Common Sense Note
Parents need to know that there is nothing to be concerned about here, and lots of ideas to think about.
Families who read this book could discuss Dickenson's poem. What is it about? Why did the author use it so pervasively? How does it apply to the lives of these characters? Also, why do you think this book won the Newbery Honor?
Common Sense Review
Reviewed By: Matt Berman
There are kids' books written to appeal to kids, and there are kids' books written to appeal to the adults who buy the books for kids. There's almost always at least one of the latter type among the Newbery winners. They tend be cerebral rather than emotional, to involve Big Ideas, such as racism, poverty, and religion, but they are often rather skimpy on actual, you know, story. FEATHERS is one of those.
That's not to say that it isn't good -- it is. It's beautifully written, lyrical, thoughtful, at times even wise. There are undoubtedly some kids, patient and experienced readers who don't need a story to keep them turning the pages, who will enjoy this, maybe even love it. But not many. Mostly it will be loved by the adults who make the purchasing decisions. But for those who assume that a Newbery Honor means it's a good book to recommend to kids, here is, yet again, proof of the falseness of that assumption.
From The Book
And then, just before the lunch bell rang, he walked into our classroom.
Stepped through that door white and softly as the snow.
The class got quiet and the boy reached into his pocket and pulled something out. A note for you, Ms. Johnson, the boy said. And the way his voice sounded, all new and soft in the room, made most of the class laugh out loud.
Plot Summary:
There is no plot, but here are the elements. In 1971, with war in the background, Franny's brother is deaf, and her mother is pregnant again after several miscarriages. In school, there's a new white student in her all-black class, and her best friend thinks he might be Jesus, while the class bully can't seem to leave him alone.
Related Books:
Other Books by Jacqueline Woodson:
From the Notebooks of Melanin Sun
I Hadn't Meant to Tell You This
Maizon at Blue Hill
If You Come Softly
Locomotion
Show Way
African-Americans in the '70s:
Philip Hall Likes Me. I Reckon Maybe. by Bette Greene
The Planet of Junior Brown by Virginia Hamilton
The Hundred Penny Box by Sharon Bell Mathis
Follow the Leader by Vicki Winslow
Songs of Faith by Angela Johnson
Related Web sites:
Author's Site
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ViolenceA brief school fight. |
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CommercialismCandy bar mentioned. |
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