Feathers

“Feathers” by Jacqueline Woodson was a winner of a Newbery Honor, and understandably so; it is a very powerful and moving story, even though it is a short 118 pages. I was moved by this book for two reasons. First, it is told from a young girl’s point of view, and the themes are so grown-up.

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The themes include racism and poverty, and so to hear about those through her eyes was a very endearing quality. It helped me understand more about that time period, and how a child might have reacted to those circumstances. I also appreciated that the characters were very complex. Woodson did not make any characters flat; they all went through changes. For example, Samantha was set on identifying herself as a Christian, and yet she was confused by Fanny wanting to help Trevor. Another example includes “Jesus Boy,” who was always so calm in the beginning, but called out Trevor for not having a father, which seemed very against his nature. These character developments seem more realistic to how human beings are, and I enjoyed reading about their complex personalities.
I think the theme overall was one of hope: hope for the new baby, for bridges to new worlds, and for how things could be. Especially in terms of race, this story focuses on how things might be different one day. It is a very touching piece.

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I thought this was a very deep book that examined what hope and religion really were to the main character. Starting with Emily Dickenson's poem, "Hope is the thing with feathers," 6th grader, Fannie, tries to find meaning in this phrase throughout this book.

When a new white boy, that goes by

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Jesus, shows up in a black neighborhood, he is instantly excluded. Fannie's friend, Samantha, believes that this really could be Jesus returning to earth, but Fannie has her doubts. When Jesus boy almost gets in a fight with Trevor (the class trouble maker), the students instantly see he is not Jesus. For even though he did not fight, he almost did, and Jesus would not do that. This book examines how you can believe something one day and then it is gone the next, and how what you individually believe may not make sense to others, or even yourself. At the end of the book, Fannie finally comes to her interpretation of what hope is, and sees hope in every moment of every day.

This book is a coming of age, self realization book. There is a focus on Christianity, but it does not at all tell the reader what to believe, only focuses on what the characters in the book believe. Additionally, this book deals with many types of issues such as segregation (not legal) that existed between schools, the challenges that come with being deaf and miscarriages/ losing a baby. These mature issues are presented in a way that a young reader would be able to understand and try to relate to.

I would recommend this book, a fairly quick read for older kids, probably longer for 5th-8th grades. It kind of encouraged me to assess how I act towards others and what hope is to me.

Teaching Extension:
At one point in this book, the teacher has her students to a free write. The subject is to write as many details about any memory or event, good or bad, significant or trivial. When one kid questions how he is supposed to remember things that happened when he was little (like being adopted) the teacher encourages him to imagine how he would have felt and write based off of that. This would be a good exercise to do with 5th-8th graders.

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Fannie is a black girl going to an all black school in 1971. Her older brother is deaf, something he and the whole family, have always accepted. At school, a lone white boy arrives as a new student. He has long hair, and when the class mockingly says he looks like Jesus, he tells the teacher he

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likes that, so he becomes Jesus Boy. Fannie doesn't know what to make of him. He doesn't seem to fear Trevor, the class bully, who hates the white new kid from the start.
Fannie also has several philosophical conversations with her friend, Samantha, about God, religion, church, and how those things relate to hope, love, and just doing the right thing.
It's a largely quiet and introspective story, with the focus on the Fannie's thoughts more than the actual events in the plot.

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I know this book got great reviews, and it sounded great, but it wasn't. I don't see why it got the great reviews.

At Frannie's school a new boy has started school. From an outside perspective she talks about him and what he may be going through. She can related becuase she was a new girl as well starting a month after school started because she had chicken pox. Frannie's brother is deaf and the family has

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adjusted to being bilingual and learned sign language. Her mother lost a child, Lila, and her troubles of having children. Her mother is pregnant again and soon Frannie won't be the baby of the family.

This would be great book for children to read around Black History Month to understand the meaning of segregation and the hardships that children of the 70's had to deal with.

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In Feathers, Frannie has a remarkable ability to perceive the truth and vulnerabilities underlying peoples’ words and actions. She’s a seventh grader in 1971, living in a town strictly divided racially and economically. The window of her apartment over looks the highway, and across the highway

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is the other side of the world, where affluent white people live and go to school. Most everyone she knows speaks about the other side of the highway with a mixture of curiosity and resentment, some even with reverence. Frannie is not driven by the need to see this other world, for she believes that the people there are just people, no different than herself. When a former across-the-highway resident appears in her classroom, Frannie becomes an intent observer, watching how her classmates react to this stranger and learning more about her peers, her family, and herself in the process. Frannie’s powerful perception helps her to understand the surprising depth of her fellow human beings, and begin to see what she can do to ease their pain.

Jacqueline Woodson’s thoughtful book brings to light the miracle and wonder of being alive, and how important it is to treat others with great care and kindness. Woodson does an incredible job of placing readers within the narrator’s head, where both the interior of her psyche and unique perspective of her surroundings comes into sharp focus by the end of the book. Frannie learns that the world can rest heavy on an 11 year-old’s shoulders, but “hope is the thing with feathers,” and will always lighten the load.

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Feathered is a story from the perspective of Frannie, a young African American girl. The story takes place in the 70s as a white boy, everyone calls Jesus, begins at an all black school. Everyone is confused and taken back; why isn't he on the other side of the highway with the rest of the white

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kids? The story is very touching and eye opening as Frannie gets to know the new kid, Jesus, she ultimately begins to understand the world in a whole new light.

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Ms. Johnson, a sixth-grade teacher at read a poem by Emily Dickinson callled "Hope is a thing with feathers." This poem really got sixth-grader, Frannie thinking. Frannie is African American and lives in a town where the whites live on the other side of the highway and the blacks on the other side.

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A new kid comes to Frannie's school and all the kids call him Jesus Boy. They think Jesus Boy is white but Jesus Boy says he's not. The kids have a hard time accepting the new kids differences. Frannie is used to differences because her brother Sean is deaf. Frannie often thinks about the poem that Ms. Johnson read about hope. Through out the story she begins to accept differences and finds hope is the Jesus Boy, her brother, her sick and pregnant mother, and her friends.

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The more of Jacqueline Woodson’s works I read, the more I love her. Her writing leaves me deep in thought, and “Feathers” did not disappoint. I fell in love with all the characters, even Trevor, the bully, and Maribel, the snob. Woodson creates characters that are well rounded and relatable.

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For instance, Frannie, the main character, is a very introspective little girl, but she has selfish thoughts as well. She’s not perfect. Trevor is not just a mean little boy but a boy who is deeply hurt by his father’s absence. Samantha is not just a goody-two-shoes but a girl trying to be the best person she can be. I love how Woodson uses poetic language to bring home powerful messages. Such as when Frannie says about Trevor, ““Even though he was mean all the time, the sun still stopped and colored him and warmed him- like it did to everybody else”. Trevor is just a boy, like everyone else in the sixth grade. “Feathers” carries a message of hope and that no one is just one person. We are many things rolled into one.

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Jacqueline Woodson is quickly becoming one of my favorite authors. Her writing style is clear, lyrical, and hopeful; she tackles difficult issues for middle school students - bullying, loss, death - with a strength and purpose that shows the reader how to keep faith in hard times and persevere.

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Curricular connections can be made with language arts in fifth and sixth grade. This novel uses the works of Emily Dickinson; create a unit showcasing the poetry of Dickinson, examine how it is used in Feathers, and finally, have students discuss how the poetry is relevant in their own lives.

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When a new boy starts at Frannie's school, everyone takes notice, because he's the only white boy there. Some think he doesn't belong in this school or in this part of town at all. Frannie isn't sure what to think of him, but she knows what it's like to be the new kid, and since her brother is

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deaf, she also experience how kids treat Different every day. So, Frannie juggles life at school negotiating a new friendship with the Jesus Boy (the nickname by general consensus for the new kid), dealing with the angry bully, and sorting through her best friend's religious near-fanaticism. She's not without worries at home, either: although part of a loving and generally happy family, she's troubled that her mother is again pregnant when previous pregnancies have failed and left her (mother) depressed and weak. But Frannie's teacher has had them read some Dickinson, and Frannie uses everything going on around her to try to suss out the meaning of how hope can be a thing with feathers.
Short but powerful, this story packs a ton into its just over 100 pages. Still, somehow it doesn't feel as if it's overdoing anything, and all the elements are blended well. A good story, with characters who are comfortably genuine. Definitely recommended for kiddos and adults alike.

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The day this book opens is like any other day in Frannie's life, until the new boy they call Jesus Boy comes in. What makes his appearance momentous is that he is the only white kid, but he does not consider himself white. They call him Jesus Boy because with his long hair he looks like all the

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paintings white people have painted of Jesus. For Frannie's Christian friend Samantha he is a symbol of hope--perhaps he is even Jesus returned. Jesus Boy's appearance causes Frannie to question her own faith. It's hard for her to have hope when her Mama has already lost two babies and been really sad for a long time and now she is pregnant again. But Jesus Boy's reaction to the teasing he endures and his story of how a white boy came to school on the other side of the highway shows Frannie something about the universality of pain, compassion and hope.

This story realistically conveys children's struggle to make sense of racial identity. It also explores the nature of friendship and the foundation family can provide even when individuals are struggling with their own issues. Frannie is a character many readers will be able to relate to--partly because of her questions about faith and friendship and partly because she is an ordinary child who isn't the most motivated student and doesn't always say the right thing. The characters are three-dimensional and complicated. Jesus Boy does something mean to defend himself, but he then shows compassion to the bully he attacked, rather than taking his place as the new bully. Also, Frannie has a deaf brother and it's nice to read a book where the disability is peripheral rather than the core of the conflict in a book. This book would be appropriate for grades 4 to 8.

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I'm a big Woodson fan, but this one left me a bit cold. It's 1971 and Frannie is a 6th-grader in an all-black (or at least all brown and black) school - until Jesus Boy (so-called because he's white and has longish hair) enrolls. Frannie's rather religious best friend rather oddly thinks he might

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even be Jesus - a hope that is dashed when J.B. finally refuses to turn the other cheek and decks the local bully. This is about hope, family, change, racial identity, deafness, and so on, all good stuff - and Frannie is a terrific character - but somehow the tone felt distant or unreal to me, almost allegorical.

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Frannie realizes that she is no longer the baby of the family, her mother is expecting another child. Then a white boy moves into Frannie’s school which is an all back school and the kids name him Jesus. Jesus become Frannie’s friend and stops the school bully from bulling him. While all of

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this is going on Frannie is trying to decide what Ms. Johnson, the teacher, is trying to get her students to understand about a poem she read to them. Finally Frannie realizes that hope is like a feather you have it for a while and then it is gone.

I enjoyed the book but it was a slow reading book. It did not keep your attention as well as I thought it would. You could understand Frannie’s problem with the poem. But in the same instance even though Jesus Boy seemed to be an important part of the story he seemed to be left out of the story and came back in at odd times.

I would use this book so that students so can get the understanding of what if feels like to move into a new school that is different from where you came. It could show them that not everyone has to be the same each person is different and even though it has always been this or that way things can change. And most important of all to hold on to hope but really the moment is like a feather and it will float away.

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I wasn't sure what to think when I started reading Feathers. I knew it was a book for children and that it was a Newbery Honor book, but that was all I knew. I'm going to be honest, I'm still not sure what to tell you all it was about. I suppose the best I could tell you was that it was about

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hope.

Hope is the thing with feathers

That is the beginning of the poem "Hope" by Emily Dickenson. It is the poem that starts the story and starts Frannie thinking about hope. Frannie was the main character of the story that takes place in the 70's amid times of racial tension - and hope. Her brother Sean is deaf but communicates flawlessly through sign language. It was nice to hear his voice in the story. Her parents are loving and warm - which is always nice. They've gone through rough times as a family, after her mother lost a couple babies and one died young.

A new boy comes into the school and he happens to be white. He's described as pale, blond, and extremely different from all the other children in the school. He's nicknamed Jesus Boy and we never do learn his real name. He's mysterious and Frannie is drawn to him.

Each of the characters is searching for hope. Sean hopes for a bridge to the hearing world, Frannie's mother hopes for a healthy pregnancy, her best friend, Samantha, hopes for the real Jesus to return. I can't pinpoint exactly what Frannie wants except to say that she hopes for all the people in her life to be happy and content around her.

This is a lovely little story that really makes you think about what you hope for. I recommend this to anyone -because we all need hope.

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How a young girl sees things differently than others.

Feathers would make an excellent companion read to my summer favorite, Firegirl. Like in Firegirl, the main character is confronted with a person in her class who is different. Like in Firegirl, others in the class automatically reject the person who is different. And like in Firegirl, the main

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character struggles to figure out a way to deal with the person who is different.

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It is a very good book. The end was so good especially because I was dying to finish it. It is a book that makes you think!

This is a good example of realistic fiction because it could be true and the reader can relate to it. Frannie tries to figure out who she is as she interacts with her best friend who is a devout Christian, the new boy who is white and says he not, and her family.

Character: Frannie is a good example

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of a round character because the reader learns a lot about her and she grows and changes throughout the story. She goes from being a child to a young adult and learns that she is the kind of person that helps people just because it is the right thing to do.

Age Appropriateness: Intermediate and Middle School

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Read nonfiction books about the civil rights movement. Compare and contrast society from the 70s to present-day society.

Have students think about and explain their interpretation of the Emily Dickinson poem. Discuss the symbolism in this poem. Read other poems by Dickinson.

Feathers is a chapter book based in the segregated seventies (not necessarily legal segregation). The setting takes place on a side of the highway that the races considered the minority live. Sixth grader Franny belongs to a family where dad frequently leaves for his job, where mom mourns the death

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of children never born, and an older brotherwho is completely deaf. This family is forced to deal with all of the obstacles life dishes out, but they remain strong as a family unit. While at school, Frannie's class gets a new student, a white student. Jesus Boy. This throws the class. Frannie and her friend Samantha being to wonder if this boy could be the real Jesus. Frannie starts to see Jesus Boy as more than the new white boy and begins to see him as just another kid like her. Frannie learns a life lesson. This is a great story of how a little girl is able to stop seeing color and start seeing others who are different as human beings. This could be a great teaching tool for children, not to mention fun for students to read how people talked in the seventies.

Details: This book was written to interest children in grades 5-8 and is on a 4.1 reading level.

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This is a book about a girl named Frannie. She deal with a lot in her life, and has to grow and mature while deciding what is right and what is wrong. this book is all about hope, and acceptance.

Jacqueline Woodson, in Feathers, touches eloquently on that which we all struggle with deep within. She looks at the question of how we find hope in our lives amid the pain, loss, and anger we encounter. Woodson beautifully uses Emily Dickinson's lovely poem about a feather to illustrate what hope

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is and where it, and goodness, can be found in life. This is what the best children's and young adult authors do and, without a doubt, Jacqueline Woodson qualifies.

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"Feathers" by Jacqueline Woodson is about a young girl that changes very much after her encounter with the "new kid" Jesus Boy. She begins the story somewhat snobby and afraid. By the end of the story she lets her guard down, asks a lot of intelligent questions, and is generally more accepting of

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herself and the world around her. The book examines many themes such as school life, descrimination, race and class issues.

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