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Title: If You Come Softly by Jacqueline Woodson ISBN: 0-698-11862-6 Publisher: Puffin Pub. Date: April, 2000 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $5.99 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.36 (66 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: Didn't Know What I was Getting Into
Comment: I should have known better...I've been touched by Jaqueline Woodson's writing before.
I picked up If You Come Softly after one of my 6th grade students recommended it to me. I read the first few chapters effortlessly, and when someone asked me what it was about, I simply said, "Not much." You see--it's not an in your face narrative. It's simple and soft, and the alternating perspectives are hardly noticed--all signs of outstanding writing. I was halfway through the book before I realized the gentle power of the story.
Ellie and Miah attend the same school and have similar views of the world, but they are so different that their sudden love for each other seems impossible. Ellie is the white daughter of a distantly married couple; her numerous brothers and sisters are older and have moved throughout the country. Miah is the black son of celebrities who have recently separated. Both teenagers attend the exclusive Percy School, which is where they meet by chance and fall in love. Despite the stares and whispers, they choose to stay together and learn more about each other. Their love is mature and real (and the author spares us from unnecessary sex scenes). We know from page one that tragedy awaits this relationship, but it doesn't damper the unfolding of their relationship and our interest in the potential of their lives. They love each other innocently and completely, and they tip-toe cautiously into the world of each other's families.
Woodson demonstrates a world view through the voices of these two high school characters--they understand more about race relations than most adults do. There are times, however, when their views of races seems too simplistic--perhaps this was intentional, or perhaps this is Woodson's own view. It's too easy to group together all "whites" or all "blacks" and to create stereotypes of old ladies who stare. But the overall message is appreciated.
I can't say enough about the gentle nature of this story. How an author can provoke so much emotion in such a delicately written story is truly amazing. Woodson is a masterful writer, and this story is perfectly told.
Rating: 5
Summary: "He's not white, he's black."
Comment: I heard of this book, from my two friends constantly talking about it. I finally asked them what it was about, and it instantly sparked my intrest and I went and got it from the library. Once I opened it, I couldn't close it.
This book is not your ordinary love story. It's an easy read, and has a calm, peaceful feeling to it. Ellie has a somewhat broken family, and not a very good relationship with them. She lives alone with her father now, now that all her sisters left.
Miah's father left him and his mother many many years ago. He lives in a small house with his depressed mother, and hardly ever sees his father.
Ellie's white.
Miah's black.
They meet.
Wonderful read, totally worth buying. One of my favorite books.
Rating: 4
Summary: If You Come Softly
Comment: For Miah and Ellie love at first sight is not only possible, it is colorblind. Miah is he only child of two very famous African-Americans. His father, a movie director, has recently split up with his mother, a writer. His father has also decided to send Miah to a fancy prep school outside of the black neighborhood in which he has grown up. Ellie is the youngest child in a large Jewish family. Her father, a doctor, is often away from home, her siblings have all grown up and left, and she is unable to trust her mother, who abandoned their family on two occasions for several months at a time. Ellie is also sent to the fancy prep school.
When the two meet, their loneliness fades away and in each other they find a soul mate. Yet their relationship is shadowed by the distant disdain of onlookers and the fear of their family's disapproval, and eventually tragedy strikes and Ellie and Miah are separated for good.
In this novel, Jacqueline Woodson displays her delicate, well-crafted prose and her sensitive portrayal of adolescents and their families. Yet sadly her portrayal of Ellie and Miah's relationship is not as powerful as it could be. Their relationship is beautiful to read about but it never becomes grounded in reality. If Woodson wishes to speak about the very real and important issue of interracial dating, she must write about a relationship that the readers can relate to. The bigotry that Ellie and Miah encounter is so subtle (appropriately so) and their relationship is so idyllic that it is hard to see the effects of this bigotry on their relationship.
In addition, the ending is overly dramatic, especially considering the gentle nature of the story up to that point. One feels that Woodson chose to end her novel as she did because she did not want to bring Ellie and Miah's love into the real world and because she knew that it could not go on as it was. This is a great shame, especially considering the quality of Woodson's character development.
As it stands If You Come Softly is a lovely story about a tragic and fairy-tale romance. Yet it has the potential to be a powerful portrayal of love, family and the problems of interracial dating in our modern society. Unfortunately this potential is never realized.
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Title: I Hadn't Meant to Tell You This by Jacqueline Woodson ISBN: 0440219604 Publisher: Laure Leaf Pub. Date: 01 November, 1995 List Price(USD): $4.99 |
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Title: Hush by Jacqueline Woodson ISBN: 0142500496 Publisher: Penguin USA (Paper) Pub. Date: June, 2003 List Price(USD): $5.99 |
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Title: Locomotion (Coretta Scott King Author Honor Books) by Jacqueline Woodson ISBN: 0399231153 Publisher: Putnam Pub Group Juv Pub. Date: January, 2003 List Price(USD): $15.99 |
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Title: Bronx Masquerade (Coretta Scott King Author Award Winner) by Nikki Grimes ISBN: 0803725698 Publisher: Dial Books for Young Readers Pub. Date: January, 2002 List Price(USD): $16.99 |
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Title: Miracle's Boys by Jacqueline Woodson ISBN: 0698119169 Publisher: Puffin Pub. Date: January, 2002 List Price(USD): $5.99 |
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