Feathers - Jacqueline Woodson

I blame it all on Natasha and Amy. They inspired me to read "I Hadn't Meant to Tell You This" by Jacqueline Woodson, and I was so impressed by its simplicity and beauty, that I was soon on my library's website ordering more from Woodson. Feathers was next up on the list.

The title Feathers is based on the quote from Emily Dickinson: Hope is the thing with feathers. The story is short (118 pages), subtle and gentle, but sneaky. I'm not sure it is possible to close the book upon finishing it, and move directly on to the next book in the pile. The story leaves a trail of crumbs in your heart that helps you re-trace and re-think about where you've been. True to the quote, the story is all about hope.

Frannie is a tween-aged black girl living in a black neighborhood in the 1970's, and goes to a black school. Life is as normal as it gets, until one day, a white boy walks into her classroom. A boy with long hair and a peaceful demeanor. The kids soon refer to him as the "Jesus Boy". Some even begin to wonder whether he IS Jesus, sent from the heavens to their school for a reason.

There are several plots taking place in the book, but they are all interwoven with the desire for hope. Frannie's older brother has been deaf since birth - will he ever be able to fully integrate with the speaking world? Frannie's mother is pregnant, but has had a history of devastating miscarriages - will this baby survive? Why would the "Jesus Boy" want to live among people with a different skin color? Is he really Jesus, or just a normal boy? Frannie sums up her feelings to her best friend Samantha:

"Maybe he is (the real Jesus). Maybe there's a little bit of Jesus inside of all of us. Maybe Jesus is just that something good or something sad or something...something that stays with us and makes us do stuff like help Trevor up, even though he's busy cursing us out. Or maybe...maybe Jesus is just that thing you had when the Jesus Boy first got here, Samantha. Maybe Jesus is the hope that you were feeling."

Amen sister. What a wonderful way Woodson has with depicting the emotions of young adults, the tension between blacks and whites, and the innocence of kids who really want to push all that aside and get along.


4.5 out of 5 stars