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Jacqueline Woodson

Goodreads Author

Born

in Columbus, Ohio, The United States

Website

http://www.jacquelinewoodson.com/

Genre

Literature & Fiction, Children's Books, Young Adult

Member Since

June 2013

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I used to say I’d be a teacher or a lawyer or a hairdresser when I grew up but even as I said these things, I knew what made me happiest was writing.

I wrote on everything and everywhere. I remember my uncle catching me writing my name in graffiti on the side of a building. (It was not pretty for me when my mother found out.) I wrote on paper bags and my shoes and denim binders. I chalked stories across sidewalks and penciled tiny tales in notebook margins. I loved and still love watching words flower into sentences and sentences blossom into stories.

I also told a lot of stories as a child. Not “Once upon a time” stories but basically, outright lies. I loved lying and getting away with it! There was something about telling the lie-story and I used to say I’d be a teacher or a lawyer or a hairdresser when I grew up but even as I said these things, I knew what made me happiest was writing.

I wrote on everything and everywhere. I remember my uncle catching me writing my name in graffiti on the side of a building. (It was not pretty for me when my mother found out.) I wrote on paper bags and my shoes and denim binders. I chalked stories across sidewalks and penciled tiny tales in notebook margins. I loved and still love watching words flower into sentences and sentences blossom into stories.

I also told a lot of stories as a child. Not “Once upon a time” stories but basically, outright lies. I loved lying and getting away with it! There was something about telling the lie-story and seeing your friends’ eyes grow wide with wonder. Of course I got in trouble for lying but I didn’t stop until fifth grade.

That year, I wrote a story and my teacher said “This is really good.” Before that I had written a poem about Martin Luther King that was, I guess, so good no one believed I wrote it. After lots of brouhaha, it was believed finally that I had indeed penned the poem which went on to win me a Scrabble game and local acclaim. So by the time the story rolled around and the words “This is really good” came out of the otherwise down-turned lips of my fifth grade teacher, I was well on my way to understanding that a lie on the page was a whole different animal — one that won you prizes and got surly teachers to smile. A lie on the page meant lots of independent time to create your stories and the freedom to sit hunched over the pages of your notebook without people thinking you were strange.

Lots and lots of books later, I am still surprised when I walk into a bookstore and see my name on a book’s binder. Sometimes, when I’m sitting at my desk for long hours and nothing’s coming to me, I remember my fifth grade teacher, the way her eyes lit up when she said “This is really good.” The way, I — the skinny girl in the back of the classroom who was always getting into trouble for talking or missed homework assignments — sat up a little straighter, folded my hands on the desks, smiled and began to believe in me. ...more

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Jacqueline Woodson’s books

Average rating: 4.05 · 380,704 ratings · 54,410 reviews · 83 distinct works • Similar authors

	Brown Girl Dreaming 4.15 avg rating — 93,914 ratings — published 2014 — 51 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Red at the Bone 3.96 avg rating — 84,411 ratings — published 2019 — 31 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Another Brooklyn 3.86 avg rating — 42,118 ratings — published 2016 — 41 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Before the Ever After 4.17 avg rating — 16,252 ratings — published 2020 — 13 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Harbor Me 4.19 avg rating — 13,567 ratings — published 2018 — 27 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Day You Begin by Jacqueline Woodson (Goodreads Author), Rafael López (Goodreads Author) (Illustrator) 4.43 avg rating — 12,434 ratings — published 2018 — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	If You Come Softly 4.03 avg rating — 12,679 ratings — published 1998 — 50 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Other Side by Jacqueline Woodson (Goodreads Author), E.B. Lewis (Illustrator) 4.51 avg rating — 8,586 ratings — published 2001 — 11 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Each Kindness by Jacqueline Woodson (Goodreads Author), E.B. Lewis (Illustrator) 4.41 avg rating — 7,943 ratings — published 2012 — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Locomotion 4.02 avg rating — 7,426 ratings — published 2003 — 43 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

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Series by Jacqueline Woodson

If You Come Softly (2 books)
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4.04 avg rating — 14,287 ratings

Locomotion (2 books)
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4.02 avg rating — 9,462 ratings

I Hadn't Meant to Tell You This (2 books)
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3.93 avg rating — 1,811 ratings

Maizon (3 books)
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3.84 avg rating — 814 ratings

Over at Amazon, the book editors are celebrating 25 years of curating the latest and greatest titles for Amazon Books. To mark the...

Polls

We have read a lot of wonderful books this year, but have we missed your favorite?

What book should we read in December?

Please write in your choice. As always, you may write in titles, provided the book is a 2021 Newbery contender and already published.

Before the Ever After by Jacqueline Woodson

32 votes 27.8%

A Wish in the Dark by Christina Soontornvat

22 votes 19.1%

City Spies by James Ponti

16 votes 13.9%

A Wolf for a Spell by Karah Sutton

13 votes 11.3%

King and the Dragonflies by Kacen Callender (write-in)

6 votes 5.2%

The Ickabog (write-in)

5 votes 4.3%

A Home for Goddesses and Dogs by Leslie Connor (write-in)

5 votes 4.3%

The thing about Jellyfish (write-in)

4 votes 3.5%

Before the Ever After (write-in)

2 votes 1.7%

The Boys In the Back Row (write-in)

2 votes 1.7%

Mananaland by Pam Munoz Ryan (write-in)

2 votes 1.7%

Before the Ever After, Snapdragon or King and the Dragonflies (write-in)

2 votes 1.7%

city spies (write-in)

1 vote 0.9%

Barren Grounds (write-in)

1 vote 0.9%

Ickabog (write-in)

1 vote 0.9%

village of scoundrels (write-in)

1 vote 0.9%

115 total votes

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