Feathers by Jacqueline Woodson

 From Goodreads, 

""Hope is the thing with feathers," starts the poem Frannie is reading in school. Frannie hasn't thought much about hope. There are so many other things to think about. Each day, her friend Samantha seems a bit more holy.” There is a new boy in class everyone is calling the Jesus Boy. And although the new boy looks like a white kid, he says he is not white. Who is he?

During a winter full of surprises, good and bad, Frannie starts seeing a lot of things in a new light: —her brother Sean's deafness, her mother's fear, the class bully's anger, her best friend's faith and her own desire for the thing with feathers.”

Jacqueline Woodson once again takes readers on a journey into a young girl's heart and reveals the pain and the joy of learning to look beneath the surface."

Goodreads - Feathers

Awards and Nominations: 

• Newbery Medal Nominee (2008)

Lately, I've been powering through books.  I wanted to continue on my reading goal to read 52 books, but I wanted a quick read.  I've been avoiding this book for a while now.  I decided over a year ago that I was going to read it because it was small.  I settled into bed, opened the book, read two pages, and passed out asleep.  I tried again the next night and the exact same thing happened.  So I shelved the book and decided I would move onto a different book at the time.  I've been trying to read through my young adult books to get them off my shelves at home and back into my classroom or another teacher's room.  Needless to say, it was finally time to settle in and get this book finished. 

Feathers is told by an African American girl with the nickname Frannie.  Frannie's real name is Abby, but her brother who is deaf can say Frannie, but not Abby.  Frannie's teacher reads a poem about feathers and hope.  This leads Frannie to think about hope.  But one day at school there is a new student who calls himself Jesus.  Kids and Frannie start calling him Jesus Boy.  He stands out because he is white, while everyone else at the school is black.  Frannie will eventually learn the true meaning of the poem and of having hope. 

This book is packed with important lessons, but they all felt very scattered and unfinished.  I felt like this book should have had more storyline and more substance to really hit the lessons that are so important.  The entire book is centered around having hope.  At one point Jesus Boy and Trevor start to fight.  Jesus Boy knocks Trevor down and Trevor just sits on the ground in shock.  Frannie ends up running over and helping Jesus Boy help Trevor up.  Eventually, it is discussed why Frannie helped him.  She said it felt like the thing to do.  Jesus Boy even states that he hopes that if he becomes the big bad bully that maybe Trevor will let go of all his anger.  I would have loved for this to have been a big character development for Trevor.  That Frannie and JB ar nice to Trevor and he ends up letting go of some of his anger and making friends instead of hating everyone.  This book had a lot of potential for moments like that and Woodson just let them slip by and simplified the book.  

Because of Woodson not "finishing the book" as I'll refer to it, I felt like this book was so very shallow.  I didn't feel like it really delved into any of the characters and we definitely didn't find out what happened with all the characters, their friendships, their future, etc.  I most definitely want to know if Sean ends up getting a girlfriend or if Frannie's mom has a healthy baby.  These are exciting points that would have honestly made this book 10 times better. 

I've read some of Woodson's books before and I've disliked them all so far.  I don't know if it is her writing style or I just feel disconnected from the topics she writes about.  I give this one star.  This is a quick read, but it is also a very dull read.