Featured books by Jacqueline Woodson
Jacqueline Woodson tackles tough issues head-on: race relations, foster care, and incarceration are just some of the issues that her characters confront. In the hands of such a skilled writer, however, readers trust that these sensitive and difficult topics will be handled realistically yet with the knowledge that hope will remain. (Please note the books that are more appropriate for kids ages 9–12)
For more mature books by Jacqueline Woodson, visit our sister site, AdLit.org.
Before the Ever After
ZJ (short for Zachariah) turns to music and the support of friends and family when he begins to lose the father he knows and loves. A successful football career has resulted in his dad’s diagnosis of a chronic brain injury (CTE). Told in verse, this moving story remains realistic but hopeful.
Brown Girl Dreaming
The early years of a girl who grows into a writer has been recreated from family stories combined with memory and presented in verse. Born in February 1963 in Ohio, Woodson's family soon moves to the South during turbulent years. The history of the writer, her family and a nation combine in rich, metaphorical language.
Coming on Home Soon
When Ada Ruth's mother goes to Chicago for a much-needed job during World War II, Ada Ruth stays with her grandmother in Grandma's rural home. Being apart is tough even though Ada Ruth knows it is in response to the war. Words and illustration combine to present a stirring portrait of longing, family, and love until mother and child are reunited.
Each Kindness
Each kindness makes the world a little better. This quiet picture book is about small actions that can hurt, and an honest look at bullying and forgiveness.
Feathers
Narrator Frannie keenly observes the changing dynamics in her classroom when a new white student arrives. Frannie also frets about her family — her deaf brother isolated from the hearing world and her pregnant mother prone to miscarriages.
Lena
Disguised as boys, Lena and her sister Dion flee their father's abuse. They hitchhike to their mother's hometown in Kentucky in hopes of finding a relative to care for them.
Locomotion
Through a class poetry assignment, fifth-grader Lonnie reveals the house fire that killed his parents, his separation from his sister, his life in foster care, and his community's struggle with poverty and racism.
Peace, Locomotion
Lonnie, aka Locomotion (first introduced in Locomotion) tries to connect with his sister and to prevent forgetting their "real" parents. As he writes Lili, readers learn about his life including his foster brother who has returned from the Iraq war.
Show Way
Soonie's great grandmother was only seven-years-old when sold to the big plantation. A quilt that showed the way to freedom and chronicled the family's history connects the generations, and continues to do so. Idealized illustrations and the poetic text provide an unusual family story.
The Day You Begin
“There will be times when you walk into a room and no one will be quite like you.” But slowly you’ll find a bit of you in others along with your own wonderful uniqueness. Poetic language is complemented by expressive translucent illustrations presenting recognizable situations as the diverse students gradually develop friendships.
The Other Side
Clover and Annie — one black, the other white — are separated by a fence and attitudes that want to prevent their friendship.
The Year We Learned to Fly
Learning to soar ‘from the people who came before’ two siblings are told both that their feelings have been experienced by others, and that “nobody can ever cuff/ your brilliant and beautiful mind,” a lesson they pass on in turn. The book reminds children that imagination is a powerful tool in any situation, and López’s warm, colorful art enhances this message. This book is a companion to The Day You Begin by the same author/illustrator team.
This Is the Rope: A Story from the Great Migration
The story of one family’s journey north during the Great Migration starts with a little girl in South Carolina who finds a rope under a tree one summer. She has no idea the rope will become part of her family’s history.
Visiting Day
A girl and her grandmother prepare to visit the girl's father by packing a big lunch then boarding a bus. The joyful reunion takes place in a prison, emphasizing the love between a father and his daughter. Notes from both the author and illustrator complete this book.
We Had a Picnic This Sunday Past
Teeka has a sharp eye as she describes each member of the family that joins the picnic in the park while waiting to see if the aunt with the dried out pie arrives. Lively language and animated, colorful illustrations make this picnic jump off the page.
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