Need for Community

     All throughout Woodson's text, Jackie, herself, is redefining what it means to be at 'home'. Ultimately, making home to appear as that which is not a physical place, but rather a feeling - a feeling of love, laughter, and community. With this being said, while Jackie continually notes the love she has for Greenville, South Carolina as it is the home to her grandparents, there is something that is missing there. That something being a connection outside that of her immediate family. In saying this, a prime example of which being Jackie's grandmother's restraints and qualms when she and her siblings would attempt to build a connection with their neighbors. 

In doing so, Jackie was never able to find someone like her - that is until her mother brought her a doll home from New York City. In furthering this, Jackie explains her mother's arrival in stating, "She tells us the toy stores are filled with dolls of every size and color there's a barbershop and hair salon everywhere you look" [...] "But only the dolls are real to us" (Woodson, 125). In saying this, Jackie explicitly explains her infatuation with the doll - a being that shows her that she is not alone, a being that shows her a sense of community she had yet to be exposed to. 

 A sense of community that she would not feel again until after some time in New York - but once again, she does not find it in conventional ways. For example, Jackie explains that each Monday her mother takes the children to the library to pick out seven books of their choice. Jackie begins by explaining that in that library she feels safe. Safe from being judged for her inadequate reading level and unconventional areas of interest for her age. At the library, she is free to explore as much as she pleases - this sense of exploration ultimately leading her to find a picture book. In finding this book, Jackie states, "If someone had taken that book out of my hand said, You're too old for this, maybe I'd never have believed that someone who looked like me could be in the pages of the book that someone who looked like me had a story" (228). With this being said, it becomes clear to the audience that Jackie appears to find this sense of 'home' in unconventional ways. Since she has been unable to fulfill her sense of community with those around her, Jackie must then seek out those within the realm of books - thus, ultimately could be seen as the reason behind her love and interest for stories. 

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