Jacqueline	4-week checkout	On Shelf
Westgate Adult Books 4-week checkout	Adult Book / Fiction / General / Woodson, Jacqueline	4-week checkout	Due 05-15-2024
Malletts Adult Books 4-week checkout	Adult Book / Fiction / General / Woodson, Jacqueline	4-week checkout	Due 04-28-2024

"Two familes from different social classes are joined together by an unexpected pregnancy and the child that it produces. As the book opens in 2001, it is the evening of sixteen-year-old Melody's coming of age ceremony in her grandparents' Brooklyn brownstone. Watched lovingly by her relatives and friends, making her entrance to the music of Prince, she wears a special custom-made dress. But the event is not without poignancy. Sixteen years earlier, that very dress was measured and sewn for a different wearer: Melody's mother, for her own ceremony-- a celebration that ultimately never took place"--Adapted from jacket.

REVIEWS & SUMMARIES

Booklist Review
Publishers Weekly Review
Summary / Annotation
Fiction Profile
Excerpt
Author Notes

COMMUNITY REVIEWS

Book submitted by Clown81 on August 31, 2019, 8:24pm Red bone.

Just amazing submitted by sbaccouc on November 27, 2019, 5:41am I was blown away by this book - once you get used to the tone of the writing, it's smooth sailing from there! So good...

Amazing and Powerful Prose submitted by sVfGI7Glt2pz7GZgVB90 on June 20, 2020, 11:50pm I am someone who likes to understand cheerful books and feel happy about the ending, but this tome with all its deep messages actually got me thinking. It was about a black girl dealing with teen pregnancy and how she overcomes it and also brings other families together.

Woodson’s lyrical prose can seize your heart and make you look forward to her future works.

Beautifully written submitted by mowjac on July 3, 2020, 7:52am Powerful and wonderful book about family. The book focuses on Melody and her family members in turn, letting us hear each of their stories in their own voice. It's a quick and beautiful read.

Sublime writing submitted by adimarzo on June 12, 2021, 5:46pm I heard someone describe Jacqueline Woodson as a writer's writer and it is so true. No words are wasted in her writing. Everything has poetry and meaning and purpose. I loved the story and the way it was told from different characters' perspectives, jumping back and forward in time. I will definitely be reading more by this author.

Great storytelling device submitted by Susan4Pax -prev. sueij- on June 16, 2021, 8:48pm This book is excellent. It tells an interesting story about a family using the technique of each chapter being narrated by a different character to great effect. Generational history and trauma and responsibility balance against individual personalities and opportunity in a push-and-pull that is timeless.

It probably deserves 5 stars (I’m giving it 4 at the moment) but I’ve read over 25 books this year about the struggles of the Black community in this year of George Floyd’s murder and BLM, and was right in the middle of a deliberate pause in taking on more reading about the ways this country has treated POC unjustly. This book came up for our book club, and I’m very glad to have read it, but the timing was off for me, and I think I would love liked it even more if I was in a slightly better space to take it on.

Confusing submitted by emljas on February 10, 2023, 8:30pm Took me forever to finish. Each chapter told by different character, but you don’t know which one and have to figure it out by context which is sometimes easy and someone’s difficult. I couldn’t even consistently remember characters’ names maybe because it took me so long to read or maybe because they were referred to sometimes by nicknames and sometimes by relationship or official name. I was frequently distracted by the writing style and just wanted a clear story.