Feathers

JACQUELINE WOODSON

Frannie's sixth grade world gets complicated when a kid from the white side of town comes to school and everyone begins to call him Jesus Boy. Her best friend, Samantha, thinks he might just be the real Jesus come to give hope to folks, but mixed-race Trevor, the class bully, disagrees. Should she accept and befriend him? Things are just as unsettled at home, when Frannie's mother announces that she's pregnant, a dangerous prospect as two previous miscarriages and the the death of Frannie's older sister at only one-month haunt the home. Frannie must also help her brother Sean, who is deaf, deal with ignorance and insensitivity to his condition. Woodson's prose is beautifully crafted and her characters are real and likeable. Readers will enjoy Frannie's growth as she grapples with these difficult issues in her sassy yet thoughtful way. While Frannie's age places this novel in the middle grade range, issues of race, death, religion, and disability make it appropriate for older young adult readers as well. Definitely recommended.

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