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Feathers
A beautiful and moving novel from a three-time Newbery Honor-winning author
“Hope is the thing with feathers” starts the poem Frannie is reading in school. Frannie hasn’t thought much about hope. There are so many other things to think about. Each day, her friend Samantha seems a bit more “holy.” There is a new boy in class everyone is calling the Jesus Boy. And although the new boy looks like a white kid, he says he’s not white. Who is he? During a winter full of surprises, good and bad, Frannie starts seeing a lot of things in a new light—her brother Sean’s deafness, her mother’s fear, the class bully’s anger, her best friend’s faith and her own desire for “the thing with feathers.”
Jacqueline Woodson once again takes readers on a journey into a young girl’s heart and reveals the pain and the joy of learning to look beneath the surface.
A Newbery Honor Book
“Hope is the thing with feathers” starts the poem Frannie is reading in school. Frannie hasn’t thought much about hope. There are so many other things to think about. Each day, her friend Samantha seems a bit more “holy.” There is a new boy in class everyone is calling the Jesus Boy. And although the new boy looks like a white kid, he says he’s not white. Who is he? During a winter full of surprises, good and bad, Frannie starts seeing a lot of things in a new light—her brother Sean’s deafness, her mother’s fear, the class bully’s anger, her best friend’s faith and her own desire for “the thing with feathers.”
Jacqueline Woodson once again takes readers on a journey into a young girl’s heart and reveals the pain and the joy of learning to look beneath the surface.
A Newbery Honor Book
160 pages, Paperback
First published March 1, 2007
232 people are currently reading
5002 people want to read
About the author
Jacqueline Woodson
82 books9,095 followersI 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.
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.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 1,317 reviews
January 28, 2018
This is a superbly beautiful story set in a black community in the early 70s that deals with love, bullies, religion and racism in subtle and wonderful prose. Frannie has an intriguing relationship with her deaf brother Sean who is just one of many examples in the book of valuing differences. The Jesus Boy who comes to their school is the catalyst to self-discovery for Frannie, her friend Samantha and even for hanger-on RayRay as he exemplifies both hope and imperfect humanity in the story. The title comes from a gorgeous poem by Emily Dickinson whose words and images weave through this entire story. An absolute must for children which opens their eyes to critical insights about getting along with others. My 8 year old absolutely loved it.
January 19, 2021
Hope is a thing with feathers- Emily Dickinson
It is the winter of 1971, one of the snowiest on record in New York. Eleven year old Frannie is hoping to find her thing with feathers because life is looking bleak at the moment. Such is the backdrop for yet another Jacqueline Woodson young adult novella that I had not been exposed to. I have opted out of reading challenges for the past three years but decided to participate in a number of them this year to jump start my reading. One challenge I am playing is women’s reading bingo, and one of the squares is to read a book where one of the characters has a dis-ability. This lead me to Feathers, where we meet Frannie and her loving family, including her older brother Sean, who happens to be deaf. Frannie might be searching for her elusive thing with feathers, but Sean is comfortable with who he is, setting the table for another moving Woodson book.
I have yet to find many writers of any genre who can develop characters well in as short of a time as can Jacqueline Woodson. In books as short as one hundred pages, she crafts multi-layered characters and introduces her readers to a plethora of societal issues during the era of each book. Frannie and Sean are coming of age in 1971, what they feel is a new generation. There is a war going on, their parents have noted that much, but it has yet to touch them personally because they are too young to get involved. They do live on their side of the tracks, and Woodson does touch on de facto segregation, although not by name. Sean notes that it is indeed a new generation. They are not supposed to be discriminated against because it is illegal, and allusions are made to the Black Panthers and Black Power. Sean goes to a school for the disabled because in the 1970s teachers have not made the effort to learn sign language, and terms like “shadow” and “individual education plan” have yet to enter the vernacular. It is apparent that Sean feels comfortable in his own skin: an oldest child who helps cook at home, plays basketball, has girls eying him, who just happens to be deaf. Frannie, while able to sign and is bilingual, longs to be as happy with her life as Sean is in his.
Frannie and her best friend Samantha have gone to the same school since first grade. In fourth grade the local private school closed so they were joined by the rich kids from the other side of the tracks. One of the girls Maribel Tonks is as rude as she is rich, believing that it gives her the right to state her opinion about everything. One day a white boy joins their class, upsetting the dynamics. This is 1971, not 2021, and integration and multi-hued classrooms are not common. Jesus boy, as dubbed by both Samantha and a number of boys in the class, is white- brown flowing hair and blue eyes. He could not possibly be black yet he’s at their school. This leads to many conversations and speculation at recess as to his origins, showing that kids haven’t changed much in the last fifty years. There are playground fights and boys jockeying for position as king of the class with other kids attempting to empathize about others’ station in life. Samantha truly believes that Jesus boy is actually Jesus come to save their school at a crossroads in society. This leads to a slight rift between the two girls, which eventually heals by the time the book ends, a product of Woodson’s special attention to empathy and teenaged angst.
While race plays a large roll in the novella, the meat of the plot centers around Frannie’s family. Sean being deaf straddles two worlds. Hearing girls think he is good looking and plays a mean game of basketball and want to go out with him. When Frannie tells them that her brother is deaf, they lose interest, leading her to tell him to stick to the deaf girls because the hearing girls are self-centered and not worth his time. This is not the only issue upsetting the family dynamic: Frannie’s mother is pregnant. She has miscarried three times and buried an infant. At an advanced maternal age, at least for fifty years ago, she is considered high risk. Frannie is worried for her mother. She is the youngest- at age eleven- and would love a new sibling, but she does not want to lose her mother, after seeing what happened the last time her mother could not grow a baby. Miscarriage is still a taboo subject today, although some celebrities have slowly brought it into the open, some sadly in this last year. Kudos to Jacqueline Woodson for touching on yet another important societal issue, weaving together multiple plot lines in a way that adolescent readers can relate. It is easy to root for Frannie as a protagonist reading prose created with this tender loving care.
As the novel closes, Frannie still longs to attain that thing with feathers. She realizes that Sean is better than the majority of hearing people, that going to church with Samantha is not as bad as she thought, and that Jesus boy is not a mystery once you get to know him. In her family, Frannie is thrust into a young adult roll to assist her mother around the house, hoping that this baby makes it. Crafting a novel including classism, ableism, pregnancy loss, as well as a discussion about race during the era this book is set in, it is apparent that Jacqueline Woodson is one of the leading young adult writers today. Her books are so real, and this is one of her earlier efforts. Frannie shines in this novella, and Woodson’s books only get better over time.
🪶 4 stars 🪶
It is the winter of 1971, one of the snowiest on record in New York. Eleven year old Frannie is hoping to find her thing with feathers because life is looking bleak at the moment. Such is the backdrop for yet another Jacqueline Woodson young adult novella that I had not been exposed to. I have opted out of reading challenges for the past three years but decided to participate in a number of them this year to jump start my reading. One challenge I am playing is women’s reading bingo, and one of the squares is to read a book where one of the characters has a dis-ability. This lead me to Feathers, where we meet Frannie and her loving family, including her older brother Sean, who happens to be deaf. Frannie might be searching for her elusive thing with feathers, but Sean is comfortable with who he is, setting the table for another moving Woodson book.
I have yet to find many writers of any genre who can develop characters well in as short of a time as can Jacqueline Woodson. In books as short as one hundred pages, she crafts multi-layered characters and introduces her readers to a plethora of societal issues during the era of each book. Frannie and Sean are coming of age in 1971, what they feel is a new generation. There is a war going on, their parents have noted that much, but it has yet to touch them personally because they are too young to get involved. They do live on their side of the tracks, and Woodson does touch on de facto segregation, although not by name. Sean notes that it is indeed a new generation. They are not supposed to be discriminated against because it is illegal, and allusions are made to the Black Panthers and Black Power. Sean goes to a school for the disabled because in the 1970s teachers have not made the effort to learn sign language, and terms like “shadow” and “individual education plan” have yet to enter the vernacular. It is apparent that Sean feels comfortable in his own skin: an oldest child who helps cook at home, plays basketball, has girls eying him, who just happens to be deaf. Frannie, while able to sign and is bilingual, longs to be as happy with her life as Sean is in his.
Frannie and her best friend Samantha have gone to the same school since first grade. In fourth grade the local private school closed so they were joined by the rich kids from the other side of the tracks. One of the girls Maribel Tonks is as rude as she is rich, believing that it gives her the right to state her opinion about everything. One day a white boy joins their class, upsetting the dynamics. This is 1971, not 2021, and integration and multi-hued classrooms are not common. Jesus boy, as dubbed by both Samantha and a number of boys in the class, is white- brown flowing hair and blue eyes. He could not possibly be black yet he’s at their school. This leads to many conversations and speculation at recess as to his origins, showing that kids haven’t changed much in the last fifty years. There are playground fights and boys jockeying for position as king of the class with other kids attempting to empathize about others’ station in life. Samantha truly believes that Jesus boy is actually Jesus come to save their school at a crossroads in society. This leads to a slight rift between the two girls, which eventually heals by the time the book ends, a product of Woodson’s special attention to empathy and teenaged angst.
While race plays a large roll in the novella, the meat of the plot centers around Frannie’s family. Sean being deaf straddles two worlds. Hearing girls think he is good looking and plays a mean game of basketball and want to go out with him. When Frannie tells them that her brother is deaf, they lose interest, leading her to tell him to stick to the deaf girls because the hearing girls are self-centered and not worth his time. This is not the only issue upsetting the family dynamic: Frannie’s mother is pregnant. She has miscarried three times and buried an infant. At an advanced maternal age, at least for fifty years ago, she is considered high risk. Frannie is worried for her mother. She is the youngest- at age eleven- and would love a new sibling, but she does not want to lose her mother, after seeing what happened the last time her mother could not grow a baby. Miscarriage is still a taboo subject today, although some celebrities have slowly brought it into the open, some sadly in this last year. Kudos to Jacqueline Woodson for touching on yet another important societal issue, weaving together multiple plot lines in a way that adolescent readers can relate. It is easy to root for Frannie as a protagonist reading prose created with this tender loving care.
As the novel closes, Frannie still longs to attain that thing with feathers. She realizes that Sean is better than the majority of hearing people, that going to church with Samantha is not as bad as she thought, and that Jesus boy is not a mystery once you get to know him. In her family, Frannie is thrust into a young adult roll to assist her mother around the house, hoping that this baby makes it. Crafting a novel including classism, ableism, pregnancy loss, as well as a discussion about race during the era this book is set in, it is apparent that Jacqueline Woodson is one of the leading young adult writers today. Her books are so real, and this is one of her earlier efforts. Frannie shines in this novella, and Woodson’s books only get better over time.
🪶 4 stars 🪶
February 14, 2008
I had high hopes for this book, so my two stars may be more reflective of my disappointment than of the book's overall quality.
It's 1971 and Frannie lives with her Deaf brother, her often-absent (but loving) father, and her pregnant mom on the black side of the tracks. She worries a lot: about her mom, who has already lost babies to miscarriages, about her handsome brother, who's scorned by hearing girls, about her best friend, who's becoming increasingly religious, and about the new kid in her class, a white (maybe?) kid that all the other students call "Jesus Boy" because of his long hair and pale skin. He's mysterious -- he knows sign language, cries in class, and stirs up all sorts of strange emotions in his classmates. Frannie's best friend thinks that he may well be the Messiah redux, but at the end of the book she's convinced otherwise and it's up to Frannie to didactically ruminate that "perhaps Jesus is in all of us."
This is a short book, and perhaps it's the length that made it feel choppy and unfinished, with loose ends that turn out more baffling than poetic. Surprisingly, for a storyteller of Ms. Woodson's caliber, this book felt like a cautionary tale about "showing, not telling": I felt like it was a series of lessons, but without much real substance. Also, I couldn't help being irked by some of older brother Sean's passages: in addition to his saintlike personality, his conversations with Frannie have awfully grammatical English syntax that just didn't seem to flow in the way that ASL does. I know that this was a stylistic choice, as I've read that Ms. Woodson studied ASL for many years and knows whereof she writes. But along those same lines, one weird moment in the book was when Frannie is in the car with her dad and reflects that it's strange to hear him speak because "it's so quiet in the house, what with all the signing and all." (I paraphrase here.) It might be just my experience, but every time that I've been in Deaf spaces, silence is rarer than it is golden: all sorts of sounds are around.
Even though it felt a little idealized, I did love that Sean was attractive, smart, funny, cool, independent, and Deaf, with a foot in both Deaf and hearing cultures... and I don't know of any other African-American Deaf characters in fiction for young people. Even though the hearing girls are rude to him, it's clear to Frannie and to any reader that they're ignorant and just plain wrong. I wish we saw more characters with those qualities, but even more fleshed-out.
It's 1971 and Frannie lives with her Deaf brother, her often-absent (but loving) father, and her pregnant mom on the black side of the tracks. She worries a lot: about her mom, who has already lost babies to miscarriages, about her handsome brother, who's scorned by hearing girls, about her best friend, who's becoming increasingly religious, and about the new kid in her class, a white (maybe?) kid that all the other students call "Jesus Boy" because of his long hair and pale skin. He's mysterious -- he knows sign language, cries in class, and stirs up all sorts of strange emotions in his classmates. Frannie's best friend thinks that he may well be the Messiah redux, but at the end of the book she's convinced otherwise and it's up to Frannie to didactically ruminate that "perhaps Jesus is in all of us."
This is a short book, and perhaps it's the length that made it feel choppy and unfinished, with loose ends that turn out more baffling than poetic. Surprisingly, for a storyteller of Ms. Woodson's caliber, this book felt like a cautionary tale about "showing, not telling": I felt like it was a series of lessons, but without much real substance. Also, I couldn't help being irked by some of older brother Sean's passages: in addition to his saintlike personality, his conversations with Frannie have awfully grammatical English syntax that just didn't seem to flow in the way that ASL does. I know that this was a stylistic choice, as I've read that Ms. Woodson studied ASL for many years and knows whereof she writes. But along those same lines, one weird moment in the book was when Frannie is in the car with her dad and reflects that it's strange to hear him speak because "it's so quiet in the house, what with all the signing and all." (I paraphrase here.) It might be just my experience, but every time that I've been in Deaf spaces, silence is rarer than it is golden: all sorts of sounds are around.
Even though it felt a little idealized, I did love that Sean was attractive, smart, funny, cool, independent, and Deaf, with a foot in both Deaf and hearing cultures... and I don't know of any other African-American Deaf characters in fiction for young people. Even though the hearing girls are rude to him, it's clear to Frannie and to any reader that they're ignorant and just plain wrong. I wish we saw more characters with those qualities, but even more fleshed-out.
January 18, 2008
This is written like water, falling. It seems so perfectly effortless, and so beautiful. Frannie, at 11 and a half in 1971, is caught by the Emily Dickinson line, "Hope is the thing with feathers."
There's a new boy in Frannie's class. Her mother, who has lost a few babies, is pregnant again. Her adored older brother is handsome and smart and deaf. Her best friend wants her to believe in Jesus and be saved. Frannie's clear sweet voice takes this all in, and lets it out for us, a feather on the breath of god.
There's a new boy in Frannie's class. Her mother, who has lost a few babies, is pregnant again. Her adored older brother is handsome and smart and deaf. Her best friend wants her to believe in Jesus and be saved. Frannie's clear sweet voice takes this all in, and lets it out for us, a feather on the breath of god.
July 20, 2022
"Maybe he is. Maybe there's a little bit of Jesus inside all of us. Maybe Jesus is just that something good of something sad or something...something that stays with us and 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." (PG. 109)
Newbery Honor Book- 2007
This was such a feel good book. It explored race, religion, tolerance, bullying, and kindness in the face of adversity. I really enjoyed this short book from Jaqueline Woodson. I remember reading Red At the Bone and not enjoying it but this YA was perfect and she does a great job in her storytelling. The kids ages were well believed and the characters had complex feelings. I loved that there was a deaf/mute character. My younger brother is deaf/mute and it's an under represented community so it was refreshing to meet a character that has his own struggles in the talking and hearing community. His optimism was heartfelt.
I loved that the main character, Frannie, is dealing and questioning faith. We all go through that as adolescents right? And then we decide what we want to do with our feelings and knowledge on the subject. She finds peace in finding Jesus in everyone from their actions to their words. She had a wonderful sense of clarification when she figured this out.
I highly recommend. Short and to the point with a beautiful story line. Even if you're not religious that's pretty much the point.
Newbery Honor Book- 2007
This was such a feel good book. It explored race, religion, tolerance, bullying, and kindness in the face of adversity. I really enjoyed this short book from Jaqueline Woodson. I remember reading Red At the Bone and not enjoying it but this YA was perfect and she does a great job in her storytelling. The kids ages were well believed and the characters had complex feelings. I loved that there was a deaf/mute character. My younger brother is deaf/mute and it's an under represented community so it was refreshing to meet a character that has his own struggles in the talking and hearing community. His optimism was heartfelt.
I loved that the main character, Frannie, is dealing and questioning faith. We all go through that as adolescents right? And then we decide what we want to do with our feelings and knowledge on the subject. She finds peace in finding Jesus in everyone from their actions to their words. She had a wonderful sense of clarification when she figured this out.
I highly recommend. Short and to the point with a beautiful story line. Even if you're not religious that's pretty much the point.
March 19, 2011
I remember the first time I went white water rafting. From the shoreline, at the place where the boats were being put in, the river didn't amount to much. The water was smooth and the current was slow. I had no idea what I was getting myself in to, nor did I know of the ferocity of the rapids further down the river. The river would surprise me.
At one point on our trip down the river, our guide mentioned the water's depths. A river can deceive you with it's dark water; the murky, dark water makes it difficult to judge how deep it really is. I was surprised by how deep our river was in places, and equally surprised to learn how deep some rivers are in general. There is so much beneath the surface.
I equate my experience with reading "Feathers," to what I discovered on my river rafting experience. I knew nothing about the river; I knew nothing about Jaqueline Woodson. Initially, the river didn't look like much; neither did this small, 115 page book. I was surprised to learn how deep the water was; I was surprised and thrilled to discover the emotional depth in such a simple story. Some of the passages were extremely beautiful. It was exquisitely written. It's humanity resonated with me. It felt real and authentic. There was so much beneath the surface.
You just never know about books and rivers.
At one point on our trip down the river, our guide mentioned the water's depths. A river can deceive you with it's dark water; the murky, dark water makes it difficult to judge how deep it really is. I was surprised by how deep our river was in places, and equally surprised to learn how deep some rivers are in general. There is so much beneath the surface.
I equate my experience with reading "Feathers," to what I discovered on my river rafting experience. I knew nothing about the river; I knew nothing about Jaqueline Woodson. Initially, the river didn't look like much; neither did this small, 115 page book. I was surprised to learn how deep the water was; I was surprised and thrilled to discover the emotional depth in such a simple story. Some of the passages were extremely beautiful. It was exquisitely written. It's humanity resonated with me. It felt real and authentic. There was so much beneath the surface.
You just never know about books and rivers.
June 20, 2018
This read is cool
July 14, 2021
There’s a lot in this short book. I love this author’s voice.
January 15, 2017
Great book
March 6, 2017
A really delightful little book that showed a lot of truths but in a very understated way. Each character was drawn to show a different side of human nature - apparently. For, by the end, most characters were revealed to be other than what they at first seemed. And, while I first thought it was going to be a Christian parable - and yes, it was, in its way - it was more than that and showed things of the spirit, not of religion. That is, the faith-full are sustained by something more than what they are taught to believe......and that what they are taught to believe can fail if the spirit informing it isn't ablaze.
So, it's a children's book that is for big people too. And I haven't categorised it as YA; it is a children's book that could be....should be....read by anyone older. Certainly one of my favourite books of this year.
So, it's a children's book that is for big people too. And I haven't categorised it as YA; it is a children's book that could be....should be....read by anyone older. Certainly one of my favourite books of this year.
October 15, 2007
Hope is the thing with feathers...
Frannie's class is studying this poem and it's really gotten her thinking. She has a lot to hope for... She hopes that her mama won't lose the new baby growing inside her. She hopes that the hearing girls will stop making moves on her deaf brother only to turn away when they find out he can't hear.
Set in the winter of 1971 there's still a lot of segregation. All the white people live on one side of the highway and the black people live on the other side, Frannie's side. That's why it's so confusing when Jesus Boy shows up in class and says that he's not white, that his family moved from the other side of the highway because they didn't fit in there. Frannie's got a lot of thinking to do about building bridges and why you might want to experience someone else's world, to connect with someone totally different than you. Because really, when it comes down to it, we're all people.
A quiet, contemplative novel that fits perfectly in its snowbound setting, I'm thinking this book is a contender for some Newbery action. It has quite a message, but it doesn't bash you over the head with it. Frannie is a likeable, imperfect protagonist and Woodson paints peaceful pictures of warm family life, which juxtapose the tension felt by many of the characters.
Frannie's class is studying this poem and it's really gotten her thinking. She has a lot to hope for... She hopes that her mama won't lose the new baby growing inside her. She hopes that the hearing girls will stop making moves on her deaf brother only to turn away when they find out he can't hear.
Set in the winter of 1971 there's still a lot of segregation. All the white people live on one side of the highway and the black people live on the other side, Frannie's side. That's why it's so confusing when Jesus Boy shows up in class and says that he's not white, that his family moved from the other side of the highway because they didn't fit in there. Frannie's got a lot of thinking to do about building bridges and why you might want to experience someone else's world, to connect with someone totally different than you. Because really, when it comes down to it, we're all people.
A quiet, contemplative novel that fits perfectly in its snowbound setting, I'm thinking this book is a contender for some Newbery action. It has quite a message, but it doesn't bash you over the head with it. Frannie is a likeable, imperfect protagonist and Woodson paints peaceful pictures of warm family life, which juxtapose the tension felt by many of the characters.
January 28, 2021
"Kommer du ihåg bron?
Jag skakade på huvudet.
Jo, men du vet. När vi satt vid fönstret häromdagen och jag sa tänk om vi kunde bygga någon sorts bro från alla fönstren.
Jag kände att minnet kom tillbaka, och nickade.
Det är så jag tänker, Frannie. De hörande tjejerna är broarna. De är den andra sidan. De är de världar som jag inte bara kan vandra tvärs över och in i.
typ.
Jag menar de döva tjejerna är min värld- vi behöver inte ens prata med varandra och vi känner varandra. Men jag vill inte bara ha min värld. Jag vill ha alla andras värld också.
Men det är bara några korkade tjejer.
Den där dagen, när jag pratade om det kollade du på mig som om jag var dum i huvudet. Och vet du varför? Sean såg på mig väntade.
Ja, tecknade jag. För att jag inte fattade vad du pratade om.
Precis. För du har redan båda världarna, Frannie. Du kan gå runt precis var du vill."
Jag skakade på huvudet.
Jo, men du vet. När vi satt vid fönstret häromdagen och jag sa tänk om vi kunde bygga någon sorts bro från alla fönstren.
Jag kände att minnet kom tillbaka, och nickade.
Det är så jag tänker, Frannie. De hörande tjejerna är broarna. De är den andra sidan. De är de världar som jag inte bara kan vandra tvärs över och in i.
typ.
Jag menar de döva tjejerna är min värld- vi behöver inte ens prata med varandra och vi känner varandra. Men jag vill inte bara ha min värld. Jag vill ha alla andras värld också.
Men det är bara några korkade tjejer.
Den där dagen, när jag pratade om det kollade du på mig som om jag var dum i huvudet. Och vet du varför? Sean såg på mig väntade.
Ja, tecknade jag. För att jag inte fattade vad du pratade om.
Precis. För du har redan båda världarna, Frannie. Du kan gå runt precis var du vill."
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 9, 2022
There are some authors that write so well that it doesn’t matter what the target audience is, there are nuggets of beauty to be found for everyone. I think I’m making it a mission this year to read as much from this author as I can. I just feel really good and hopeful with each book. Seeing the good in people, even with their imperfections, is such a positive message in this book. Sorry it’s done….
February 18, 2012
Jacqueline Woodson’s Feathers was the winner of a 2008 Newbery Nomination. Set in first person narrative the story tells about fifth grader Frannie and the affect that a poem read at school has on her. ‘Hope is the thing with feathers, that perches in the soul, and sings the tune-without the words, and never stops at all. “-Emily Dickinson
The book has many layers. The underlying theme is dealing with inter-personal relationships involving both family and friends. Relationships are challenged when Frannie witnesses racism and bullying in her school. A white student joins their predominantly African American school and the class bully names him “Jesus” because of his long hair and white skin. To complicate the situation, her friend Samantha thinks he might actually be Jesus! Equally important in the story is how a family endures when the mother has multiple miscarriages and a deaf child (Frannie’s brother, Sean).
As in many of Woodson’s books the underlying sense of hope comes through. Her eloquent prose describes the 1970’s setting. Her well-developed characters transport the reader into the book. “She said the first time she sat down in the church, all this beautiful light came pouring in through the one stained-glass window above where the pastor stood. Mama said she watched the light and the light had so many things in it- color, dust, hard and soft patches of sun. She said she sat there and leaned into the light and it warmed her and helped her understand. And what I understood, Mama said, was that the baby would always be with us-somewhere, somehow. When we needed her.”
Amazon.com suggests an age 9 and up level to this book with a 4th grade and up reading level. There are numerous activities that could be done in a 4th grade and up classroom. Taking Woodson’s talent of creating strong visual prose students could do a “sketch and stretch lesson” in which suitable portions that lend themselves to visualization could be read aloud. Students respond to the reading by sketching what they hear and then discussing their sketches with peers. See the lesson on the Read, Write and Think website: www.readwritethink.org/classroom-reso...
Other activities (for older children) include learning about racism in the 70’s and/or using graphic organizers to analyze one or more of the characters and how having them in the book contributed to the whole body of the text.
The book has many layers. The underlying theme is dealing with inter-personal relationships involving both family and friends. Relationships are challenged when Frannie witnesses racism and bullying in her school. A white student joins their predominantly African American school and the class bully names him “Jesus” because of his long hair and white skin. To complicate the situation, her friend Samantha thinks he might actually be Jesus! Equally important in the story is how a family endures when the mother has multiple miscarriages and a deaf child (Frannie’s brother, Sean).
As in many of Woodson’s books the underlying sense of hope comes through. Her eloquent prose describes the 1970’s setting. Her well-developed characters transport the reader into the book. “She said the first time she sat down in the church, all this beautiful light came pouring in through the one stained-glass window above where the pastor stood. Mama said she watched the light and the light had so many things in it- color, dust, hard and soft patches of sun. She said she sat there and leaned into the light and it warmed her and helped her understand. And what I understood, Mama said, was that the baby would always be with us-somewhere, somehow. When we needed her.”
Amazon.com suggests an age 9 and up level to this book with a 4th grade and up reading level. There are numerous activities that could be done in a 4th grade and up classroom. Taking Woodson’s talent of creating strong visual prose students could do a “sketch and stretch lesson” in which suitable portions that lend themselves to visualization could be read aloud. Students respond to the reading by sketching what they hear and then discussing their sketches with peers. See the lesson on the Read, Write and Think website: www.readwritethink.org/classroom-reso...
Other activities (for older children) include learning about racism in the 70’s and/or using graphic organizers to analyze one or more of the characters and how having them in the book contributed to the whole body of the text.
July 26, 2015
I got sucked in by the first chapter and a little bit lost in the middle. The first thing that struck me was the Kate DiCamillo-level of craftsmanship that went into everything from the word choice on up to the musical rhythm of the paragraphs on the page. The second thing that struck me was the vivid reality of the characters. Every page, I looked up and said, "Yes! This is what it was like to be eleven." Then the book took a left turn.
Based on the first couple of chapters, the book seemed to be largely about race with Jesus as a subtext or allusion. By the end, I felt like it was more about Jesus than it was about race, or, if not specifically about Jesus, it was about the general concepts of being kind and hoping for better things. I can see how this book can be polarizing- partly for the religious content, and partly because of the way it veers off of the race issues.
Based on the first couple of chapters, the book seemed to be largely about race with Jesus as a subtext or allusion. By the end, I felt like it was more about Jesus than it was about race, or, if not specifically about Jesus, it was about the general concepts of being kind and hoping for better things. I can see how this book can be polarizing- partly for the religious content, and partly because of the way it veers off of the race issues.
June 15, 2020
1 Sentence Summary: This winter, Frannie starts to see things differently: the new white boy in her class who insists he isn't white; her brother Sean's deafness; the class bully; and hope, or the thing with feathers.
My Thoughts: This was a beautiful read. I love Frannie's voice and how she grows as she learns how the world isn't as black and white as it sometimes seems. It just feels so authentic. Also, A+ Deaf representation! Say it louder for the folks in the back: ASL IS A LANGUAGE!!!
Recommend to: People who like poetic middle-grade books about life.
My Thoughts: This was a beautiful read. I love Frannie's voice and how she grows as she learns how the world isn't as black and white as it sometimes seems. It just feels so authentic. Also, A+ Deaf representation! Say it louder for the folks in the back: ASL IS A LANGUAGE!!!
Recommend to: People who like poetic middle-grade books about life.
December 30, 2022
Jesus Boy. I thought he was really Jesus. I did not like it when at the end of the book Samantha said that JB showed his true colors. I didn't like it at all because JB is one of my favorite characters. Sean. He is deaf but he can dance to music. I like how it showed that people who have disabilities are not as helpless as we may imagine them to be.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 13, 2011
A beautiful and touching story about friendship, religion and race relations.
February 25, 2019
Feathers by Jacqueline Woodson is a realistic fiction book that is set in the 1970s. In the book the character, Frannie, goes through a lot of self-discovery. The story begins when a new boy comes to school, and he doesn’t really fit in since he is white and the schools is predominantly black. The new kid is referred to as “Jesus Boy” and throughout the story Frannie learns more about him and his family. During this, Frannie is also navigating life with her brother who is deaf and her mother who is pregnant. There are a lot of themes running throughout this book that are more mature, so I think that this book would be appropriate for 4th and 5th grade.
Since this book is realistic fiction and is about a young student, I think that a lot of 4th and 5th graders would be able to relate to her. Quick-writes would be a great way for students to both demonstrate their understanding of the book and also connect to it. All of the characters in the story are also very complex. Due to this, character maps or character analysis activities would be very applicable.
This book was a WOW book for me because it presents a lot of themes in a way that is appropriate and relatable for children. I also think that Jaqueline Woodson really took the reader along Frannie’s journey with her. This made the book engaging and more meaningful.
Since this book is realistic fiction and is about a young student, I think that a lot of 4th and 5th graders would be able to relate to her. Quick-writes would be a great way for students to both demonstrate their understanding of the book and also connect to it. All of the characters in the story are also very complex. Due to this, character maps or character analysis activities would be very applicable.
This book was a WOW book for me because it presents a lot of themes in a way that is appropriate and relatable for children. I also think that Jaqueline Woodson really took the reader along Frannie’s journey with her. This made the book engaging and more meaningful.
July 1, 2023
This was a very enjoyable light read! I love Jacqueline Woodson, and while this wasn't my favorite book of hers, I still found it very nice.
This book tells the story of Frannie, who lives with her Billingual family. Her older brother, Shaun, is deaf, and him, Frannie, and her mother and father speak ASL (American Sign Language). Frannie has gotten used to her way of life. Day in, day out, she goes to school where all of her classmates are Black, despite the fact that Black V. Board of Education passed years ago. All of the white kids live on the other side of the highway, and it's really hard to get over there. Frannie discusses this with her best friend, Samantha, along with Shaun not being able to get a hearing girlfriend and her Mom's dead children. Day in, day out, Frannie's life is the same.
But that all changes when the new kid comes to school. The new WHITE kid. And even though he swears he's not Black, people start to call him the Jesus Boy, and he has to constantly stand up for himself against the class bully. How will it end? Will the Jesus Boy stand up for himself and win, or will the bully prevail? And will Frannie and Samantha's friendship be severed over the Jesus Boy? And what about Mom's new baby? Will it die like the others?
This book raises important questions about racism, bullying, prejudice, death, and families. It will leave you dying to know what is next, all in a short, easy read. I recommend this book for kids 8 and up for death, racism, and meanness. Enjoy!
This book tells the story of Frannie, who lives with her Billingual family. Her older brother, Shaun, is deaf, and him, Frannie, and her mother and father speak ASL (American Sign Language). Frannie has gotten used to her way of life. Day in, day out, she goes to school where all of her classmates are Black, despite the fact that Black V. Board of Education passed years ago. All of the white kids live on the other side of the highway, and it's really hard to get over there. Frannie discusses this with her best friend, Samantha, along with Shaun not being able to get a hearing girlfriend and her Mom's dead children. Day in, day out, Frannie's life is the same.
But that all changes when the new kid comes to school. The new WHITE kid. And even though he swears he's not Black, people start to call him the Jesus Boy, and he has to constantly stand up for himself against the class bully. How will it end? Will the Jesus Boy stand up for himself and win, or will the bully prevail? And will Frannie and Samantha's friendship be severed over the Jesus Boy? And what about Mom's new baby? Will it die like the others?
This book raises important questions about racism, bullying, prejudice, death, and families. It will leave you dying to know what is next, all in a short, easy read. I recommend this book for kids 8 and up for death, racism, and meanness. Enjoy!
November 30, 2018
3.5 stars.
It was 1970's, in a community of African American, comes a new white boy. Because he is white, people call him 'Jesus boy'. The story discusses racism in reverse and prejudices towards the handicap. There's also instances that issue like bullying been brought up. In the whole messes going on, the author wants to show that hope is still there if people understand; if people believe. There is also some kind of argument from two different standpoints about "believing". However, since I went in with high hope, I'm not totally satisfied because everything was not fully discussed. There's no conclusion. Everything was touch but not dive in deep enough. Tho, there is one scene that funny enough for me to give an extra half star.
May 5, 2019
Fastnade för den här boken delvis p.g.a. titeln - dvs. Max Porter och hans underbara Grief is the thing with feathers (och Dickinsons dikt förstås) - men också för att jag tyckte om Brown girl dreaming och Harbor me. Visst är den läsvärd men blev inte lika förtjust. En stabil 3:a.
April 7, 2017
I read this in one sitting; I just couldn't put it down. A lot of depth in this little book.
December 17, 2024
“I don’t know if i believe in miracles. i think things happen and we need to believe in them.”
December 5, 2020
Beautiful language, and I found myself caught in a story I couldn't put down.
February 28, 2012
Text Summary
Eleven-year-old Frannie lives on the side of the highway where the black families live. Frannie’s older brother, Sean, often wonders and even dreams of the possibilities of building bridges and crossing over to the other side of the highway: “Imagine if there was a bridge from every single window in the world to some whole new place. That would be crazy wouldn’t it? It would mean we could all just step out of our worlds into these whole new ones.” Sean is deaf and feels “trapped” in various ways because of his disability. The highway represents something much larger to Sean, something that Frannie doesn’t quite understand yet. However, one day at school a new boy from the other side of the highway transfers into Frannie’s class. In an all-black school, the boy’s pale skin and long curly hair quickly land him the nickname “Jesus Boy”. Frannie’s classmates all have different reactions to Jesus Boy’s arrival. Some are confused by him, some hate him for seemingly no apparent reason, and some, like Frannie’s best friend Samantha, feel he is a miracle of sorts. All of the excitement and confusion of Jesus Boy’s arrival, combined with Frannie’s mother’s emotional pregnancy (and past failed pregnancies), bring Frannie to begin questioning and thinking about hope, faith, and the world around her in new ways.
Literary merits
Woodson sets her novel in an urban setting during 1970s, a time in the U.S. when segregation and racial issues are clearly at play. Woodson uses the symbolism of the highway to represent the racial divide between white and black. The highway also represents segregation of different sorts, as in Sean’s case—Frannie’s older brother who seeks to become a part of the “hearing world” that he feels isolated from because he is deaf. Sean and Frannie’s conversations about “building bridges” allow the reader to observe and feel these tensions. Sean’s idea of building bridges also holds some deeper meaning connected to the idea of segregation. Frannie’s first person narration allows the reader to explore and question the issues of segregation, hatred, faith, hope, and dreams along with Frannie throughout the story.
Classroom Recommendations
Ages 9-14. Young readers may find themselves within several characters in this novel. They might connect with Frannie’s confusion about faith, being protective of her brother because of his disability, or worrying over her mother’s health and well-being. They could find themselves relating to “Jesus Boy,” in the sense that we have all felt like the outsider at some point in our lives. Or they even may notice that they are more like Trevor than they think, picking on another student to hide their own insecurities and fears. There are so many ways that students can enter into this story through the different characters presented. Themes that can be covered include segregation (racial and in other ways), belonging, questioning/developing one’s beliefs, friendship, and family relationships.
Eleven-year-old Frannie lives on the side of the highway where the black families live. Frannie’s older brother, Sean, often wonders and even dreams of the possibilities of building bridges and crossing over to the other side of the highway: “Imagine if there was a bridge from every single window in the world to some whole new place. That would be crazy wouldn’t it? It would mean we could all just step out of our worlds into these whole new ones.” Sean is deaf and feels “trapped” in various ways because of his disability. The highway represents something much larger to Sean, something that Frannie doesn’t quite understand yet. However, one day at school a new boy from the other side of the highway transfers into Frannie’s class. In an all-black school, the boy’s pale skin and long curly hair quickly land him the nickname “Jesus Boy”. Frannie’s classmates all have different reactions to Jesus Boy’s arrival. Some are confused by him, some hate him for seemingly no apparent reason, and some, like Frannie’s best friend Samantha, feel he is a miracle of sorts. All of the excitement and confusion of Jesus Boy’s arrival, combined with Frannie’s mother’s emotional pregnancy (and past failed pregnancies), bring Frannie to begin questioning and thinking about hope, faith, and the world around her in new ways.
Literary merits
Woodson sets her novel in an urban setting during 1970s, a time in the U.S. when segregation and racial issues are clearly at play. Woodson uses the symbolism of the highway to represent the racial divide between white and black. The highway also represents segregation of different sorts, as in Sean’s case—Frannie’s older brother who seeks to become a part of the “hearing world” that he feels isolated from because he is deaf. Sean and Frannie’s conversations about “building bridges” allow the reader to observe and feel these tensions. Sean’s idea of building bridges also holds some deeper meaning connected to the idea of segregation. Frannie’s first person narration allows the reader to explore and question the issues of segregation, hatred, faith, hope, and dreams along with Frannie throughout the story.
Classroom Recommendations
Ages 9-14. Young readers may find themselves within several characters in this novel. They might connect with Frannie’s confusion about faith, being protective of her brother because of his disability, or worrying over her mother’s health and well-being. They could find themselves relating to “Jesus Boy,” in the sense that we have all felt like the outsider at some point in our lives. Or they even may notice that they are more like Trevor than they think, picking on another student to hide their own insecurities and fears. There are so many ways that students can enter into this story through the different characters presented. Themes that can be covered include segregation (racial and in other ways), belonging, questioning/developing one’s beliefs, friendship, and family relationships.
July 16, 2019
3.75 stars
I've owned this book for six years and decided to read it yesterday. I believe it is one of those times where the book strikes you at the exact right time. I just have heard this week about the Christian practice of Lectio Divina and how it can be applied to text. Currently, this seems like one of the most perfect texts with which to practice this reflection technique. Woodson chooses every sentence, every word, so carefully to craft, not only a narrative, but an atmosphere, a feeling, a world of emotion. I felt like I was Frannie. I felt her doubts, her strength. Woodson truly is one of the greatest wordsmiths of this century, and this book shows it in droves.
This week, I have also been thinking about how to teach students to view literature. For the first time, I decided to teach novels through the lens of themes this year, and I saw my students' engagement and comprehension improve drastically. The title and the use of Dickinson's poems only strengthen the message of this book. Though it was only 118 pages, I spent hours reading it, savoring each word, thinking about hidden meanings. I only wonder how/if I can convince my students to do the same. Definitely worth reading.
I've owned this book for six years and decided to read it yesterday. I believe it is one of those times where the book strikes you at the exact right time. I just have heard this week about the Christian practice of Lectio Divina and how it can be applied to text. Currently, this seems like one of the most perfect texts with which to practice this reflection technique. Woodson chooses every sentence, every word, so carefully to craft, not only a narrative, but an atmosphere, a feeling, a world of emotion. I felt like I was Frannie. I felt her doubts, her strength. Woodson truly is one of the greatest wordsmiths of this century, and this book shows it in droves.
This week, I have also been thinking about how to teach students to view literature. For the first time, I decided to teach novels through the lens of themes this year, and I saw my students' engagement and comprehension improve drastically. The title and the use of Dickinson's poems only strengthen the message of this book. Though it was only 118 pages, I spent hours reading it, savoring each word, thinking about hidden meanings. I only wonder how/if I can convince my students to do the same. Definitely worth reading.
July 5, 2014
Feathers by Jaqueline Woodson
Frannie likes her neighbourhood, where she and her family have everything they need. She doesn't like how people treat her brother, Sean, when they find out he's deaf, or the way the class bully, Robert, takes out his anger on everybody else. And one day, a strange boy-the Jesus Boy, the only white boy in their school, joins her class.
Feathers, like its protagonist, is gentle and thoughtful. It's a book where not a lot actually happens, but it doesn't happen beautifully. I wouldn't recommend it to all my students. It's written at a fairly challenging level (Lexile 760, DRA 60, GRL X) and the focus on character over plot means that some of them would find it insufferably dull. Still, students who are ready for Feathers will find some beautiful ideas inside.
...This might be a peculiar complaint, but I don't know why this book was set in the 1970's instead of today. None of the issues addressed in Feathers-segregated neighbourhoods, racial identity, the nature of faith, really seem particular to that time. My students are more interested in contemporary novels than 'historical' ones. I strongly suspect that authors want to avoid writing about cell phones and Facebook.
Frannie likes her neighbourhood, where she and her family have everything they need. She doesn't like how people treat her brother, Sean, when they find out he's deaf, or the way the class bully, Robert, takes out his anger on everybody else. And one day, a strange boy-the Jesus Boy, the only white boy in their school, joins her class.
Feathers, like its protagonist, is gentle and thoughtful. It's a book where not a lot actually happens, but it doesn't happen beautifully. I wouldn't recommend it to all my students. It's written at a fairly challenging level (Lexile 760, DRA 60, GRL X) and the focus on character over plot means that some of them would find it insufferably dull. Still, students who are ready for Feathers will find some beautiful ideas inside.
...This might be a peculiar complaint, but I don't know why this book was set in the 1970's instead of today. None of the issues addressed in Feathers-segregated neighbourhoods, racial identity, the nature of faith, really seem particular to that time. My students are more interested in contemporary novels than 'historical' ones. I strongly suspect that authors want to avoid writing about cell phones and Facebook.
July 7, 2019
When a new boy starts at Frannie's school, everyone takes notice, because he's the only white boy there. Some think he doesn't belong in this school or in this part of town at all. Frannie isn't sure what to think of him, but she knows what it's like to be the new kid, and since her brother is deaf, she also experience how kids treat Different every day. So, Frannie juggles life at school negotiating a new friendship with the Jesus Boy (the nickname by general consensus for the new kid), dealing with the angry bully, and sorting through her best friend's religious near-fanaticism. She's not without worries at home, either: although part of a loving and generally happy family, she's troubled that her mother is again pregnant when previous pregnancies have failed and left her (mother) depressed and weak. But Frannie's teacher has had them read some Dickinson, and Frannie uses everything going on around her to try to suss out the meaning of how hope can be a thing with feathers.
Short but powerful, this story packs a ton into its just over 100 pages. Still, somehow it doesn't feel as if it's overdoing anything, and all the elements are blended well. A good story, with characters who are comfortably genuine. Definitely recommended for kiddos and adults alike.
Short but powerful, this story packs a ton into its just over 100 pages. Still, somehow it doesn't feel as if it's overdoing anything, and all the elements are blended well. A good story, with characters who are comfortably genuine. Definitely recommended for kiddos and adults alike.
April 4, 2010
Good audiobook in terms of the narrator. The story is much more character-driven than plot-driven, though, so I probably would've liked it better if I'd read it with my eyes. (Since I started listening to more audiobooks, I've decided that action-packed stories are better to listen to.)
Frannie is an everykid with a deaf brother, a devout Christian best friend, and super nice parents. She's growing up in the early 1970s in a racially divided town. A white boy joins her class at school and all the kids call him Jesus Boy. There's a debate over whether he could be the real Jesus. As I said, there really isn't much of a plot. I was curious about what the Jesus Boy's story was, and I was interested in Frannie's family, but what really makes the book stand out is great writing. A short and meditative story about faith, family, and hope.
Frannie is an everykid with a deaf brother, a devout Christian best friend, and super nice parents. She's growing up in the early 1970s in a racially divided town. A white boy joins her class at school and all the kids call him Jesus Boy. There's a debate over whether he could be the real Jesus. As I said, there really isn't much of a plot. I was curious about what the Jesus Boy's story was, and I was interested in Frannie's family, but what really makes the book stand out is great writing. A short and meditative story about faith, family, and hope.
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