Common Sense Media Review
By Barbara Saunders
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Tween copes with father's illness in touching verse novel.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 10+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Read
What's the Story?
When BEFORE THE EVER AFTER begins 12-year-old Zachariah, Jr. (Z.J.) enjoys the fruits of having a father who's a professional football player, and not just any player -- a star. But his father, Zachariah, Sr., begins having troubling symptoms, including severe headaches, mood swings, and shaking hands. While Z.J.'s mother takes her husband to doctors, looking for answers, Z.J. struggles to maintain a connection to Zachariah through the one thing his father still seems to enjoy: music.
Is It Any Good?
This touching portrait of a family in crisis gives readers a model for fighting off despair. Author Jacqueline Woodson, whose Brown Girl Dreaming won the National Book Award for Young People's Literature, the John Newbery Medal, and the NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Literature, makes smart use of poetry and the first-person perspective in Before the Ever After to immerse the reader in the intensity of the character's emotional experience. The story is easy to follow and never confusing, yet it delivers the feeling of being confused by unexpected and unexplained life events. This book could be helpful to readers dealing with physical or mental illness of any kind in the family.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about how Before the Ever After shows a loved one's serious illness that affects the whole family. Have anyone in your family gotten terribly sick? How did you handle it?
The family in Before the Ever After bonds over music. What special thing do you share with your family members?
American football is a beloved sport, but there;s evidence that players can get seriously hurt. Would you be comfortable playing this game, in school or as a job?
Book Details
- Author :
- Genre : Poetry
- Topics : Friendship
- Book type : Fiction
- Publisher : Nancy Paulsen Books
- Publication date : September 22, 2020
- Publisher's recommended age(s) : 12 - 18
- Number of pages : 161
- Available on : Paperback, Nook, Audiobook (unabridged), Hardback, Apple Books, Kindle
- Award : Coretta Scott King Medal and Honors
- Last updated : September 29, 2025
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