Piecing Me Together Summary

The following version of the book was used to create this study guide: Watson, Renee, Piecing Me Together. Bloomsbury YA, New York, New York, 2017. Kindle AZW file. Jade is a junior at St. Francis High School, an exclusive school for wealthy students where the study body is predominately white.
Piecing Me Together. The title of the book, Piecing Me Together, is a symbol of how the main character, Jade, is struggling to find out who she really is and how she fits into the world. The title is taken from a poem that includes the line, “piecing me back together.” In that poem, the writer is trying to overcome tragedy to piece herself.

Piecing Me Together: a discussion guide about race, class, gender & intersectionality. This guide offers preparation, sample dialogue, book passages to guide conversations, and 'out of the box' teaching suggestions for hands-on engagement on issues of race, class, gender, and how how all these identities can intersect in one person, one story.

The Benefits of Mentorships

This article relates to Piecing Me Together

Renee Watson's excellent Young Adult novel Piecing Me Together follows the life of a high school junior. Jade, who is African American, receives a scholarship to a new, predominantly white school, and finds herself feeling alone. Her guidance counselor approaches her with information about participating in a mentorship program called Women to Women, which targets girls who are seen as being at risk. Jade is initially reluctant to participate; however, after she weighs the opportunities, she realizes that she should take advantage of the program. So, she does. She meets her mentor, Maxine, who is also African American. Maxine is a college graduate, and she's from a prosperous family. With Maxine by her side, Jade sees a side of the world that would've likely been hidden from her for many years.
What constitutes mentoring can have slight variations, but Mentor: The National Mentoring Partnership defines it in the following way: 'Mentoring, at its core, guarantees young people that there is someone who cares about them, assures them they are not alone in dealing with day-to-day challenges, and makes them feel like they matter.'
The benefits from participating in mentoring programs are vast. Youth.Gov states that some of the perks include 'increased high school graduation rates, lower high school dropout rates, healthier relationships and lifestyle choices, better attitude about school, higher college enrollment rates and higher educational aspirations, enhanced self-esteem and self-confidence, improved behavior, both at home and at school, stronger relationships with parents, teachers, and peers, improved interpersonal skills, and decreased likelihood of initiating drug and alcohol use.' With these kinds of results, there is no surprise that so many communities participate in mentoring initiatives.
Big Brothers Big Sisters of America is one of the country's most popular and largest mentoring programs. Started in 1904, it 'makes meaningful, monitored matches between adult volunteers ('Bigs) and children ('Littles'), ages 6 through 18, in communities across the country.' This organization positively impacts its mentees' self-confidence and education. Other mentoring programs target more specific groups of teens. For example, Boys to Men Mentoring pairs adult men with oftentimes fatherless boys to help guide them. BEST Kids, Inc. in Washington D.C. works to positively impact youth in its surrounding areas. Just Us Girls, based in Georgia, is one of the country's mentoring programs for young women. If you know of a teenager who might benefit from a mentorship program, all you have to do is some quick research to find the best one for them. There are so many wonderful, successful organizations ready to help guide today's youth. And if you have the time, there is no better way to nurture both the future of one person and the future of the world by becoming a mentor yourself.

Mentoring people graphic courtesy of drbacchus.com
Mentoring lightbulb graphic, courtesy of maryhogarth.com

Filed under Society and Politics

This 'beyond the book article' relates to Piecing Me Together. It originally ran in March 2017 and has been updated for the June 2018 paperback edition. Go to magazine.

This review is available to non-members for a limited time. For full access become a member today. Membership Advantages

Piecing Me Together Summary

Reviews
'Beyond the Book' articles
Free books to read and review (US only)
Find books by time period, setting & theme
Read-alike suggestions by book and author
Book club discussions
and much more!
Just $12 for 3 months or $39 for a year.