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Three Girls from Bronzeville
Three Girls from Bronzeville: A Uniquely American Story of Race, Fate, and Sisterhood | Dawn Turner
13 posts | 11 read | 18 to read
A riveting, coming-of-age memoir about three Black girls from the storied Bronzeville section of Chicago that offers a penetrating exploration of race, opportunity, friendship, sisterhood, and the powerful forces at work that allow some to flourishand others to falter. They were three Black girls. Dawn, tall and studious; her sister, Kim, younger by three years and headstrong as they come; and her best friend, Debra, already prom-queen pretty by third grade. They bondedfervently and intensely in that unique way of little girlsas they roamed the concrete landscape of Bronzeville, a historic neighborhood on Chicagos South Side, the destination of hundreds of thousands of Black folks who fled the ravages of the Jim Crow South. These third-generation daughters of the Great Migration come of age in the 1970s, in the warm glow of the recent civil rights movement. It has offered them a promise, albeit nascent and fragile, that they will have more opportunities, rights, and freedoms than any generation of Black Americans in history. Their working-class, striving parents are eager for them to realize this hard-fought potential. But the girls have much more immediate concerns: hiding under the dining room table and eavesdropping on grown folks business; collecting secret treasures; and daydreaming about their futuresDawn and Debra, doctors, Kim a teacher. For a brief, wondrous moment the girls are all giggles and dreams and promises of friends forever. And then fate intervenes, first slowly and then dramatically, sending them careening in wildly different directions. Theres heartbreak, loss, displacement, and even murder. Dawn struggles to make sense of the shocking turns that consume her sister and her best friend, all the while asking herself a simple but profound question: Why? In the vein of The Other Wes Moore and The Short and Tragic Life of Robert Peace, Three Girls from Bronzeville is a piercing memoir that chronicles Dawns attempt to find answers. Its at once a celebration of sisterhood and friendship, a testimony to the unique struggles of Black women, and a tour-de-force about the complex interplay of race, class, and opportunity, and how those forces shape our lives and our capacity for resilience and redemption.
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TracyReadsBooks
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#12BooksOf2022

Hands down my favorite book of January, this memoir by a reporter in Chicago about growing up on the South Side of Chicago, and how her path diverged from those of her sister and best friend, offers a revelatory examination of opportunity, friendship, sisterhood, race, and how forces beyond your control can play a role in where life takes you. Beautifully written, fascinating account of life in Bronzeville.

@Andrew65

Andrew65 Sounds a great read. 2y
TheBookHippie Stacked! 2y
21 likes1 stack add2 comments
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Litsi
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Pickpick

This is about black people but is not about racism. The first half, tinged with deep memory, is really strong. The rest fails to connect events with meaning. Nevertheless, this packs an emotional wallop & will boomerang readers into their childhood. That friend who moved away, the bright cousin who inexplicably failed to launch, the long gone neighborhood hangouts; they haunt our adult lives as we wrestle with the impact, why & how of it all.

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mamareading
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I‘ve been enjoying this book a lot, here in the middle Dawn is starting to bug me because she‘s so judgmental about those she cares about, but I think that‘s the point, she‘s going to learn to love even without controlling. At least I hope. Her heart is in the right place. See! She has me invested!

10 likes1 stack add
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JoyBlue
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Mehso-so

Show, don't tell. Read my full review here: https://debbybrauer.org/#three-girls-from-bronzeville

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cdreincarnate
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Pickpick

I learned so much from this book and enjoyed listening to it so much! The narrator does a fantastic job, so I highly recommend the audiobook.

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TracyReadsBooks
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Pickpick

Fascinating, compelling, heartbreaking &, ultimately, an uplifting & hopeful story about three Black girls who grow up on Chicago‘s South Side & where their lives take them. Turner‘s memoir is a generous, unflinching examination of family, sisterhood, friendship, race, opportunity, class & the struggles Black women face in this country. The writing is lyrical & the story of Turner‘s life riveting. Excellent & highly recommended.

Litsi Fully agree 2y
24 likes2 stack adds1 comment
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TracyReadsBooks
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Tonight‘s book…

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Hooked_on_books
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Pickpick

Dawn and her sister Kim grew up in black working class Chicago, where Dawn met Debra, who lived in the apartment above them in their high rise. Dawn chronicles their childhood and adult years, revealing 3 very different outcomes for each woman. This book is PHENOMENAL! If you‘re looking for a riveting, beautifully written memoir (it reads like a novel), look no further.

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ReadingEnvy
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Pickpick

Dawn Turner goes back in her personal history to explore her life alongside two other women she was close to - her sister Kim and her friend upstairs, Debra. She looks at race and economic stability but also personal choices and sometimes just the luck of the draw. It's also a good look at one specific neighborhood in the south side of Chicago, one that of course has been lost the way she knew it to gentrification. ↘️

ReadingEnvy At the time, some were pushing against desegregation while others were being inventive with neighborhoods for the rising black middle class. 3y
41 likes1 stack add2 comments
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Cinfhen
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Pickpick

A really well written and deeply insightful coming of age memoir set in the late 1970‘s. Two sisters and their best friend all live in the same Chicago housing project on the South Side but the paths they take put them on very different roads. Excellent narration 🎧🧡 #AudioARC #NetGalley NOW AVAILABLE

Megabooks Sold! I‘ll look for it. 3y
Cinfhen I really think you‘ll like it @Megabooks ♥️Going to compose an email today xx How‘s Molly? What‘s new?? 3y
Megabooks @Cinfhen emailed you back a bit earlier. Molly is driving me crazy!! Too much energy and still recovering from surgery. 3y
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Cinfhen Yeah, I saw the email 😂Molly seems to be rambunctious @Megabooks !!!! But at least she‘s playful 😈 3y
Megabooks I forgot what I was getting into with a hound! Such trouble, but I love it. We all have our breeds! She‘s asleep in my lap right now. 3y
britt_brooke I need to move this up my TBR! 3y
Cinfhen It‘s good @britt_brooke and audio narration was excellent 3y
78 likes1 stack add7 comments
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Cinfhen
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#AudioArc #NetGalley #Fabulous DEFINITELY in your wheelhouse @Megabooks A memoir of 2 sisters and their best friend growing up on the South Side of the Chicago Projects in the late 1970‘s.

Megabooks Ooo! Tag me in your review! 3y
62 likes3 stack adds1 comment