If You Come Softly by Jacqueline Woodson
In my recent book review of Tiger Rising by Kate DiCamillo I mentioned how she deals with death. If You Come Softly by Jacqueline Woodson is another book that deals with this subject matter but this one for teenagers. I don’t want to give to much of the book away, so that’s all I say about that part.
I bought If You Come Softly because I had previously read Feathers, a Newbery honor book, by the same author (click on book title to be taken to my book review). I did enjoy this one much more, although I enjoyed Feathers as well.
Ellie and Miah both attend a private high school and once they literally bump into each other they can’t stop thinking about each other. Things only get better when Miah is transferred into Ellie’s class and they soon become inseparable and caught up in the joy’s of first love (ahh, first love . . . . makes me think back). But people whisper behind their backs and old ladies give them startling looks? Why? Because Ellie is a white, Jewish girl and Miah is black. Can their love survive, especially when they meet each other’s parents?
What I especially liked about this book is that is wasn’t the typical white and black relationship stereotype that you see in so many movies (you know all those ones that feature dancing and the “forbidden” relationship). Ellie has problems of her own, mostly fear that her mother, who left not just once but twice when Ellie was young, will abandon her again. The one in her family who found it hard to accept her new relationship was surprisingly her lesbian sister, who you would think would be okay about that sort of thing. Miah is not your average black boy from “the hood.” He’s the son of a Academy Award winning director and his mother is a well-known author and he lives in a huge and beautiful home. That’s what I like about this book. Both characters are on equal footing, their only difference is their skin color.
A couple quotes that I thought were insightful from If You Come Softly:
I used to think it didn’t matter – that everyone in this world had the same chance, the same fight. Imagine two babies born – one white, one black. Maybe their mothers shared the same hospital room and talked low – when all the excited visitors were gone and the hospital was heavy with sleep – about their futures. Talked about their dreams for the babies, long after the two a.m feeding was over. I used to think that all those babies needed was some kind of chance – and a mother’s dream for them. I was so . . . so silly back then. Naive. I believed stuff like that. Just because no one in this family had ever said a hateful thing about black people.
‘All people,’ Marions was often saying. ‘All people have suffered. So why should any of us feel like we’re better or less than another?”
But where were they then – these black people who were just like us – who were equal to us? Why weren’t they coming over for dinner? Why weren’t they playing golf with Daddy on Saturdays or quilting with Marion on Thursday nights? Why weren’t they in our world, around us, a part of us?
The title of the book comes from this passage:
‘There’s this poem,’ he [Miah] said, ‘that my moms used to read to me.
If you come softly
as the wind within the trees.
You may hear what I hear.
See what sorrow sees.
If you come slightly
as threading dew,
I will take you gladly,
nor ask more of you.When you told me that thing about Marion, it made me think of it. The way stuff and people come and go.’
‘It’s pretty, that poem.’ I closed my eyes. Maybe people were always coming toward each other – from the beginning of their lives. Maybe Miah had always been coming toward me, to this moment, sitting in Central Park holding hands. Coming softly.
Okay, I could come up with tons more. But that should give you a taste of the book. I think I’ll be reading more of Jacqueline Woodson for sure, and well she’s got a lot! Visit Jacqueline Woodson’s website here.
On a side note: A few more days left in my giveaway of Frank McCourt’s Angela Ashes and ‘Tis. Don’t forget to enter.
Category: Book Reviews, Fiction, Young Adult
Tags: giveaway, I-L Title, W Authors
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Sounds fantastic!
on July 18th, 2008 at 7:25 pmSmallWorld – Do read it. It’s fast which I love and is packed full of a great story.
on July 20th, 2008 at 9:09 am[...] recently read and reviewed If You Come Softly by Jacqueline Woodson (read that review here). A few days later I was browsing through my library (the library in my living room, not the city [...]
on August 8th, 2008 at 3:46 pmI love this book. Jacqueline Woodson’s technique of foreshadowing is marvelous.
on November 4th, 2008 at 5:00 pmMia – I’m really glad that you liked this book Have you read the sequel?
on November 6th, 2008 at 10:09 pmI find the book good ,because it is a romanticbook! i fell angrey wehn jeremiah dead.
on November 15th, 2008 at 9:15 amis there a sequel to this book madam? because i loved it and was completely inspired.
ILL be WIATING FOR YOUR EMAIL.
-anonymous.
on November 23rd, 2008 at 3:28 pmcuddlebird – Yes! There is a sequel, which I’ve also reviewed here:
http://blog.mawbooks.com/2008/08/08/behind-you-by-jacqueline-woodson/
I hope you enjoy it!
on November 23rd, 2008 at 3:33 pmI was given this book to read for an assignment in my english class this year, and I really did enjoy it.
Though, I did think it was a little strange at first. The book just seemed to go on and on without any real (or at least big) conflict, just Ellie and Jeremiah being happy together, but then the end comes up and bites you in the butt.
Thankfully, the sequal was also an assignment to read! I want to read more of her books now, though I don’t know which one. Any suggestions?
on December 14th, 2008 at 7:04 pmAlethea – The only other book that I’ve read of hers beside the sequel to this one is Feathers. It’s very different from this one though: http://blog.mawbooks.com/2008/02/11/feathers-by-jacqueline-woodson/
You can see all of her books at her website for some ideas: http://www.jacquelinewoodson.com/
on December 14th, 2008 at 10:41 pmi’m going to add this to my to-read list. thanks for the recommendation!
on December 18th, 2008 at 11:13 pmMy teacher is making me read this book,feathers for guided reading with my group and i really dont want to. Do any of you know if it is good?
on January 27th, 2009 at 7:41 pmthis book is amazing.i read it and its my favorite book.i cried in the end.5 stars to jacqueline woodson.
on February 1st, 2009 at 12:45 pmI am a senior and I picked this book up…this book was one of the best books I have ever read…I loved it. I could deffinitely relate to what they went through..
on February 11th, 2009 at 12:16 pmIf You come softly is one of the most inspiring books i’ve ever read. It was this book that inspired me to become a writer
on March 21st, 2009 at 8:13 amDid Jerimiah End Up Dying?!?!?!?!
on March 29th, 2009 at 10:14 am***SPOILER FOR THOSE WHO HAVEN’T READ THE BOOK***
Javier – Yes, Jeremiah does die.
on March 29th, 2009 at 10:37 amThis book was ok… It was a little too sad.
on May 12th, 2009 at 3:37 pmI cried every time I’ve read the book. I’m considering making this into a short film if get the permission. This is wonderful.
on July 21st, 2009 at 11:08 amNatasha, I read this book (If You Come Softly) for as a summer reading assignment for my high school and I really enjoyed reading it.
By the way, I’m required to fill out a Story Map and one of the sections in the Story Map are called “Solution”. Do you know what the solution is for “If You Come Softly”? If you do, please respond soon! Thank you!!
on September 8th, 2009 at 7:46 pmLisa – A solution is the outcome of the attempts to resolve the problem or conflict. I’m not one to give out answers for homework questions but I hope that that clarification helps a little bit. Basically, what happens to the characters in the book?
on September 8th, 2009 at 8:15 pmi didn’t understand how jeremiah died? someone please explain?
on October 6th, 2009 at 9:00 pmJeremiah died from a cop’s mistaken bullet.
on October 28th, 2009 at 6:59 pm