If You Come Softly [Turtleback]

Jacqueline Woodson (Author)

Product Details

• Turtleback
• Publisher: Demco Media (April 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0606178635
• ISBN-13: 978-0606178631
• Product Dimensions: 7.2 x 4.8 x 1.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (99 customer reviews)

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

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Good introduction to issues of race and relationships, November 21, 1999

By 

Bakari Chavanu - See all my reviews

This review is from: If You Come Softly (Hardcover)

I've recommened this book for my students to read because I think it provides a love story woven together with much needed insights about race, racism, and personal relationships. Woodson writes about these issues critically without being preachy.

It would be a great to teach this work at the 7-9th grade level, for often students will miss the subtle points the author is making about race and racism.

I look forward to more books like this being written.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The First Book To Ever Make Me Cry, October 5, 2000

By 

brittany (Memphis, TN USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: If You Come Softly (Paperback)

If You Come Softly has to be the best book I have ever read. I am a freshman in high school. I was the first person in my class to read it. This book really touched me. A lot of my friends say that they are in love but after reading this book they changed their minds. Miah and Ellie really LOVED each other. I don't think that I will ever find love like that. There is someone out there for everyone they just happened to be of a different race. I think this book should be required for freshman in high school to read. They would really enjoy it. I know I did!

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars If You Come Softly, July 26, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: If You Come Softly (Paperback)

The book If You Come Softly is a brillian work written by Jacqueline Woodson that tells a very unique story about an interracial frienship turned romance. The story is a modern day Romeo and Juliet. The main characters are fifteen year old Miah, a black boy and Ellie, a white girl. They are both new in a Manhattan prep school. They immediatly click and eventually fall in love. Society has a real problem with this issue, even more so than their own families. They receive strange stares and harsh glances while holding hands and kissing in public. They decide to stay together through all the negative feedback and lean on each other through many problems they face in their own lives. The characters develop emotionally with each new experience they have as a bi-racial couple. Just like Romeo and Juliet however, things don't end up well for the young couple.