Customer Reviews

Behind You (Turtleback School & Library Binding Edition)

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
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Behind You is a book that is depressing, yet one of the most happily written books I've ever read. The story of this marvelous book begins with a young teenage boy Jeremiah seeing his dead body from the after-life after being shot by two cops when they mistake him for a criminal. A lot of people know Jeremiah, and every one of them is affected by his death in different ways.

Now normally, I would take my time reading a book like this simply because of how depressing it becomes, but not only will you keep reading Behind You, you will read it about five times. The book has a way of sucking you into the atmospheric world that Jacqueline Woodson has created, and even when it feels like there is no reason to go on, you'll still keep reading because of the hope you have that something good will happen.

There are a few flaws like how the author takes you through the perspective of multiple characters. It's a good idea, but you never really get to know each of the characters that well. Also the book is pretty short. Besides that, this is a must have for those of us who find every day life dull. Treasure it, take care of it. It's smart, it's original, and it breaks your perspective on how life works. It, in short, is a masterpiece that makes reading worth reading. The book isn't the best thing out there, but it comes pretty close.

This amazing book was a Coretta Scott King award winner. The book was sad because the police shot a black teenager in the middle of Central Park. The main theme is death and the beautifulness of death. I would recommend this book to any one who likes books with intense sadness. It is one of the best books I have ever read. When you read it you get sucked in on the first page with, "You do not die. Your soul steps out of your body." This line confused me and put me into an "I need to read more" mood. On the last line you start to feel all wobbly and a few spaces later you start shaking up an earthquake. A tear-flavored tsunami finishes it off. Then after you have finished the book you try to forget you read it as an excuse to read it over and over and over until you die!!!!!

Jeremiah has died from a cop's mistaken bullet. Now, those he has left behind try to figure out how to go on with their lives in this very moving story by Jacqueline Woodson, author of the award-winning LOCOMOTION and HUSH. The 2002 hit by Alice Sebold, THE LOVELY BONES, concerned a young girl watching her family from the afterlife after a violent death. In a similar way BEHIND YOU takes readers into the lives of Jeremiah's mother, father, ex-girlfriend and two friends, along with Jeremiah, as he views life on Earth from the afterlife.

Jeremiah ("Miah"), an African-American prep-school star athlete, left a large hole in many lives. Ellie, his Caucasian girlfriend, finds that her pain does not lessen after months. No one else in her school understands this and tells her that she "is such a widow." Nelia, his mother, is finding it hard to get out of bed. Ellie and Miah's father start visiting her to offer and receive comfort. Kennedy is now the big athlete at the prep school and is tired of people comparing him to Miah. Carlton, a longtime neighborhood friend of Miah's, now has no one to share his secrets with and feels utterly alone.

In between glimpses of the pain-filled people on earth are wonderful scenes of Miah in the afterlife. He finds his beloved grandmother and tries to learn to let go of the connections he maintains to earth.

While sadness is prevalent in this book, hope emerges as Miah's beloved people on Earth find ways to connect to and help each other in surprising ways. Demonstrating her excellent writing skills again, Woodson evokes strong emotion with well-chosen words and characters in BEHIND YOU.

--- Reviewed by Amy Alessio

Behind You is a winner of the Coretta Scott King award. It is the most head craving and mind thinking book, and it contains a lot of details. Jeremiah was shot by the police, and this boy has been and will stay in his friends and relatives hearts. When you read it, it makes such an impact that if you read the last sentence you'll just fall over and whimper with joy and excitement. Jacqueline Woodson has written so many books that she is like a pouncing tiger that is that is dodging every writer's block that comes in perspective. The greatest moment for me in Behind You is when Jeremiah and Ellie were talking to each other. That was so good it felt like a pair of golden sentences just hit me in the face. So if you want to read something, I'd go for Behind You.

This book was absoulutely amazing to me. I read her first book, "If You Come Softly", not knowing what to expect. She was a new author to me and i was very impressed. I am fourteen years old and as like many other teenagers i don't really like to read, but i really liked these books. The author really has a way of getting you into the book. I truely didn't want to put it down.

The story she told seemed so close to her. You could tell that the topic was something that she could really relate to. I felt aas if I was Ellie. As if I was going through the unbarrable pain that she goes through losing the love of her life.

I guess i dont like sequeals (sp?) to good books. I really didnt like this book to much it was alright. I may read it again when i have nothing elese to do but other then that it will stay in my book shelf.

This book is all about how life changes for all the people that loved Jeremiah after two policemen shoot Jeremiah by accident. Each chapter is in the eyes of someone who loves him: his girlfriend, Ellie, his mother, Nelia, his father, Norman Roselind, his friends, Carlton and Kennedy, and his grandmother, Desire Viola Roselind, who is no longer alive.

Jeremiah explains that when you die you become the wind, and you go to each of the people that love you, and you whisper into the wind, "I will always remember you". Once you have gone to each of the people that loved you, you move on into your next life, but for Jeremiah it's too hard to leave behind the world that he was in before.

Desire Viola Roselind is now with Jeremiah, because neither of them is living. Desire Viola Roselind always says that Jeremiah "won't move on" and "he's always looking out on the world". Desire Viola would also talk about how Jeremiah could do whatever he wanted to. He could fly to the moon, or swim to the bottom of the ocean. Desire and Jeremiah could also choose what season they wanted to be in. Desire would always be sitting in spring, in her lawn chair, surrounded by a beautiful, flower filled, garden. Jeremiah always sits in the summer in the shade of a tree, holding a basketball.

Jacqueline Woodson is the author of this beautiful, bittersweet book. Behind You won the Coretta Scott King Award. I'm so surprised that there isn't twenty awards on the cover of the book, because of how beautifully Jaqueline Woodson writes. Here is a passage from Jeremiah's last chapter:

"Ellie. You're loved.

Carlton. You're loved

Mama. You're loved.

Pops. You're loved.

And Kennedy...hey, Kennedy...you got game yo!

And when each of the people you left behind has heard, you turn slowly, and begin your long slow walk into your new world. But some every now and then you stop, look behind you. And remember."

In this place in the book, I actually did start crying. Behind You is probably one of the best books I have ever read. Any book that has the power to make me cry must be an extraordinary book. This book makes me feel that the people that I have lost aren't gone forever. I also learned in this book that there is still a lot of racism against blacks, just like Jeremiah. I learned that if a policeman shoots a black person, they simply end up on desk duty, until things cool down.

Behind You is a sad but hopeful ride, fulfilling and so well written that it got a Coretta Scott King Award. What made this book so good was the author, Jacqueline Woodson. Jacqueline Woodson has written so many other great novels. Behind You is about a teenage boy named Jeremiah. Miah was a black teenage boy who got shot by the police in Central Park. The book is about the grievings of his friends, family and loved ones that knew him. Each character in the book explains the way they dealt with their loss and how it changed their lives forever. In this story the writing was unforgettable and it blew me away.

This book deals with a lot of stuff teenagers go through, like finding out what your sexuality is, living with parents who are racist but pretend not to be, grieving over someone you loved and finding out where you belong in the world.

My favorite part was when Ellie Miah's white girlfriend said these words:

"There was no more Miah.

No more Miah.

No more Miah and me."

When I read that part of the book, I got chills all my body. It just warmed me up inside like a little oven. Read this book and maybe you will get chills yourself.

In If You Come Softly, Jeremiah Roselind was shot down by two policemen in a case of mistaken identity. Behind You continues where If You Come Softly left off, showing how Jeremiah's passing affected the lives of the people who were close to him. But it's not only family and friends who are dealing with the loss of Jeremiah; Jeremiah also has to come to grips with the fact that he's no longer with the ones he loves. He has moved on to a better place, yet he keeps watching the world and those who now have to live without him; unable to put it all behind him.
I'm not really into reading books where a character who has died is still hanging around with something to say, but Jeremiah was so likable in the first novel that I was glad he was a part of this one. This story was so touching.

Behind you was an amazing book and really touched me. It is depressing book but totally worth the tears! It has good descriptions of the characters and the scenes. Every paragraph puts a picture into the reader's head. Each of the characters have their own story to tell. They talk about how life is like without Jeremiah. I am fourteen years old and really picky about books, but this one was the best book I have read this year!