Three Girls from Bronzeville by Dawn Turner

THREE GIRLS FROM BRONZEVILLE by Dawn Turner is subtitled “A Uniquely American Memoir of Race, Fate, and Sisterhood.” Turner is an award-winning former reporter and commentator for The Chicago Tribune and other media outlets. This memoir tells her story of growing up on the South Side in 1970s Chicago with her younger sister, Kim, and her best friend, Debra.  As these girls become women their lives diverge – one becomes pregnant when still a teenager; another starts using drugs and is eventually accused of murder. Over the decades, the neighborhood also shifts and so Turner provides insight on class, racism, and opportunity in a thoroughly engaging manner. Did you know, for example, that these people also lived in Bronzeville at some point: Ida B. Wells, Louis Armstrong, Richard Wright, and Gwendolyn Brooks? This text is filled with vivid descriptions and multiple generations of strong women. I wish that I could write as well as Turner – THREE GIRLS FROM BRONZEVILLE received starred reviews from Booklist (recommended for teen readers, too), Library Journal, and Publishers Weekly. This title could join literature circles featuring The Other Wes Moore and The Short and Tragic Life of Robert Pearce. The Washington Post review is here. 

UPDATE: part of Wilmette Public Library's One Book: Everyone Reads Program; meet the author (virtually) on May 11.