Maw Books

Maw Books – book reviews, book recommendations, book lists, author interviews and more!

I 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 library) and discovered I had another unread Jacqueline Woodson book titled Behind You (I love making discovering like that in my own house).  Having no clue what it was about, I read the synopsis to see if I wanted to read it anytime soon.  Imagine my glee when I realized that Behind You is the sequel to If You Come Softly.  Score!  I knew I had to continue on with the story.

If you have any remote interest in reading If You Come Softly  I would recommend not reading this review of Behind You.  While I didn’t include any spoilers in the first review, it’s impossible to talk about Behind You without revealing the ending of If You Come Softly.  It simply can’t be done.

Behind You begins where If You Come Softly ended, shortly after the untimely death of Miah at the age of fifteen.  He has left behind many people whom he loves, including his girlfriend, his friends and parents.  The book is told in alternating viewpoints between Miah in heaven; Desire, his grandmother, also in heaven; Ellie, his girlfriend; Kennedy, his best friend; Carlton, another friend; Nelia, his mother; and Norman, his father.  The first part of the book addresses the hurt that each feels and the second half addresses how they are each learning how to move on with life.

Ultimately, it asks how do we move on after the death of a loved one?  What happens to those left behind in a tragedy?

I really liked the alternating viewpoints, especially as we see Miah in heaven.  He’s really sad while watching his friends and family on earth and has just as much difficulty moving on as everybody else.  His mother has can’t drag herself out of bed, his father is learning how to breathe again, and Ellie turns to Miah’s friends for support.

Jacqueline Woodson writes beautifully.  I wish I had something profound to say about the prose, but I simply can’t come up with the words.   It’s simply beautiful.  Each character has such a distinct voice that I looked forward to each new chapter with relish.

Some of my favorite quotes from Behind You that illustrates each of these voices:

Miah:

When you die, you turn away from the world you’ve always known and begin the long, slow walk into the next place.  And behind you – everyone you left is taking a step deeper into their new world.  the world they’re learning to live in without you.

When you die, your voice becomes the wind and whispers to the living . . . And when each of the people you’ve left behind has heard, you turn slowly and begin your long walk into your new world.

But some every now and then you stop, look behind you.

And remember

Miah’s girlfriend, Ellie:

Some people look at me and see a white girl in a uniform – burgundy jacket and gray skirt – and think, She has all the privilege in the world.  I look back at them, thinking, If only you knew.

If only they knew how we were sprinkled all over the city . . . We lay there staring up at our ceilings or out into the darkness.  Or some days we stopped in the middle of doing something and forgot what it was we were doing.  We thought, Jeremiah’s dead.  We whispered, Jeremiah’s dead.  As if the whispering and the thinking could help us to understand.

Miah’s friend, Kennedy:

I might not be real rich or real smart or real good looking, but I know some things.  I know a cop shot Miah in the back and the bullet went straight through his shoulder blade to his heart. And then the heart just turned itself off like a TV.  And maybe it burned Miah to die that way.  Maybe it hurt real bad going down like that.  But some days, I feel my boy right here, right next to me.  he’s sitting on my bed . . . And he’s got this big grin on his face.  I even feel his hand – slapping mine, saying, You know we shoulda whipped Dalton, yo.  And I take his hand, pull him to me real quick, slap his back.  Say, Who you tellin’, Miah man?  Who you tellin’?

Miah’s father, Norman:

My heart always just banging and banging.  All these years I hadn’t thought about it, and then my son died and my heart started pounding, always, like it wanted to break right through my chest.  . . So the world just stayed gray, my eyes burn, and then some days the tears come and don’t stop, and then some days it’s just my heart, banging and banging like that

Miah’s mother, Nelia:

I used to be a writer.  Ideas and people and places would come to me and I’d write it all down.  There was such a clarity to the world then.  When I sat down at my desk and began to write, I felt like I understood everything.   I felt brilliant and whole and good.  But who understands everything.  Who understands anything.  I mean really . . .Do they have any idea what it feels like to wake up some days not even sure of your own name.  What is my name?  . . . This morning, I don’t remember.  It doesn’t matter anyway.  Who I was.  Who I am.  Who I’ll be one day.  You see, the whole world has changed for me.

Miah’s friend, Carlton:

I had been hearing and singing that song my whole life, and there I was, sitting in the heavy, wet snow, not knowing the lyrics to a song the was like the alphabet to me.  And I looked around, starting to feel a panic build up. The block was empty and getting dark.  The snow was coming down hard.  And then I remember thinking, And where the hell is Miah?

Miah’s grandomther, Desire:

You left that world and it closed up behind you, Jeremiah.  The way water do when a body climbs out of it.  First there’s some ripples and then the water gets all still again.

Jeremiah lifts his head up and lets himself smile a little.  The water’s still rippling, though.

I look out to where he’s looking and I see he’s telling the truth.

Visit Jacqueline Woodson’s website and read my review of Feathers, her 2008 Newbery Honor book. I really want to read more of this author. After reading her past two books, I think I’m now hooked.

Hey you! Yes. You! I've noticed that you've stopped by to visit a few times! But I don't know who you are. Why don't you take a moment and introduce yourself. Don't be scared. I try not to bite. I know you're a lurker but I'd love to hear your thoughts about what's been bringing you here. And if you haven't done so already, don't forget to never miss a post by subscribing to my feed or receiving updates by email. Thanks for visiting!