CCBC-Net Archives
[CCBC-Net] Jacqueline Woodson's novels
- Contemporary messages sorted: [ by date ] [ by subject ] [ by author ]
From: OReilly, Alison <Alison.OReilly>
Date: Mon, 16 Jun 2008 08:48:46 -0500
Maybe the Texas heat is getting to me, but the first image that enters my mind when I think of Jacqueline Woodson's novels is snow falling. In my experience, it hardly ever snows when you really need it too, but in Ms. Woodson's stories, snow creates the landscape we all want for our most introspective moments.
In Feathers, Frannie and Samantha don't know what to make of an unsettling encounter between Jesus Boy and Trevor:
Most of the way home that afternoon, me and Samantha were quiet. The snow was coming down in heavy white flakes and the snow on the ground came up past my ankles. We walked slowly through it, afraid of slipping on the patches of ice beneath the snow. That afternoon in geography, we had talked about weather in different parts of the world. It was hard to think that in some places, the sun was shining and people were walking half-naked along the beaches. Because even though Ms. Johnson said that in other places crocuses were blooming and kids were jumping into bright blue swimming pools, right here, where we were, it was still winter. It felt like it would always be.
In After Tupac & D Foster, during the months of Tupac's trial, the narrator struggles to answer her mother's questions about the origins of her new friend, D:
I stared out the window. Outside, snow was beginning to come down. It was the first snow of the year and the tiny white flakes made me think about being a little girl - me and Neeka all excited and stupid over the idea of playing outside. Sitting at the kitchen table with Mama, that cold gray winter-light coming in from outside making everything, even the toaster, look like it was on the verge of tears, it was hard to even believe there was a time when I got so happy and silly over something like snow.
Thank you, Ms. Woodson, for the memorable contrasts between the driving New York City snow and your warm, deliberating characters.
Regards,
Alison
Alison O'Reilly, Teen Services Librarian Austin Public Library - Southeast Austin Community Branch 5803 Nuckols Crossing Road, Austin, TX 78744 phone: 512.462.1452 fax: 512.447.7639
Currently reading: Savvy by Ingrid Law
Received on Mon 16 Jun 2008 08:48:46 AM CDT
Date: Mon, 16 Jun 2008 08:48:46 -0500
Maybe the Texas heat is getting to me, but the first image that enters my mind when I think of Jacqueline Woodson's novels is snow falling. In my experience, it hardly ever snows when you really need it too, but in Ms. Woodson's stories, snow creates the landscape we all want for our most introspective moments.
In Feathers, Frannie and Samantha don't know what to make of an unsettling encounter between Jesus Boy and Trevor:
Most of the way home that afternoon, me and Samantha were quiet. The snow was coming down in heavy white flakes and the snow on the ground came up past my ankles. We walked slowly through it, afraid of slipping on the patches of ice beneath the snow. That afternoon in geography, we had talked about weather in different parts of the world. It was hard to think that in some places, the sun was shining and people were walking half-naked along the beaches. Because even though Ms. Johnson said that in other places crocuses were blooming and kids were jumping into bright blue swimming pools, right here, where we were, it was still winter. It felt like it would always be.
In After Tupac & D Foster, during the months of Tupac's trial, the narrator struggles to answer her mother's questions about the origins of her new friend, D:
I stared out the window. Outside, snow was beginning to come down. It was the first snow of the year and the tiny white flakes made me think about being a little girl - me and Neeka all excited and stupid over the idea of playing outside. Sitting at the kitchen table with Mama, that cold gray winter-light coming in from outside making everything, even the toaster, look like it was on the verge of tears, it was hard to even believe there was a time when I got so happy and silly over something like snow.
Thank you, Ms. Woodson, for the memorable contrasts between the driving New York City snow and your warm, deliberating characters.
Regards,
Alison
Alison O'Reilly, Teen Services Librarian Austin Public Library - Southeast Austin Community Branch 5803 Nuckols Crossing Road, Austin, TX 78744 phone: 512.462.1452 fax: 512.447.7639
Currently reading: Savvy by Ingrid Law
Received on Mon 16 Jun 2008 08:48:46 AM CDT
