Feathers [Audiobook, CD, Unabridged] [Audio CD]

Jacqueline Woodson (Author), Sisi Aisha Johnson (Reader)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 20, 2008

Frannie doesn't know what to make of the poem she's reading in school. She 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’s 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.” Newbery Honor-winning author Jacqueline Woodson once again takes listeners on a journey into a young girl’s heart and reveals the pain and the joy of learning to look beneath the surface.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Starred Review. Looking forward" is the message that runs through Woodson's (The House You Pass on the Way) novel. Narrator Frannie is fascinated with Emily Dickinson's poem, "Hope is the thing with feathers/ that perches in the soul," and grapples with its meaning, especially after a white student joins Frannie's all-black sixth-grade classroom. Trevor, the classroom bully, promptly nicknames him "Jesus Boy," because he is "pale and his hair [is] long." Frannie's best friend, Samantha, a preacher's daughter, starts to believe that the new boy truly could be Jesus ("If there was a world for Jesus to need to walk back into, wouldn't this one be it?"). The Jesus Boy's sense of calm and its effect on her classmates make Frannie wonder if there is some truth to Samantha'a musings, but a climactic faceoff between him and Trevor bring the newcomer's human flaws to light. Frannie's keen perceptions allow readers to observe a ripple of changes. Because she has experienced so much sadness in her life (her brother's deafness, her mother's miscarriages) the heroine is able to see beyond it all—to look forward to a time when the pain subsides and life continues. Set in 1971, Woodson's novel skillfully weaves in the music and events surrounding the rising opposition to the Vietnam War, giving this gentle, timeless story depth. She raises important questions about God, racial segregation and issues surrounding the hearing-impaired with a light and thoughtful touch. Ages 8-up.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From School Library Journal

Starred Review. Grade 4–7—"Stepped through that door white and softly as the snow," notes sixth-grader Frannie, on the arrival of a pale, long-haired boy to her predominantly black middle school on a winter day in 1971. He is dubbed the Jesus Boy by the class rowdy, and the name seems to suit the newcomer's appearance and calm demeanor. Frannie is confused, not only by declarations that he's NOT white, but that her friend Samantha, daughter of a conservative Baptist minister, also seems to believe that he is Jesus. In light of this and other surprises in her life, Frannie questions her own faith and, most of all, the meaning of the Emily Dickinson poem that she is studying in class, "Hope is a thing with feathers/that perches in the soul/…." How does she maintain hope when her newly pregnant mother has lost three babies already? She also worries about her deaf older brother, Sean, who longs to be accepted in the hearing world. She sees the anger in the bully intensify as he targets Jesus Boy. With her usual talent for creating characters who confront, reflect, and grow into their own persons, Woodson creates in Frannie a strong protagonist who thinks for herself and recognizes the value and meaning of family. The story ends with hope and thoughtfulness while speaking to those adolescents who struggle with race, faith, and prejudice. They will appreciate its wisdom and positive connections.—D. Maria LaRocco, Cuyahoga Public Library, Strongsville, OH
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Audio CD
• Publisher: Brilliance Audio on CD Unabridged Lib Ed; Library edition (May 20, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1423365658
• ISBN-13: 978-1423365655
• Product Dimensions: 6.5 x 6.8 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (19 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #7,005,121 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Jacqueline Woodson's awards include 3 Newbery Honors, a Coretta Scott King Award and 3 Coretta Scott King Honors, 2 National Book Awards, a Margaret A. Edwards Award and an ALAN Award -- both for Lifetime Achievement in YA Literature. She is the author of more than 2 dozen books for children and young adults and lives with her family in Brooklyn, New York

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Feathers and Hope, June 1, 2007

By 

Kemie Nix "Founder, Children's Literature for... (Peachtree City, GA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Feathers (Hardcover)

In January of 1971, eleven-year-old Frannie lives contentedly with her parents and deaf older brother, Sean, in an apartment on the "wrong" side of the highway. "There weren't white people on this side of the highway.
You didn't notice until one appeared. And then you saw all the brown and light brown everywhere." Suddenly, a tall, skinny white boy with long hair appears in Frannie's sixth-grade class. His classmates decide that he looks like the pictures of Jesus and start calling him the "Jesus Boy." Frannie's best friend Samantha, whose father is a "fire-and brimstone" preacher according to Frannie's mother, seems especially
taken with the "Jesus Boy, " and begins to fantasize that he might be Jesus returned to earth. While the "Jesus Boy" must stand up to enormous bullying from his male classmates, which Frannie deplores, she
becomes quite interested in him and is mystified that he knows how to "sign," which is how she communicates with her beloved brother.


In this excellent, slice-of life story, the author explores, through Frannie's eyes, many facets of growing up.The likable Frannie learns to deal with religious ideas, racism, the meaning of friendship, familial love, and plain old - but never simple - milk of human kindness.

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Hooray for good kids!, June 16, 2007

By 

Janet Gingold - See all my reviews

This review is from: Feathers (Hardcover)

Feathers--fine strands intricately connected to make something soft and beautiful, shimmering and uplifting. The musical language and the deliciously real detail would be enough, but the soul of this story is Frannie. She's not smart or pretty or graceful. She's not particularly poetic. She's certainly not religious. But she's good. She looks past what's peculiar and prickly to find those basic human connections that help her to do the right thing. Thanks, Jacqueline Woodson, for introducing us to Frannie and that Jesus Boy. In them we can all find hope. Readers who like Feathers might also like Danger, Long Division, in which another good kid, age 11, develops new perspectives on mean kids, friendship and family.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Slow, boring read, January 20, 2010

By 

M. Willet (Iowa) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Feathers (Newbery Honor Book) (Paperback)

As a middle school reading teacher, I'm always looking for good books my kids would like. This book was a quick read, but failed to capture my attention at any point. I kept waiting for it to get better, but it never did. I put it in my student library rather than offering it as a lit. circle choice because I just didn't find it interesting. I'm actually quite surprised it won any kind of award. I think the author could have spent more time developing the story and the characters. I didn't have enough information or time getting to know the characters to care about them. I think there are much better books out there for young readers.