Feathers

Feathers is brief and scans easily, but it's anything but slight or superficial. A deft interweaving of several plots, each building up a separate theme: racism and bullying, family and loss, growing up, religion and belief.

The story and connections between characters are great, and reason enough to read. Woodson gives such an expressive voice to Frannie, showing what Frannie sees and what she makes of it, and what questions she has; that itself is reason enough to read. And, there's humour in the interactions between family, friends, classmates. That's enough on its own, too.

I came to this unexpectedly, answering some questions W had for a school assignment. I read a few pages to better understand a few specific questions, and decided show more to read the entire thing. Thoroughly satisfying, a favourite for the year. show less

I finished this yesterday morning--about 36 hours ago--and I've been thinking about it off and on since then. That's rare for me. Usually, I finish one book, then move right on to the next. But this beautiful novel stuck with me.

Frannie is a girl who's lost hope--she lives on the poor side of the highway, she's seen her mama suffer through miscarriages and now she's pregnant again, and she sees the way girls treat her brother when they find out he's deaf. Frannie's teacher reads an Emily Dickinson poem that starts "Hope is the thing with feathers..." to her class, which gets Frannie thinking about hope. Then a boy who looks like Jesus shows up as the new kid at school, and Frannie is forced to grapple with her own understanding of hope, show more faith, and religion. One of my favorite aspects of the story is how Frannie explores the idea of spirituality versus religion.

This would be a great book to read with your child because of all the interesting conversations you could have about the characters and what they go through. show less

Feathers by Jacqueline Woodson is a poignant middle-grade novel that explores themes of hope, belonging, and understanding through the eyes of Frannie, a young girl growing up in the 1970s. When a new boy joins her class and is nicknamed "Jesus Boy" due to his pale skin and calm demeanor, Frannie begins questioning the meaning of hope and how it connects people. Suitable for upper elementary and middle school students, this book can be used to discuss social issues like race, faith, and inclusion. It also encourages thoughtful conversations about how hope can be a source of strength in challenging times.

When a new boy starts at Frannie's school, everyone takes notice, because he's the only white boy there. Some think he doesn't belong in this school or in this part of town at all. Frannie isn't sure what to think of him, but she knows what it's like to be the new kid, and since her brother is deaf, she also experience how kids treat Different every day. So, Frannie juggles life at school negotiating a new friendship with the Jesus Boy (the nickname by general consensus for the new kid), dealing with the angry bully, and sorting through her best friend's religious near-fanaticism. She's not without worries at home, either: although part of a loving and generally happy family, she's troubled that her mother is again pregnant when show more previous pregnancies have failed and left her (mother) depressed and weak. But Frannie's teacher has had them read some Dickinson, and Frannie uses everything going on around her to try to suss out the meaning of how hope can be a thing with feathers.
Short but powerful, this story packs a ton into its just over 100 pages. Still, somehow it doesn't feel as if it's overdoing anything, and all the elements are blended well. A good story, with characters who are comfortably genuine. Definitely recommended for kiddos and adults alike. show less

I love this book for the voices it highlights and the complexity of the perspectives. The themes are also powerful. It's a great book to discuss and analyze with other thoughtful people. It isn't one of those books that I was riveted by or that I think about a lot afterwards though. That said I often wonder if Woodson wrote this book as a "speaking back" to Spinelli's Maniac Magee (whose depiction of race was so problematic).

Gorgeous and moving and quiet and sad -- well, and hopeful, too. The language is extraordinary, painting pictures in the mind. The topics are real kid topics. It's good.

This book is great in that discrimination in books is often tackled through a 1950-1960's lens, when school integration was still fresh. In many of these books, it is implied that discrimination became a thing of the past once segregation was legally ended. However, this book shows that integration of school did not solve issues of discrimination, which is a powerful lesson that continues to have relevance today. Having a unit in which books that have a slavery lens, an early post segregation lens, a 1970's lens and a modern lens in the context of discrimination and African Americans would be really powerful for comparing and contrasting and building critical thinking in a social justice context.