Books with author JacquelineWoodson

SIGNED BY THE AUTHOR, JACQUELINE WOODSON! "Gorgeous, moving...A story of love-romantic and familial-and alienation, grief and triumph, disaster and surviva." -Nylon "For those still mourning the loss of Toni Morrison, it's essential that you direct your attention to National Book Award winner Jacqueline Woodson." -The Observer Named a Most Anticipated Book of Fall by People, Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Parade, Vox, Time and more An unexpected teenage pregnancy pulls together two families from different social classes, and exposes the private hopes, disappointments, and longings that can bind or divide us from each other, from the New York Times-bestselling and National Book Award-winning author of Another Brooklyn and Brown Girl Dreaming. Moving forward and backward in time, Jacqueline Woodson's taut and powerful new novel uncovers the role that history and community have played in the experiences, decisions, and relationships of these families, and in the life of the new child. As the book opens in 2001, it is the evening of sixteen-year-old Melody's coming of age ceremony in her grandparents' Brooklyn brownstone. Watched lovingly by her relatives and friends, making her entrance to the music of Prince, she wears a special custom-made dress. But the event is not without poignancy. Sixteen years earlier, that very dress was measured and sewn for a different wearer: Melody's mother, for her own ceremony-- a celebration that ultimately never took place. Unfurling the history of Melody's parents and grandparents to show how they all arrived at this moment, Woodson considers not just their ambitions and successes but also the costs, the tolls they've paid for striving to overcome expectations and escape the pull of history. As it explores sexual desire and identity, ambition, gentrification, education, class and status, and the life-altering facts of parenthood, Red at the Bone most strikingly looks at the ways in which young people

Twelve-year-old Lonnie is fi nally feeling at home with his foster family. But because heas living apart from his little sister, Lili, he decides itas his job to be the aremembereraaand write down everything that happens while theyare growing up. Lonnieas musings are bittersweet; heas happy that he and Lili have new families, but though his new family brings him joy, it also brings new worries. With a foster brother in the army, concepts like Peace have new meaning for Lonnie. Told through letters from Lonnie to Lili, this thoughtprovoking companion to Jacqueline Woodsonas National Book Award finalist "Locomotion" tackles important issues in captivating, lyrical language. Lonnieas refl ections on family, loss, love and peace will strike a note with readers of all ages.

Having had her mother all to herself for most of her life, Feni’s perfect world is disrupted when Rebecca, the fifteen-year-old daughter of her mother’s friend, comes to live with them, but through time and patience, the two girls realize that they can benefit from one another if only they open themselves to the possibilities of a friendship. Simultaneous.

Johnson and his sister Beebee seem to be all alone in the world. Their mama has gone away many times before, but something tells them she won’t be coming back this time. Then a social worker comes and takes them to stay with their aunt Gracie, whom they’ve never met. Johnson and Beebee are skeptical—who is this Gracie and why does she want to take care of them? But most of all they worry about their mama. What will happen to her? Will she come back for them? Warily, though, the children come to trust Aunt Gracie, and in the process they learn what family is all about. This child’s eye view of a brother and sister entering foster care is a heart-wrenching exploration of trust, forgiveness, and the true meaning of family.

Laurel Daneau has moved on to a new life, in a new town, but inside she's still reeling from the loss of her beloved mother and grandmother after Hurricane Katrina washed away their home. Laurel's new life is going well, with a new best friend, a place on the cheerleading squad and T-Boom, co-captain of the basketball team, for a boyfriend. Yet Laurel is haunted by voices and memories from her past.When T-Boom introduces Laurel to meth, she immediately falls under its spell, loving the way it erases, even if only briefly, her past. But as she becomes alienated from her friends and family, she becomes a shell of her former self, and longs to be whole again. With help from an artist named Moses and her friend Kaylee, she's able to begin to rewrite her story and start to move on from her addiction.Incorporating Laurel's bittersweet memories of life before and during the hurricane, this is a stunning novel by one of our finest writers. Jacqueline Woodson's haunting - but ultimately hopeful - story is beautifully told and one readers will not want to miss.