If You Come Softly | TheBookSeekers

If You Come Softly


Puffin Teenage Books

School year: Lower 6th, Upper 6th, Year 10, Year 11, Year 8, Year 9

No. of pages 224

Published: 2010

Great for age 12-18 years

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A lyrical story of star-crossed love perfect for readers ofThe Hate U Give, by National Ambassador for Childrens Literature Jacqueline WoodsonJeremiah feels good inside his own skin. That is, when he's in his own Brooklyn neighborhood. But now he's going to be attending a fancy prep school in Manhattan, and black teenage boys don't exactly fit in there. So it's a surprise when he meets Ellie the first week of school. In one frozen moment their eyes lock, and after that they know they fit together--even though she's Jewish and he's black. Their worlds are so different, but to them that's not what matters. Too bad the rest of the world has to get in their way.Jacqueline Woodson's work has been called moving and resonant (Wall Street Journal) and gorgeous (Vanity Fair).Now celebrating its twentieth anniversary, and including a new preface by the author,If You Come Softlyis a powerful story of interracial love that leaves readers wondering "why" and "if only . . ."

 

 

This book is the winner of numerous awards

This book features in the following series: Puffin, Puffin Teenage Books .

This book is aimed at children at US 7th grade+.

This book has been graded for interest at 12 years.

There are 224 pages in this book.

It is aimed at Young Adult readers. The term Young Adult (YA) is used for books which have the following characteristics: (1) aimed at ages 12-18 years, US grades 7-12, UK school years 8-15, (2) around 50-75k words long, (3) main character is aged 12-18 years, (4) topics include self-reflection, internal conflict vs external, analyzing life and its meaning, (5) point of view is often in the first person, and (6) swearing, violence, romance and sexuality are allowed.

This book was published in 2010 by Penguin Putnam Inc .

Jacqueline Woodson was born in Ohio and grew up in South Carolina. She has written several books for teenagers and recently won the Coretta Scott King Award which honours African-American writers of outstanding books for children. She has received two American Library Association Awards, and the Kenyon Review Award for Literary Excellence in Fiction for Autobiography Of A Family Photo, published by Penguin US. Jacqueline now lives in Brooklyn, New York.

 

This book is in the following series:

Puffin

Puffin Teenage Books

This book has been nominated for the following awards:

Virginia Readers Choice Award - High School
This book was recognised in the High School category by the Virginia Readers Choice Award.

California Young Reader Medal - YA
This book was recognised in the YA category by the California Young Reader Medal.

Rhode Island Book Awards - Teen
This book was recognised in the Teen category by the Rhode Island Book Awards.

Black-Eyed Susan Award - High School
This book was recognised in the High School category by the Black-Eyed Susan Award.

* "Once again, Woodson handles delicate, even explosive subject matter with exceptional clarity, surety and depth. In this contemporary story about an interracial romance, she seems to slip effortlessly into the skins of both her main characters. . . . Both voices convincingly describe the couple's love-at-first-sight meeting and the gradual building of their trust. The intensity of their emotions will make hearts flutter, then ache as evidence mounts that Ellie's and Jeremiah's 'perfect' love exists in a deeply flawed society. Even as Woodson's lyrical prose draws the audience into the tenderness of young love, her perceptive comments about race and racism will strike a chord with black readers and open the eyes of white readers."--Publishers Weekly, starred review

"Woodson offers readers a poetically conceived novel of young love, permeated with complications of family dynamics, racism, and violence. . . . Woodson unerringly limns the delicate intensity and passionate innocence of first love. . . . The two points of view effectively communicate the loneliness of the two sensitive teenagers and their breathless delight in discovering one another. Characterization is solid and well-developed as both parents and frirends focus into reality through the eyes of Miah and Ellie. Their conversations ever so gently open up issues of racism, self-awareness, and moral consciousness."--The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books

"Woodson perceptively explores varieties of love, trust, and friendship, as she develops well-articulated histories for both families. . . . A tale as rich in social and personal insight as any of Woodson's previous books."--Kirkus Reviews

"Lyrical narrative. . . . This fine author once again shows her gift for penning a novel that will ring true with young adults as it makes subtle comments on social situations."--School Library Journal

"As in all her fiction, Woodson confronts prejudice head-on."--Booklist

"Gracefully told."--KLIATT