BIBLIOGRAPHY
Woodson, Jacqueline. 2007. FEATHERS. New York, NY: The Penguin Group. ISBN-10: 0142415502 ISBN-13: 978-0-14-241550-4
PLOT SUMMARY
This is the story of Frannie, her family, including her deaf older brother, and her friends. It is January 6, 1971 and everything is the same until the new boy walks into her classroom. Frannie is African American and so is everyone at her school, except the new boy who is white. Frannie is learning how to deal with her fears, hope and the changes that come with living. She must deal with her brother’s deafness and how people look at him differently, Trevor the classroom bully, her religious friend, her mother’s risky pregnancy and the new boy. Her teacher read a poem by Emily Dickinson about hope at the beginning of the story and Frannie will realize that hope is what binds people together regardless of their differences.
CRITICAL ANALYSIS (INCLUDLING CULTURAL MARKERS)
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
What young person doesn’t experience fear, prejudice, acceptance, friends, family, and hope? Frannie is no exception. Jacqueline Woodson blends these topics with awareness, kindness, strength and growth, which is hard to do when dealing with difference, prejudice, and coming of age. Her poetic overtones add the foundation for the hope and belonging that all of the characters are trying to achieve. The new kid, “Stepped through that door white and softly as the snow”, blends the shock of the new kid with poetry that allows us to see the kindness that is Frannie. She is forced to be older than her years with the love that she feels for her family and the issues that they deal with. Her older brother, Sean, is deaf and she feels very protective of him when the girls Sean’s age won’t be nice to him because he can’t speak with his mouth. Frannie knows that he speaks beautifully with his hands. Her mother’s pregnancy caused the whole family to be worried, because her mother has lost a baby before in a miscarriage. The new kid is a quandary, along with the bully Trevor, who really just wants to be like everyone else, and her friends.
Woodson blends all these characters together, explores their emotions, and brings them together with a gracious ending.
Racial segregation is a cultural marker that is still being dealt with in present time. Woodson did not dwell on this issue, but interjected it with subtle understanding and tact. I was impressed with the emotion of acceptance on both the character of Frannie and Jesus boy. The references to the Jackson Five and their music were definitely a cultural marker for the 70’s. The discussion of skin colors, curly hair, cornrows, Afro’s, using a pick, and hair smelling like coconut grease. “Jive talk” and other references to African American language: “say brother”, “You better know how to answer a soul brother when they be talking to you,” “boo” and many more were cultural markers as well. The neighborhoods were discussed - saying the houses could use some new paint, or windows, and the reference to spray painting on her apartment building are cultural markers. Religion is also very important to African Americans and there were many references to sermons, going to church, her friend having a preacher for a father, and Frannie feeling the pressure to attend her friend’s church.
The story comes together at the end with Frannie’s mother doing well with her pregnancy, Trevor (the bully) changing, Jesus boy being accepted by everyone and Frannie realizing that hope is alive. On page 116, “Ms. Johnson says each day holds its own memory – its own moments that we can write about later. She says we should always look for the moments and some of them might be perfect, filled with light and hope and laughter. Moments that stay with us forever and ever. Amen.” Hope is alive and we should all look for the positives and enjoy every moment.
This book should be in all libraries.
REVIEW EXCERPTS
From Publishers Weekly
Starred Review. Looking forward" is the message that runs through Woodson's (The House You Pass on the Way) novel. Narrator Frannie is fascinated with Emily Dickinson's poem, "Hope is the thing with feathers/ that perches in the soul," and grapples with its meaning, especially after a white student joins Frannie's all-black sixth-grade classroom. Trevor, the classroom bully, promptly nicknames him "Jesus Boy," because he is "pale and his hair [is] long." Frannie's best friend, Samantha, a preacher's daughter, starts to believe that the new boy truly could be Jesus ("If there was a world for Jesus to need to walk back into, wouldn't this one be it?"). The Jesus Boy's sense of calm and its effect on her classmates make Frannie wonder if there is some truth to Samantha'a musings, but a climactic faceoff between him and Trevor bring the newcomer's human flaws to light. Frannie's keen perceptions allow readers to observe a ripple of changes. Because she has experienced so much sadness in her life (her brother's deafness, her mother's miscarriages) the heroine is able to see beyond it all—to look forward to a time when the pain subsides and life continues. Set in 1971, Woodson's novel skillfully weaves in the music and events surrounding the rising opposition to the Vietnam War, giving this gentle, timeless story depth. She raises important questions about God, racial segregation and issues surrounding the hearing-impaired with a light and thoughtful touch. Ages 8-up.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
From School Library Journal
Starred Review. Grade 4–7—"Stepped through that door white and softly as the snow," notes sixth-grader Frannie, on the arrival of a pale, long-haired boy to her predominantly black middle school on a winter day in 1971. He is dubbed the Jesus Boy by the class rowdy, and the name seems to suit the newcomer's appearance and calm demeanor. Frannie is confused, not only by declarations that he's NOT white, but that her friend Samantha, daughter of a conservative Baptist minister, also seems to believe that he is Jesus. In light of this and other surprises in her life, Frannie questions her own faith and, most of all, the meaning of the Emily Dickinson poem that she is studying in class, "Hope is a thing with feathers/that perches in the soul/…." How does she maintain hope when her newly pregnant mother has lost three babies already? She also worries about her deaf older brother, Sean, who longs to be accepted in the hearing world. She sees the anger in the bully intensify as he targets Jesus Boy. With her usual talent for creating characters who confront, reflect, and grow into their own persons, Woodson creates in Frannie a strong protagonist who thinks for herself and recognizes the value and meaning of family. The story ends with hope and thoughtfulness while speaking to those adolescents who struggle with race, faith, and prejudice. They will appreciate its wisdom and positive connections.—D. Maria LaRocco, Cuyahoga Public Library, Strongsville, OH
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
From Booklist
There's a lot going on in this small, fast-moving novel that introduces big issues--faith, class, color, prejudice, family, disability, and friendship. Woodson tells her story with immediacy and realism through the stirring first-person narrative of a young girl, Frannie, growing up in 1971. The new boy in school is the only white kid in Frannie's sixth-grade class, and she wonders why he doesn't go to the white school across the highway. He's pleased when some of the kids call him Jesus Boy, and Frannie's devout friend, Samantha, thinks he may be the savior. A few of the boys harass him, especially bullying Trevor--who looks white himself. When the new kid turns out to be far from perfect, Frannie wonders: Was he God's child? Aren't we all? In her loving home, filled with light, hope, and laughter, a deaf older brother has always enriched her life, but Frannie realizes that she still has bridges of prejudice to cross. A good choice for discussion. Hazel Rochman
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
AWARDS/HONORS
Newbery Honor Medal
CONNECTIONS
Jacqueline Woodson offers several questions for discussion at the end of this book. All of them will make for wonderful discussions. For example: Feathers is set in the 1970’s. Although the civil rights movement has already happened, there still seems to be a deep divide between blacks and whites in the story. In what ways have times changed from the seventies to today? How have they stayed the same? There are 8 more discussion questions that will encourage and engage into looking into how we still need to be working toward being a nation of one and not divided into groups. We can still have our cultural heritages, are individuals but realize we are all humans and should respect each other for which we are and live together harmoniously.
This site offers a short reading of Feathers by Jacqueline Woodson
http://www.jacquelinewoodson.com/mg.shtml#feathers
Visit Jacqueline Woodson’s website for information about her, her books and a section on things you probably didn’t know about me. Fun site!
http://www.jacquelinewoodson.com/
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