What do you think?
Rate this book
If You Come Softly #1-2
If You Come Softly and Behind You
Jacqueline Woodson is the 2018-2019 National Ambassador for Children's Literature
The acclaimed New York Times bestselling and National Book Award–winning author of Brown Girl Dreaming writes a wonderfully moving love story evocative of Romeo and Juliet . In this bindup of If You Come Softly and Behind You , Jacqueline Woodson has created two heartbreaking, interconnected tales that beautifully capture the undying power of first love .
Sometimes, love outlives us.
Miah is black and Ellie is white. But that doesn't matter to them. All they want is to be together. But then, on a tragic evening, Ellie and Miah are separated forever. Now each is trying to figure out how to move on—without the other.
The acclaimed New York Times bestselling and National Book Award–winning author of Brown Girl Dreaming writes a wonderfully moving love story evocative of Romeo and Juliet . In this bindup of If You Come Softly and Behind You , Jacqueline Woodson has created two heartbreaking, interconnected tales that beautifully capture the undying power of first love .
Sometimes, love outlives us.
Miah is black and Ellie is white. But that doesn't matter to them. All they want is to be together. But then, on a tragic evening, Ellie and Miah are separated forever. Now each is trying to figure out how to move on—without the other.
- GenresYoung AdultRomance
118 pages, Paperback
First published December 2, 2010
12 people are currently reading
474 people want to read
About the author
Jacqueline Woodson
84 books9,107 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.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews
April 20, 2011
This book is absolutely amazing. When I say amazing, I mean amazing. This tells a story of how a black boy and a white girl fall in love with each other. It's such a beautifully written story. The two main characters must overcome the racial stereotypes of society, and they learn to do that. They learn to not care about what others may think about them. This grows into a beautiful relationship, that was meant to last forever. There are themes of racism, hate, discrimination, othering, romance, happiness, and sadness. I gave this book a 5/5 because it is absolutely intriguing and I never wanted to put the book down as i was reading it. It's descriptive, in a very good way. I love the way the author made the book from two different points of view. This book made me want to cry because it was just that good, especially what happens in the end, brings you to tears. One day when Jermiah (The black boy) is walking through central park after dropping off Ellie, there are two police officers who shoot him because they thought he was a different guy, accused of a crime. He was shot, innocent as a baby. Then he died. Ellie didn't know what to do with her life, because she practically fell in love with this boy. I recommend this book to anyone, because it was absolutely amazing, and you will never want to leave the book alone.
June 3, 2017
I liked If You Come Softly slightly better than Behind You, but enjoyed reading them both very much. They were quick reads, with engaging characters about whom I cared. It was nice to get the thumbnail updates in Behind You for the characters we met in IYCS, and to meet other characters for the first time. I appreciate these books particularly on a personal level as my daughter and son-in-law are in a "mixed" marriage, which works most of the time in urban settings, especially in the Bay Area, but which can hit unexpected bumps even here, and can hit bad, dangerous bumps elsewhere. I love them both very much, and know their love is strong and beautiful, but there is always anxiety, especially when the current occupant of the WH encourages racism and violence. We are SO not in a post-racial world, or a world of equal rights for anyone but white straight males...it feels like all the fights are being refought, & this is not what I wanted for my children.
April 29, 2016
There's a reason that I'm crying in my bed at 11:42 PM and it's that these companion novels are the most honest, heartbreaking, raw, and emotionally captivating stories you'll ever read. Miah is black and Ellie is white, but they couldn't care less; all they want is to be together. They suck themselves into a whirlwind of irreplaceable first love when tragedy strikes, and the two lovers are separated forever. I've never cried longer or harder in my life. Ellie and Miah's story is one that you couldn't possibly forget: not because it'll break your heart, but because it's pure and honest and unique. Another book that broke me into a million pieces.
January 30, 2015
This story was so beautifully written! It is about two teenagers who fall in love with each other at a rate that neither of them can really control. Ellie is white and Miah is black.
The one thing that I love about this story is how realistic the racist encounters that they face are. The author didn't take us back sixty years. She showed that although racism is a little more subtle today (at least for them) it still hurts just as much.
Ellie was really naive in the beginning of the book and throughout the story she finally realized how contradicting someone's words and actions can be.
This story really hit home with me because I am a strong believer and supporter of interracial relationships, and while I have thought about society's views on it, it had a different impact while reading this. It seems as though people today are more undercover and sly with their racist ways, which to me is all the more scarier. People Ellie never expected to be so close minded showed their true colors. Her gay sister even had the nerve to criticize her relationship with Miah! Her dad told her that there were plenty more 'appropriate'(white) boys closer to home and that she didn't need to go to Brooklyn and hang out with the (black) ones there.
I give this amazing story four stars and not five, because the second installment (Behind You) seemed to almost drag on in a way that made me cringe. However, the ending was simply perfect!
The one thing that I love about this story is how realistic the racist encounters that they face are. The author didn't take us back sixty years. She showed that although racism is a little more subtle today (at least for them) it still hurts just as much.
Ellie was really naive in the beginning of the book and throughout the story she finally realized how contradicting someone's words and actions can be.
This story really hit home with me because I am a strong believer and supporter of interracial relationships, and while I have thought about society's views on it, it had a different impact while reading this. It seems as though people today are more undercover and sly with their racist ways, which to me is all the more scarier. People Ellie never expected to be so close minded showed their true colors. Her gay sister even had the nerve to criticize her relationship with Miah! Her dad told her that there were plenty more 'appropriate'(white) boys closer to home and that she didn't need to go to Brooklyn and hang out with the (black) ones there.
I give this amazing story four stars and not five, because the second installment (Behind You) seemed to almost drag on in a way that made me cringe. However, the ending was simply perfect!
June 24, 2017
I got this book free from the library as part of the summer reading program. I enjoy Woodson's writing and have read all of her Newbery Honor books as well as Locomotion which I also enjoyed.
I believe Woodson mentions If You Come Softly in her essay about who could tell her story (where she says that she can write about African Americans because she is African American but she call also write about being gay and Jewish because her partner is a Jewish woman). The book is two companion novels. If You Come Softly tells the story of Jeremiah and Elisha, an African American boy and a Jewish girl who fall in love at school. It chronicles how they met, their courtship and then trying to explain their interracial relationship to their friends and families. And then it ends extremely abruptly. I had to read the last few chapters several times to try to figure out what had just happened because at first it seemed like a dream sequence. The second novel is an aftermath of the first book told by all the characters of the first book, each speaking in turn. I found the format interesting but it didn't fill in all the details of what exactly happened at the end of the first book. I could say more but I don't want to spoil the book.
So, even though, I enjoyed the first part of the first book, I really can't give this more than two stars. I'm kind of glad I got the book for free at least.
I believe Woodson mentions If You Come Softly in her essay about who could tell her story (where she says that she can write about African Americans because she is African American but she call also write about being gay and Jewish because her partner is a Jewish woman). The book is two companion novels. If You Come Softly tells the story of Jeremiah and Elisha, an African American boy and a Jewish girl who fall in love at school. It chronicles how they met, their courtship and then trying to explain their interracial relationship to their friends and families. And then it ends extremely abruptly. I had to read the last few chapters several times to try to figure out what had just happened because at first it seemed like a dream sequence. The second novel is an aftermath of the first book told by all the characters of the first book, each speaking in turn. I found the format interesting but it didn't fill in all the details of what exactly happened at the end of the first book. I could say more but I don't want to spoil the book.
So, even though, I enjoyed the first part of the first book, I really can't give this more than two stars. I'm kind of glad I got the book for free at least.
March 12, 2013
If You Come Softly
: Ellie and Miah meet while attending a private school. Their relationship instantly becomes strong, despite the pressure and tension from others because of their interracial status. Told in alternating chapters, the reader is able to understand each of the main characters and the strength of their relationship.
Behind You : After Miah's death in If You Come Softly, everyone in his life is affected. This companion novel shows what each of the people are going through after the tragedy. Each chapter is told from a different person (including Miah) and the reader is able to see how people are moving on, growing closer, and dealing with life after Miah.
Both stories are very touching and Woodson has a great handle on creating reliable narrators that easily suck you in to their narration.
Behind You : After Miah's death in If You Come Softly, everyone in his life is affected. This companion novel shows what each of the people are going through after the tragedy. Each chapter is told from a different person (including Miah) and the reader is able to see how people are moving on, growing closer, and dealing with life after Miah.
Both stories are very touching and Woodson has a great handle on creating reliable narrators that easily suck you in to their narration.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 28, 2014
I loved this book. A quick overview is a Jewish girl named Ellie and a black boy named Jeremiah fall in love. The book goes much deeper than just a multiracial book, but love. Their love throughout the book, and their desire to be with each other despite a huge barrier being in their paths will make any teenage girls heart melt. I loved the way they confronted each other on the topic of being different, and their answers were so profound that it just made me proud reading the book. I feel this book is applicable because of the love story. Every little girl wants be loved, desired, and cherished. Jeremiah makes Ellie feel all of these. In return, Ellie makes Jeremiah feel the same.
Pg. 131- "Let's say it's rain- the people who got problems with us being together- let's call them and their problems rain".
Pg. 131- "Let's say it's rain- the people who got problems with us being together- let's call them and their problems rain".
October 20, 2012
..meh. That's exactly what describes this book for me.
SPOILER BELOW:
How he dies is tragic, and truly hit close to home. How the author worded that part was incredible, haunting, and entirely disturbing, exactly how one would hope it would be. Now the rest of the book, forget it. If only Woodson could have kept that fire that she started with and applied it to the rest of the book. I felt as if she started the book with this great idea, it happened, and then she didn't know what else to do with it. The young girl was with her parents and with his friends and with his mom, and the whole thing just dragged on until finally, it seemed, Woodson gave up and called it quits. I returned this shortly after buying for store credit, if that tells you anything.
SPOILER BELOW:
How he dies is tragic, and truly hit close to home. How the author worded that part was incredible, haunting, and entirely disturbing, exactly how one would hope it would be. Now the rest of the book, forget it. If only Woodson could have kept that fire that she started with and applied it to the rest of the book. I felt as if she started the book with this great idea, it happened, and then she didn't know what else to do with it. The young girl was with her parents and with his friends and with his mom, and the whole thing just dragged on until finally, it seemed, Woodson gave up and called it quits. I returned this shortly after buying for store credit, if that tells you anything.
September 5, 2013
When most people describe this book they It's a story about how a white girl and a black guy fall in love and then the black guy dies and the white girl grieves. This is not true. This book is about many things. It's about how it feels when the whole world looks at not as person, but as a colour. It's about what it's like to lose a friend, a son or a lover. And it's about learning to not care what any one else might think about you. This is a fantastic book and I recomend it for everyone!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 21, 2012
I can't believe I missed this amazing Jacqueline Woodson title and its follow-up, but there it is. Elisha and Jeremiah 'meet cute' as new students at a fancy prep school and their connection is immediate. A quiet and soft story with a central issue (Ellie is Jewish and Miah is African-American) until its shattering conclusion, If You Come Softly is not to be missed. Behind You is a kind of sequel, detailing how everything goes on after the aftermath of the first book's ending.
January 13, 2016
The overall message of this book is beautiful. Something that should required of every teenager and adult to read. The author set up the story in a way that you know how it is going to end and I wish she hadn't done that. It would have been more impactful without the foreshadowing. But it was still beautifully written and powerful. And super clean, which is rare and refreshing. We need more Miah's and Ellie's in this world.
August 13, 2016
*See separate reviews of If You Come Softly and Behind You
December 21, 2013
I greatly enjoyed this set of companion novels. They made me tear up and makes you really think about how the world is or can be in situation such as the relationship in this book.
August 26, 2014
Extremely poignant. Well-written, interesting perspectives. I probably would have rated it higher if not for some of the content.
July 7, 2017
*4.75 stars*
This book is so important and so beautiful. Do yourself a favor and please go read it.
This book is so important and so beautiful. Do yourself a favor and please go read it.
February 4, 2019
Elisha “Ellie” Eisen and Jeremiah “Miah” Roselind are teens attending Percy Academy. Though they come from completely different worlds, fate brings them together, literally, when they run into each other in the hall, causing Ellie to drop all of her books. Both of them knew right away that their meeting was not an accident, and when Miah has a schedule change, he ends up sitting next to Ellie in his new class. Their relationship blossoms into young love. While Ellie and Miah are both unbelievably happy, society’s disapproval brings them down and leads them to have some real conversations about their relationship. Unfortunately, a Jewish girl and black boy engaging in a romantic relationship isn’t something readily accepted by everyone, including those close to the couple. The obstacles don’t end there, and when tragedy strikes their relationship, nothing will ever be the same.
These two short novels are a great start to discussing important topics that are relevant to our world today: interracial couples, broken families, and police brutality. The back of the book compared Miah and Ellie’s story to Romeo and Juliet’s, and I would say that both couples face similar obstacles in their relationships and have a tragic element to them. Very appropriate for middle grade and high school students.
These two short novels are a great start to discussing important topics that are relevant to our world today: interracial couples, broken families, and police brutality. The back of the book compared Miah and Ellie’s story to Romeo and Juliet’s, and I would say that both couples face similar obstacles in their relationships and have a tragic element to them. Very appropriate for middle grade and high school students.
August 11, 2021
If You Come Softly ⭐⭐⭐⭐
I picked this up off a Life's Library recommendation—and John Green chose well. Good story, good characters, easy to read. Flow came almost immediately and I had it done in one sitting.
Behind You ⭐⭐
I picked this up off a Life's Library recommendation—and John Green chose well. Good story, good characters, easy to read. Flow came almost immediately and I had it done in one sitting.
Behind You ⭐⭐
January 5, 2018
This is one of the first Jacqueline Woodson books I have absolutely loved. It's haunting and I finished it in one sitting. I woke up at 4:15AM with allergy problems. I took a pill to take care of the symptoms but needed something to read while waiting for it to take effect. I pulled this book out of my TBR pile and began. Two hours later (and over an hour after the pill took effect) I was still awake and reading.
I want my students to read books like these. (It's a two-in-one book.) I want them to realize that identity issues are across the spectrum of teenagers--it's not an issue limited to white teenagers. I'm also fairly tired of "ghetto" teenagers. These books cover average people--who just happen to be black/white--who fall in love and who deal with death.
I want more copies of this book for book clubs.
I want my students to read books like these. (It's a two-in-one book.) I want them to realize that identity issues are across the spectrum of teenagers--it's not an issue limited to white teenagers. I'm also fairly tired of "ghetto" teenagers. These books cover average people--who just happen to be black/white--who fall in love and who deal with death.
I want more copies of this book for book clubs.
December 26, 2021
It’s no secret that I adore Jacqueline Woodson. These two companion novels are a prime example of why. Woodson has an ability to pack so much into relatively short books. Her writing is effective and to the point. She strips away bullshit and gets right to the heart of her characters and their story.
If You Come Softly and Behind You are no exception. They’re both beautiful examinations of first love and intense grief while weaving in themes of racism and family dynamics. I tore through both of these in a single evening and was left both heartbroken and hopeful.
If You Come Softly and Behind You are no exception. They’re both beautiful examinations of first love and intense grief while weaving in themes of racism and family dynamics. I tore through both of these in a single evening and was left both heartbroken and hopeful.
March 24, 2019
YA novel. Teenage love, one Black, one White. Both comfortable. Meet at 15 in their private school. Hidden romance for a time, then not. The end, while not a surprise, is powerful here. Love Woodson’s poetry, but this short novel was good. Will say that the conversations between Miah and Ellie did not always ring true to me, but I’m not 15 either.
July 16, 2018
"If you come as softly
as the wind within the trees.
You may hear what I hear.
See what sorrow sees.
If you come as lightly
as threading dew,
I will take you gladly,
nor ask more of you."
~Jacqueline Woodson, If You Come Softly
When you love,
it is beyond color,
it is beyond race,
It is beyond "love" itself.
-Q
as the wind within the trees.
You may hear what I hear.
See what sorrow sees.
If you come as lightly
as threading dew,
I will take you gladly,
nor ask more of you."
~Jacqueline Woodson, If You Come Softly
When you love,
it is beyond color,
it is beyond race,
It is beyond "love" itself.
-Q
December 3, 2019
A moving, simple story about two young people from very different backgrounds finding each other. This book is both heartwarming and heartbreaking.
Read
June 16, 2023It was not my favorite of Jacqueline Woodson's books.
February 17, 2024
A beautiful read!
Ughhhh, this book! I'm used to a book gripping my heart and not letting go. Shaking me to my core or some other forceful impact, but this book is a gentle, airy touch. '"Like the wind that moves softly across your cheek. Tender as a hand."
The relationship of love, loss, and then healing.
IF You Come Softly - Young love and the induction into the reality of their differences, and how some people see them. While all they see are each other. For one, it's always there. The looks, awareness of who you are and where you are. For the other, this is something that has never been thought about.
***MAY BE A SPOILER
Behind You
I love that the focus is on the void that is left behind when the characters experience a major loss and not on the action that caused the loss. Although it is mentioned in the book, it's not the focal point.
Ughhhh, this book! I'm used to a book gripping my heart and not letting go. Shaking me to my core or some other forceful impact, but this book is a gentle, airy touch. '"Like the wind that moves softly across your cheek. Tender as a hand."
The relationship of love, loss, and then healing.
IF You Come Softly - Young love and the induction into the reality of their differences, and how some people see them. While all they see are each other. For one, it's always there. The looks, awareness of who you are and where you are. For the other, this is something that has never been thought about.
***MAY BE A SPOILER
Behind You
I love that the focus is on the void that is left behind when the characters experience a major loss and not on the action that caused the loss. Although it is mentioned in the book, it's not the focal point.
Read
March 29, 2017An emotional ride
Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews