I Hadn't Meant to Tell You This

In largely black Chauncey, Ohio, Marie leads a comfortable middle-class existence with her father who is a professor. The one dark spot in Marie’s life is that her mother walked out on the family when Marie was 10 and who communicates enigmatically through postcards. One day, Lena is the new girl at school. The other kids call her “white trash” but Marie finds herself drawn to Lena’s aloof sadness. Marie is still dealing with her mother’s absence but learns that Lena is in a worse spot: Lena’s father has been sexually molesting her since her mother died of breast cancer. The terrible secret is the girls’ bond and although there are times when Marie feels they should tell someone she maintains the secrecy. Then Lena tells show more Marie that she and her younger sister are running away because their father has begun touching the sister. show less

This is a beautifully crafted novel which addresses many issues including racial tensions, friendship, loss, and incest, but I think it could have been even better if it had been longer and more fully developed. I found myself wanting more than the novel delivered, but it was still beautifully crafted, and now I look forward to reading more of Ms. Woodson's work.

This was one of the saddest books that I have ever read, but it had such a powerful message. It was beautifully written, and the language that was used tried to lighten up the mood of the book with created imagery. I could not put this book down, because I wanted to just read to be sure that Lena and Dion were going to be safe eventually. I feel like the author has a way of taking such negative topics, and she tries to lighten it with the imagery created. I loved the second to last line of the book, "The world puts us here for the quickest second, then snatches us right back up." This line hits you hard, but it is beautiful and delicate. It is as if the author is trying to get her message out, about valuing the people's lives that you show more either touch or come in contact with no matter who they are as a person. Her main message was that we are all just people here. Such power and emotion fill this story with dignity and honor. show less

Colter Brantz
EDCI 4120/5120

Woodson, J. (1994) I hadn’t meant to tell you this. New York: Delacorte.

Grade Levels: 7-9
Category: Realistic fiction

Read-Alouds: 14-19 (chapter 4, Lena) 52-59 (chapter 14, Lena’s dad) 107-115 (chapter 26, Someplace safe)

Summary: Chauncey Ohio is a town divided. The point of division is a river, and that river divides the black from the white. Lena is white, poor, the daughter of a sexually abusive laborer, and her mother is gone. Marie is black, rich, the daughter of a college professor, and her mother is gone just the same. Marie comes from a world where black is good and poor white is white trash, and because of this she initially thinks of Lena as trash as well. As the two get to know each other Marie show more begins to understand that Lena is far from trash, and deserves to be safe from the touch of her father. They develop a sacred friendship and realize that their racial differences are far outweighed by the things that they have in common with one another. Each girl needs support that she cannot find at home, so they lean on each other, until Lena is forced to run from her father, and Marie must learn to lean on herself and on her memory of Lena’s strength.

Themes: The universality of love is the predominant theme in this novel. Love is shown to be complicated regardless of whether it is platonic, romantic, relational, or otherwise. Race is also a key theme in the novel, and the focus in this vein is primarily on the real limitations of racial perceptions, and the created nature of racial difference.

Discussion Questions:
Why is Marie so reluctant to challenge her relationship with Sherry? How does Lena affect this relationship?
How would you characterize the love between Lena and Marie? Is it platonic, romantic, something else entirely? Does the difference really matter to you? To the book?
How does the father daughter relationship affect the two main characters in the book? Is Lena correct when she says a father can love too much, or she unclear on the meaning of love?

Reader Response: This book is short in length, but long on social commentary. Woodson seems to have a knack for discussing themes of social import without slipping into the modes of preaching. The characters take center stage in the novel despite the weight of the issues at hand, and this guarantees the engagement of its readers. Woodson also has a talent for dealing with issues of race without pigeonholing the entirety of a group, and also without forgoing a discussion of painful social realities. Last, I couldn’t have asked for a more carefully conceived portrayal of love than that between Lena and Marie. The book does not require that this love be given any sort of label, and I find that to be a powerful statement in and of itself. This book in unison with Hush gives me an appreciation for Woodson’s talent as a whole. show less

CW: sexual abuse

This book deals with some heavy themes and does it well from the perspective of two middle schoolers grappling with them. I just felt that there was something missing plot-wise to make it a story rather than a meandering slice-of-life (albeit a complicated one).

This brief novel is ostensibly about a girl keeping the horrible secret that her friend is being abused, but that major plot point feels like a framing device for the real story, which is is the friendship between these two very different girls. It's a story of friendship and tolerance, racism and abuse, and yet none of it is heavy-handed. It's spare and poetic, with Marie's poetic voice coming through clearly.

I Hadn’t Meant to Tell You This is the story of two girls and the friendship they develop. Marie is a rich black girl and Lena is a poor white girl. Both live in a primarily black town that is extremely affluent, except for the few poor whites. The town, Chauncey, has very strict racial and socio-economic lines, and the girls are not supposed to associate. They become unlikely friends, due to the fact that neither has a mother: Marie’s mother ran off to chase her dreams, and Lena’s mother died of breast cancer. Marie is drawn to Lena, to something about her, a strength that is more a wall. She thinks Lena and her sister, Dion, talk and act black. All of Marie’s friends, and even her father, call Lena White trash, and Marie’s show more black friends start calling Marie an Uncle Tom. Lena’s father calls Marie the N word.

Lena is always dressed in ugly clothes, and she is always dirty. When Marie asks why, Lena confides in Marie that her father molests her, so she is afraid to undress at home, even to bathe. Lena makes Marie swear not to tell anyone. Marie pushes the issue of telling someone, and Lena shares that once she did tell a social worker, but then she and her little sister, Dion, were removed from their home, and sent to two different foster homes. Lena ran away, and rescued Dion, but they had to go home to their father.

I Hadn’t Meant to Tell You This is a story about teen girls coming of age, and dealing with some very difficult issues. Marie and Lena are able to push past the racism and classism that threatens to end their friendship, and see only themselves as two girls of the same age who both lost their mother. The issue of incest is the biggest part of the story, but the cultural differences play a huge role as well. The story is honest about how life works, at times being so painfully honest as to be extremely upsetting. I felt the message was negative in regards to reporting sexual abuse. Overall, I disliked this kind of message for preteen girls, as the message seemed to push keeping secrets and running away, rather than trying to go through the proper channels to help girls in this situation. Yet, I loved how race seemed such a non-issue to both main characters. That is always a good message. One Star. show less