Hush

Many bloggers have been touting Ms. Woodson and her writing for months now, so I knew I had to pick up at least one of her works. I am proud to say that my fellow bloggers are not wrong. Hush was every bit as phenomenal as they said it would be.

It goes without saying that being a pre-teen and having to start a new life completely and utterly is both painful and torturous. This is the obvious point of the novel. What Ms. Woodson does is to go beyond the obvious. What gives us our identity? Is it our name? Our family? Our birthplace? The color of our skin? Is it one thing or many? More importantly, should it be one thing or many?

Hush identifies the poignant and painful journey Evie takes to discover just who she is at a time in her life show more when she was already struggling to do so. It is dramatic in its simplicity while confusion, loneliness and questioning ooze from every word. Added to that, Ms. Woodson adds the undercurrent of tension in regards to the decisions made by Evie's father, further complicating her desire to discover who she is.

Hush is a quick read, clocking in at 180 pages, but it is one that stays with you for a long time as you ponder what identity truly means. I highly recommend this simple but thought-provoking novel. show less

Published in 2002, but perhaps even more relevant today. A black cop witnesses two white cops (two people he considered his friends, his brothers) murder an unarmed black boy for no reason. After getting death threats against his family, he makes the agonizing decision to do what's right and testify against them, which forces him, his wife, and two teenage daughters into the Witness Protection Program. What happens when everything you know is taken away from you because you spoke up? Each family member reacts differently and it's a good glimpse into how complicated these cases are and how racism continues to invade our world. There were some parts that seemed stretched to me, but it's well-written, as is everything Jacqueline Woodson pens.

Hush began with a question in Jacqueline Woodson's head. After hearing about a story about someone entering the witness protection program she asked herself what if that happened to me? She began to imagine how someone's entire world would be turned upside down. And what if what that someone was a pubescent child with a best friend, a family and school? Someone just barely starting to find her own identity? Meet Evie Thomas. She was born to a policeman father and a school teacher mother and with her sister started her young life in Denver, Colorado. Her name used to be Toswia Green. She had a best friend. She had a nice house to live in. She used to have security in every sense of the word. Now all of that is gone. She has to start all show more over with friends, with school, with a new (and tiny) apartment, with her family and herself. Evie has no idea who she is anymore. show less

When Toswiah’s father chooses to testify against his fellow officers who shot and killed a black boy, the Green family receives death threats. The family is forced to go into the federal witness protection program, forgoing their history and changing their names. The family struggles to cope with their new life; Toswiah’s mother joins the Jehovah’s Witnesses and Toswiah’s father sinks into depression. Toswiah, now Evie, finds refuge in running track at school and comes to realize that although her identity has changed, her sense of self has not.

This is a very engaging book about the idea of identity and what happens when what we think is our identity is taken away and we have to create a new one. Toswiah was happy living in Denver with her family, but when her father witnesses the killing of a young black boy, her whole family has to move away and assume new identities. Jacqueline Woodson is a master storyteller and its no wonder that this book was a National Book Award Finalist. Even though this book was written in 2002, way before the Black Lives Matter movement, it will certainly resonate with students today.

Evie Thomas is not who she used to be. Once she had a best friend, a happy home and a loving grandmother living nearby. Once her name was Toswiah. Now, everything is different. Her family has been forced to move to a new place and change their identities. But that's not all that has changed. Her once lively father has become depressed and quiet. Her mother leaves teaching behind and clings to a new-found religion. Her only sister is making secret plans to leave. And Evie, struggling to find her way in a new city where kids aren't friendly and the terrain is as unfamiliar as her name, wonders who she is.
Jacqueline Woodson weaves a fascinating portrait of a thoughtful young girl's coming of age in a world turned upside down

I couldn't stop thinking about [b:Don't Look Behind You|47756|Don't Look Behind You|Lois Duncan|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1268428922s/47756.jpg|236989], because that's the other book about the witness protection program I've read. Of course, because this is Jacqueline Woodson, the focus isn't on the thriller elements but on the social consciousness and character growth. Leaving everything you've ever known is so incredibly sad. It's going to be sad for these people forever; they are permanently changed. But you pick up and you move on as the new person you are after a tragedy -- in this case, with literally different names and histories, which is what makes the witness protection program such an appealing metaphor.

This is not an show more upbeat book, y'all, but it's beautiful. It's probably one of Woodson's more booktalk-able premises, but her trademark ambiguous ending will frustrate many middle schoolers. show less