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Jacqueline Woodson

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Harbor Me Hardcover – August 28, 2018

by Jacqueline Woodson (Author)

4.6 1,497 ratings

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Jacqueline Woodson is the 2018-2019 National Ambassador for Young People's Literature

A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER!

Jacqueline Woodson's first middle-grade novel since National Book Award winner Brown Girl Dreaming celebrates the healing that can occur when a group of students share their stories.

It all starts when six kids have to meet for a weekly chat--by themselves, with no adults to listen in. There, in the room they soon dub the ARTT Room (short for "A Room to Talk"), they discover it's safe to talk about what's bothering them--everything from Esteban's father's deportation and Haley's father's incarceration to Amari's fears of racial profiling and Ashton's adjustment to his changing family fortunes. When the six are together, they can express the feelings and fears they have to hide from the rest of the world. And together, they can grow braver and more ready for the rest of their lives.

4 stars and above

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From the Publisher

	Remember Us	Before the Ever After	Harbor Me	If You Come Softly	Brown Girl Dreaming	The House You Pass On The Way

Customer Reviews	63	768	1,497	615	6,847	69
Price	$11.01	$9.01	$6.99	$7.99	$6.49	$8.99
Read more by Jacqueline Woodson:	National Book Award winner Jacqueline Woodson brings readers a powerful story that delves deeply into life’s burning questions about time and memory and what we take with us into the future.	National Book Award winner Jacqueline Woodson's stirring novel-in-verse explores how a family moves forward when their glory days have passed and the cost of professional sports on Black bodies.	Jacqueline Woodson celebrates the healing that can occur when a group of students share their stories.	A lyrical story of star-crossed love perfect for readers of The Hate U Give, by National Ambassador for Children’s Literature Jacqueline Woodson.	Jacqueline Woodson's National Book Award and Newbery Honor winner is a powerful memoir that tells the moving story of her childhood in mesmerizing verse.	A lyrical coming-of-age story.

	Peace, Locomotion	Locomotion	Feathers	Hush

Customer Reviews	99	420	354	329
Price	$8.99	$7.37	$8.99	$8.99
	The stunning companion to Locomotion.	Jacqueline Woodson's poignant story of love, loss, and hope is lyrically written and enormously accessible.	Jacqueline Woodson once again takes readers on a journey into a young girl’s heart and reveals the pain and the joy of learning to look beneath the surface.	Jacqueline Woodson weaves a fascinating portrait of a thoughtful young girl's coming of age in a world turned upside down.

	After Tupac and D Foster	From the Notebooks of Melanin Sun	Miracle's Boys

Customer Reviews	180	74	318
Price	$7.99	$8.99	$6.99
	A Newbery Honor Book that includes a discussion guide by Jacqueline Woodson.	Jacqueline Woodson explores race and sexuality through the eyes of a compelling narrator.	A novel that was awarded the 2001 Coretta Scott King award and the Los Angeles Times Book Prize.

Editorial Reviews

Review

* “Woodson celebrates all that is essential and good for humanity—compassion, understanding, security, and freedom—in this touching novel. . . . Woodson’s skills as poet and master storyteller shine brightly here as she economically uses language to express emotion and delve into the hearts of her characters. Showing how America’s political and social issues affect children on a daily basis, this novel will leave an indelible mark on readers’ minds.”—Publishers Weekly, starred review

* “Woodson delivers a powerful tale of community and mutual growth. The bond they develop is palpable. . . . The characters ring true as they discuss issues both personal and global. This story, told with exquisite language and clarity of narrative, is both heartbreaking and hopeful. An extraordinary and timely piece of writing.”—Kirkus Reviews, starred review

* “The magic is in the writing. Woodson tells stories torn from headlines but personalizes them with poetry and memories, blunting their trauma with understanding and love. Haley’s history weaves in and out, drawing readers close. These children become each other's safe harbors and Woodson brilliantly shows readers how to find the connections we all need.”—Booklist, starred review

* “Woodson’s spare, lyrical, and evocative prose carries the story seamlessly, weaving in themes of justice and family, friendship and courage. This is a timely and beautifully written story that should be on library shelves everywhere.”—School Library Journal, starred review

* "In her first middle-grade novel since her 2014 National Book Award winner, Brown Girl Dreaming, National Ambassador for Young People's Literature Jacqueline Woodson deftly alchemizes a sixth-grade classroom into an affecting metaphor for racial, political and socioeconomic challenges—enhanced by the transformative power of storytelling: ‘what matter[ed] most is that we were heard.’ . . . A powerful love letter to effective teachers, unexpected friendship and the healing magic of hearing, recording and sharing words.”—Shelf Awareness, starred review

“Explore[s] deep issues of identity, community, family, change, and forgiveness. The power of remembrance is also an important theme. . . . Will speak to young people’s insecurities and fears while recognizing their courage in facing them, and [Woodson's] craft as a weaver of words and imagery is evident on every page. A timely tribute to the resilience of young people and to the power of human connection that often overrides our differences.”—Horn Book

“Takes readers on a journey during which young urban teenagers discover the satisfaction of a well-wrought conversation. Woodson's easygoing lyrical voice is the highlight. . . . Each likable young person tells an engaging story, and the others are quick to listen. . . . Many urban readers will hear their story in one of these six's narratives. . . . With alternatingly simple, realistic language and flashes of lyrical romanticism . . . will please teachers trying to coax personal revelations from their students.”—Voice of Youth Advocates

"Leaves readers of all ages asking, 'would I let myself be a harbor for someone who needs it?'”—School Library Connection

About the Author

Jacqueline Woodson (www.jacquelinewoodson.com) is the recipient of a 2023 Guggenheim Foundation Fellowship, a 2020 MacArthur Fellowship, the 2020 Hans Christian Andersen Award, the 2018 Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award, and the 2018 Children’s Literature Legacy Award. She was the 2018–2019 National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature, and in 2015, she was named the Young People’s Poet Laureate by the Poetry Foundation. She received the 2014 National Book Award for her New York Times bestselling memoir Brown Girl Dreaming, which was also a recipient of the Coretta Scott King Award, a Newbery Honor, the NAACP Image Award, and a Sibert Honor. She wrote the adult books Red at the Bone, a New York Times bestseller, and Another Brooklyn, a 2016 National Book Award finalist. Born in Columbus, Ohio, Jacqueline grew up in Greenville, South Carolina, and Brooklyn, New York, and graduated from college with a B.A. in English. She is the author of dozens of award-winning books for young adults, middle graders, and children; among her many accolades, she is a four-time Newbery Honor winner, a four-time National Book Award finalist, and a two-time Coretta Scott King Award winner. Her books include New York Times bestsellers The Day You Begin and Harbor Me; The Other Side, Each Kindness, Caldecott Honor book Coming On Home Soon; Newbery Honor winners Feathers, Show Way, and After Tupac and D Foster; and Miracle's Boys, which received the LA Times Book Prize and the Coretta Scott King Award. Jacqueline is also a recipient of the Margaret A. Edwards Award for lifetime achievement for her contributions to young adult literature and a two-time winner of the Jane Addams Children's Book Award. She lives with her family in Brooklyn, New York.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Copyright © 2018 Jacqueline Woodson

4

If there’s one thing I do remember as clear as if it happened an hour ago, it’s the afternoon when Ms. Laverne said to us, Put down your pencils and come with me. It was the end of September and we had been taking a spelling test. Esteban had been absent for days, and when he finally returned, Ms. Laverne asked him if he was up to doing some work and he nodded.

It helps me forget for a little while, he said.

Forget what? Amari asked.

That nobody knows where they took him. And now we’re packing up everything, Esteban said. Because if they took him, maybe they’re going to take us too.

I turned back to my test. I didn’t want to think about fathers. Mine had been in prison for eight years by then. In the last letter we’d gotten, he said he wasn’t sure what would happen with his parole. If he got it, he didn’t know exactly when he’d be coming home. I remember zero about living with him. Every good thing that happened had happened with my uncle. I couldn’t imagine a different life. Didn’t want to imagine it. Not for me. Not for anyone.

I was stuck on the word holiday. Did it have one l or two? My spelling had always been bad, but in Ms. Laverne’s class it didn’t matter so much because we were all at different levels in one thing or another. The words you miss just tell me what you don’t yet know, Ms. Laverne always said. It says nothing about who you are. For some reason that made me feel better. I was eleven years old. What eleven-year-old didn’t know how to spell holliday?

Put down your pencils and come with me.

The six of us stood up. Our school uniforms were white shirts and dark blue pants or skirts. We could wear any jackets, shoes and tights we wanted. I had worn blue-and-white-striped tights that day. Holly’s tights had red stars on them. When we stood next to each other in the school yard that morning, our stars and stripes echoed the flag waving from the pole above us. We had spent the minutes before the bell rang dancing around it while Holly sang that old song about having a hammer, I’d hammer out danger, I’d hammer out a warning . . .

We stood next to our desks and waited for Ms. Laverne to tell us what to do next. Amari pulled his hoodie over his head, then quickly pulled it off again, the way he sometimes did when he was nervous. Amari was beautiful. His skin was so dark, you could almost see the color blue running beneath it. His eyes were dark too. Dark like there was smoke behind his pupils. Dark and serious and . . . infinite. In that fifth/sixth grade class, I didn’t know how to say any of this. I wanted only to look at him. And look at him.

Take a picture, it lasts longer, Amari said to me in such a cranky way, it almost brought me to tears. Ashton smirked, then pushed his hair away from his forehead and held his hand there.

She doesn’t want a picture of you, Holly said. Bad enough we have to look at you five days a week. She had left her desk and was heading over to the classroom library.

Holly, back to your desk, Ms. Laverne said. I want you all to take your books. You won’t be coming back here today.

We all gathered our stuff and followed her into the hallway.

Ms. Laverne took out her phone and said, Smile, people. In the photo, Holly and I have our fingers linked together, our tights looking crazier than anything. Amari has his hood halfway on and halfway off, and Tiago, Esteban and Ashton are all looking away from the camera. The picture is taped to my refrigerator now. We all look so young in it, our cheeks puffing out with baby fat, our uniform shirts untucked, Tiago’s sneakers untied.

We walked down the hall behind Ms. Laverne, her heels softly clicking. I thought about how maybe one day I’d grow up to wear black shoes with small heels that clicked as I walked down a hall. And have students following behind who were a little bit in love with me.

Two small kids came running down the hall, but when they saw Ms. Laverne, they stopped and started walking so slowly, I almost laughed.

Esteban pulled his knapsack onto his shoulder and held it with both hands.

You okay, bro? Amari put his hand on Esteban’s arm.

Nah, Esteban said. Not really.

Amari moved his arm over Esteban’s shoulder. And kept it there.

5

When we got to Room 501, Ms. Laverne opened the door and held it for us. Nobody knew what to do, so we just stood there. The room was bright and smelled like it had just been cleaned with the same oil soap my uncle used on our floors. Back when me and Holly were in third grade, it had been the art room, but then someone gave our school enough money to open up a whole art studio in the basement, so now this was just a room we passed by sometimes and said to each other, Remember when that used to be the art room?

Welcome to Room 501, Ms. Laverne said.

Holly ran in ahead and the rest of us followed and looked around.

In the old art room, there were just a few of those chairs with swing-up desks in a circle, a teacher’s desk with no chair, a big clock on the wall and some little kid’s ancient painting of a bright yellow sun thumbtacked to the closet door.

Esteban asked, Are we getting transferred to a new class? He put his knapsack down between his ankles and hugged himself.

Amari had taken his arm off Esteban’s shoulder but was still standing close to him. When Esteban shivered, Amari put his arm back. I heard him whisper, It’s all good, bro. It’s all good. Ms. Laverne’s not taking us somewhere we don’t want to be.

Ms. Laverne sat on the edge of the teacher’s desk and folded her arms. Every Friday, from now until the end of the school year, the six of you will leave my classroom at two p.m. and come into Room 501. You’ll sit in this circle and you’ll talk. When the bell rings at three, you’re free to go home.

Why can’t we just talk in our regular classroom? Holly asked, hopping up onto the teacher’s desk. I mean, in your classroom.

Our regular classroom wasn’t regular. We knew that. But still.

Down from there, please, Holly. Ms. Laverne waited for Holly to jump off again before she continued. I don’t want to hear what you have to say to each other. This is your time. Your world. Your room.

Sounds like you’re trying to get an early break from us, Holly said. Give yourself your own kind of half day.

Ms. Laverne laughed. One day, Holly, your brain will be very useful to you.

Holly looked like she wasn’t sure if our teacher was complimenting her.

What I’m trying to do is give you the space to talk about the things kids talk about when no grown-ups are around. Don’t you all have a world you want to be in that doesn’t have people who look like me in it?

Nope, Amari said.

Yeah, Ashton said. Not really.

We like being with you, I added. In the other room.

You like what you know, Ms. Laverne said. You like what’s familiar.

None of us said anything. She was right. What was wrong with liking familiar things?

Nothing’s wrong with that, Ms. Laverne said, being a teacher/mind reader. But what’s unfamiliar shouldn’t be scary. And it shouldn’t be avoided either.

But I don’t know what we’re even supposed to talk about, Tiago said. Like, schoolwork and stuff? And to who?

Schoolwork, toys, TV shows, me, yourselves—anything you want to talk about. To each other. And it’s to whom, Tiago.

To whom, Tiago said to himself like he was practicing it. To whom.

I think any other bunch of kids would have started happy-dancing and acting crazy because there weren’t going to be any grown-ups around. But we weren’t any other kids.

I heard Amari say that’s stupid so quietly that I wondered if I was hearing things. Then he said, We could be talking in class if we wanted to be talking. You trying to change the art room into the A-R-T-T room—A Room To Talk.

That’s tight, Ashton said. He and Amari pounded fists. I like that.

Ms. Laverne clapped once and pointed at Amari. You. Are. Brilliant.

I could have come up with that. Holly rolled her eyes. I could have added an R and thrown an acronym out there. She said acronym loudly, making sure Ms. Laverne heard.

Nice use of the word, Holly, Ms. Laverne said. Okay, so because the art room is now the A-R-T-T room, no one gets in trouble for talking here. You get in trouble for taking out your phone. You get in trouble for being disrespectful—

How’re you gonna know if you’re not in here with us? Amari asked her.

I’ll know.

And we all knew she was telling the truth. Teachers knew things. That’s all there was to it.

Well, what if I don’t have anything to say to anybody? Amari asked.

Ms. Laverne laughed again. Since when do you not have anything to say, Amari? She shook her head and waved her hand to include all of us. I can’t believe you all are so resistant. I’m giving you an hour. To chat! You get in trouble for this every single day. How many times do I have to say ‘No talking’? Now I’m saying, ‘Talk!’

Amari tried to hide his smile but he didn’t do a great job of it. Okay . . . I’m vibing it. The old art room is the new A-R-T-T room, y’all.

And I bet you can draw in here too, if you want, Ashton said to him.

Ms. Laverne nodded. Draw, talk. And yes, Amari—the A-R-T-T room is beyond clever.

Like I said, anybody could have thought of that, Holly said.

Yeah—but I see YOU didn’t, Amari said.

And like I said, Ms. Laverne told us, in this room we won’t be unkind.

She started it—

Doesn’t matter, Amari.

I just want to get it straight, Ashton said. So, school now ends at two o’clock on Fridays?

He had pale white skin like my uncle, and hair that always fell into his eyes. Even as he asked, he was holding it back with his hand. Once Holly had said to him, Just cut it already, and his ears turned bright red. My own hair had always been bright red, but lately it had started getting darker and kinkier. If Holly’s mother didn’t braid it for me, I just pulled it back into a sloppy ponytail that frizzed all around my face.

Jeez, Ashton! Holly said. That’s not what she’s saying. This is so not deep, people.

I just don’t really understand why we’re going into another room, Ashton said, by ourselves.

I think, looking back on that day now, that’s the line that will always stay with me—another room, by ourselves. How many other rooms by ourselves have we walked into since that day—even if they weren’t real rooms and we didn’t know that’s what we were doing?

I stood there thinking about my father. In six months or a year—I didn’t know exactly when—I’d be walking into another room, the one where my father lived with me. And as I stood there, Esteban was inside the room where he didn’t know where his dad was. He glanced at me. That day, no one but Holly knew that my dad was in prison. I felt like I was betraying Esteban. Like I should have been standing next to him, saying, Hey, it’s gonna be okay. But I couldn’t. I couldn’t tell the truth about my dad to help him. So I looked down at my skirt and thought about rooms. I wondered about Tiago, Holly, Amari and Ashton—what were the rooms for them? What did they hide inside those rooms? Another room, I thought. We are always entering another room.

That day, Ms. Laverne pushed us out—from the Familiar to the Unfamiliar.

It felt like an hour passed as she waited for us to say something. I looked at the clock. The second hand made an echoing sound when it ticked. It was five minutes past two. Fifty-five minutes left.

You can do this, Ashton. You all can do this, Ms. Laverne finally said. And with that, she walked away. With that, she let us go.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Nancy Paulsen Books; First Edition (August 28, 2018)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 192 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0399252525
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0399252525
Reading age ‏ : ‎ 10 - 12 years, from customers
Lexile measure ‏ : ‎ 630L
Grade level ‏ : ‎ 5 - 6
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 11.2 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.75 x 0.73 x 8.56 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #264,244 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #453 in Children's Books on Disabilities
- #801 in Children's Black & African American Story Books
- #7,754 in Children's Family Life Books (Books)

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4.6 1,497 ratings

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Jacqueline Woodson

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Jacqueline Woodson's memoir BROWN GIRL DREAMING won the 2014 National Book Award and was a NY Times Bestseller. Her novel, ANOTHER BROOKLYN, was a National Book Award finalist and an Indie Pick in 2016. Among her many awards, she the recipient of the Kurt Vonnegut Award, four Newbery Honors, two Coretta Scott King Award, and the Langston Hughes Medal. Jacqueline is the author of nearly thirty books for young people and adults including EACH KINDNESS, IF YOU COME SOFTLY, LOCOMOTION and I HADN'T MEANT TO TELL YOU THIS. She served as Young People's Poet Laureate from 2014-2016, was a fellow at The American Library in Paris, occasionally writes for the New York Times, is currently working on more books and like so many writers - lives with her family in Brooklyn, New York.

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Customers find the book engaging and well-crafted. They find the story topical and relevant, addressing important themes and life lessons. Readers praise the writing style as great and beautiful. The book is described as genuine, honest, and a sweet story about being a safe space for friends.

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27 customers mention "Readability"24 positive3 negative

Customers find the book engaging and interesting to read. They describe it as an uplifting story about children's resilience. Readers praise it as one of the best books of the year and a quick, powerful read.

"...Harbor Me is a short quick powerful read, which will leave you believing that Woodson could find a way to solve all of our country's problems...." Read more

"...Her words resonate deeply, and she possesses an extraordinary ability to tap into timely, almost desperate situations in a manner appropriate and..." Read more

"Just read this book and it is amazing!!! Truly Amazing!!..." Read more

"great book!!!" Read more

21 customers mention "Reading age"21 positive0 negative

Customers find the book suitable for readers from middle school to adult. They say it's relatable and helps kids understand situations. The book is described as an essential read for students, teachers, and parents.

"...in 4th grade and up; however, it would be an excellent tie-in to the fifth-grade curriculum (in South Carolina). #BookPosse" Read more

"...covers such important topics in a delicate way and from an honest perspective of children...." Read more

"...A fantastic read for 10 yr olds and up." Read more

"...But a must read for all 5-6 graders. Woodson is an incredible story teller!!!!! Can’t wait to read her other books !!!" Read more

18 customers mention "Storytelling"18 positive0 negative

Customers enjoy the engaging and well-crafted story. They find it uplifting and poignant, with a tenderness that readers appreciate. The story is considered an important novel for young readers.

"...Through Woodson’s evocative prose and magical storytelling, we watch the children become safe harbors for one another, their initial apprehension..." Read more

"...But a must read for all 5-6 graders. Woodson is an incredible story teller!!!!! Can’t wait to read her other books !!!" Read more

"An important and engaging story. Characters that are rich and messages about the real struggles we’re facing in this country right now...." Read more

"I like the tenderness of this story. Even though the children disagreed occasionally, they grew as individuals and as a group...." Read more

16 customers mention "Topical content"16 positive0 negative

Customers find the book's content relevant and thought-provoking. They appreciate the life lessons and themes it explores. The characters are described as rich and relatable, with messages about real struggles in the US. Overall, readers describe the book as uplifting and beautifully dealing with issues faced by teens.

"...What I love most about this novel is how Woodson tackles these important topics; six students spend an hour every Friday afternoon in a classroom..." Read more

"...It covers such important topics in a delicate way and from an honest perspective of children...." Read more

"...written, wholeheartedly true, absolutely crushing and sad yet providing hope, Jacqueline Woodson reaches the to the depths of the souls of her..." Read more

"Just read this book and it is amazing!!! Truly Amazing!! So relevant to what is happening in our world right now and will have my 5th grade students..." Read more

15 customers mention "Writing style"15 positive0 negative

Customers enjoy the writing style. They find the story moving and beautifully told with beautiful words that resonate deeply. The author's ability to tap into desperate situations with a magical lyrical brush is amazing. The book is current and sends an awesome message, touching readers with its honest discussion of feelings and the importance of friendship.

"...to break down the imaginary walls between them simply by honestly discussing their feelings...." Read more

"...Her words resonate deeply, and she possesses an extraordinary ability to tap into timely, almost desperate situations in a manner appropriate and..." Read more

"...Beautifully written, wholeheartedly true, absolutely crushing and sad yet providing hope, Jacqueline Woodson reaches the to the depths of the souls..." Read more

"...With Harbor Me, in her wonderful writing style, she has given us another beautiful book that touches the heart...." Read more

6 customers mention "Beauty"6 positive0 negative

Customers enjoy the book's beauty. They find the story dynamic, subtle, and realistic. The book provides great representation that will help kids feel included.

"...could live in one of Jacqueline Woodson's books because they are so full of beauty...." Read more

"...Harbor Me is stunning...." Read more

"This is the second book by Jacqueline Woodson I have read and it was beautiful. Masterful storytelling...." Read more

"...It's also great for representation -- I think this will help a lot of kids feel like they are finally seeing characters like themselves in a book!" Read more

5 customers mention "Authenticity"5 positive0 negative

Customers appreciate the book's authenticity. They find it genuine, true, and honest.

"...Beautifully written, wholeheartedly true, absolutely crushing and sad yet providing hope, Jacqueline Woodson reaches the to the depths of the souls..." Read more

"...about the book was the relationships between the children as they felt authentic. There are disagreements, harsh words, kindness, and bonding...." Read more

"...This story is dynamic and subtle and real. The best advice I can offer you is to read it...especially if you work with youth." Read more

"An honest, sweet story about being a safe space for your friends and peers. I highly recommend." Read more

5 customers mention "Friendship"5 positive0 negative

Customers enjoy the friendships in the book. They say the students form a unique friendship, care for each other, and have authentic relationships. The relationships feel genuine, with disagreements, kindness, and bonding.

"...A group of six sixth-grade students forms a unique friendship when put together in an experimental school program called ARTT (A Room to Talk)..." Read more

"...But even more, there is power and beauty and friendship and courage and hope. This is a must read book...." Read more

"...They were able to respect and care for each other...." Read more

"What a powerful story about the importance of friendship and feeling like you are heard. I think this should be required reading for students...." Read more

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Mandy Stallard
A Lyrical must-read
Reviewed in the United States on June 24, 2019
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I wish I could live in one of Jacqueline Woodson's books because they are so full of beauty. Even when she is writing about heartbreaking events, she finds a way to paint the most desperate situation with her magical lyrical brush. Harbor Me is a short quick powerful read, which will leave you believing that Woodson could find a way to solve all of our country's problems. This novel explores the way we view and treat each other in this country. She manages to explore all the hot-button political issues through the lens of fifth and sixth grade "special" students. These topics include racism, immigration, rich vs. poor, the separation of families, and having an incarcerated parent. How she managed to pack so much depth in such a small book is beyond me, but let me tell you, folks, she did!

What I love most about this novel is how Woodson tackles these important topics; six students spend an hour every Friday afternoon in a classroom talking to each other without any adults present. While one might think kids this age would talk about trivial things, these students truly open up to one another and talk about their preconceived notions of one another based on race, appearance, accent, etc. They find a way to break down the imaginary walls between them simply by honestly discussing their feelings. If only all adults could be so honest with one another, we would probably have a lot less stress in our lives. This book is a perfect spring broad into discussions about equal rights or the lack thereof in this country. Teachers should feel comfortable sharing this book with students in 4th grade and up; however, it would be an excellent tie-in to the fifth-grade curriculum (in South Carolina).

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Happily Ever Elephants
An unbelievably timely and important novel that ever tween should read!
Reviewed in the United States on October 10, 2018
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Wow. WOW. It is not very often that I finish a book and want nothing more then to pick it right back up again, flip back to page 1, and read it cover to cover just one more time. But that’s exactly how I felt when I put down Harbor Me, a stunning new novel by Jacqueline Woodson. If I have said it once, I’ve said it a thousand times: Woodson is a gift to literature. Her words resonate deeply, and she possesses an extraordinary ability to tap into timely, almost desperate situations in a manner appropriate and gentle enough for young kids to grasp.

In Harbor Me, six children are taken to their school’s old art room and told it’s a place for them to have a weekly chat— without teachers, thus making it totally unmonitored. The six kids, from varying walks of life, are hesitant at first. They each have their stories, but is it safe? Can they open up to one another? The room becomes dubbed the ARTT room, an acronym for “a room to talk,” and soon enough, their stories begin. As their connections develop and their words bridge divides, the students realize that sharing their stories could be the very thing they needed to give them the strength to handle circumstances that once made them feel so desperately alone.

Harbor Me is stunning. At once both a coming of age story and an exploration of how America’s political and social challenges affect children daily, Woodson’s words ground us firmly in the ARTT room as the kids struggle to comprehend both their identities as individuals as well as their places in society. These children are America’s children. They are OUR children- children affected by the headlines pervasive in our country today including immigration, deportation, incarcerated parents, and the black lives matter movement. These children are in our homes and schools, and their confidence and self worth is being shaken regularly due to government regulations, racial profiling and harmful ignorance. Through Woodson’s evocative prose and magical storytelling, we watch the children become safe harbors for one another, their initial apprehension slowly turning into compassion, connection and perhaps most importantly, courage.

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32 people found this helpful

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Anna
beautifully written story
Reviewed in the United States on July 15, 2022
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I am a school counselor and typically use picture books, but wanted to read a chapter book to consider using as part of a 5th grade small group book study. I have read through this so quickly and don’t see how I could not start the small group now that I’ve read it. It covers such important topics in a delicate way and from an honest perspective of children. I can’t wait to see how invested my 5th grade students are when we read this together! I absolutely love Jacqueline Woodson and am so grateful to find this book to add to my collection!

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6 people found this helpful

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James R. Gilligan
Heavier-than-usual middle grades novel
Reviewed in the United States on September 21, 2021
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Jacqueline Woodson certainly believes that tweens are capable of reading about some rather weighty issues—parental incarceration, race, socioeconomic inequities, immigration and deportation, and the painful consequences these issues can have on youngsters.

Harbor Me tells the deceptively simple story of six “special” middle school students (none of whom are fooled by the euphemism) who are allowed to spend an hour each Friday afternoon in a classroom by themselves (with no adults) to just…talk. In the process, they get to know each other better than they ever imagined—sharing secrets, fears, hopes, sadness and joy. The bond that develops among them is genuine and realistic. Told from the perspective of Haley, one member of the “special” six, Harbor Me shows precisely how sensitive young adults learn empathy and mature.

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2 people found this helpful

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c
A fantastic read
Reviewed in the United States on June 15, 2021
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When "special" kids get put in a class together with a teacher who understands them, they find a place where they fit in. Beautifully written, wholeheartedly true, absolutely crushing and sad yet providing hope, Jacqueline Woodson reaches the to the depths of the souls of her characters and welcomes the reader to join in their struggles, their learning, their growing and their acceptance of reality. A fantastic read for 10 yr olds and up.

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Top reviews from other countries

Kim
Would recommend
Reviewed in Canada on January 8, 2022
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Bought this book for class and I enjoyed it. Really nice to see young kids talk about their issues and try to help each other out

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roger
ok
Reviewed in Germany on June 2, 2021
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ok

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Placeholder
Very interesting reading
Reviewed in India on August 8, 2019
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Good reading.

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Sachin
Good
Reviewed in India on November 7, 2020
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Book is good but it's for young children

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Harbor Me Hardcover – August 28, 2018

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Poor quality binding and printing job- can't even read the book!

Top reviews from the United States

There was a problem filtering reviews. Please reload the page.

5.0 out of 5 stars A Lyrical must-read

5.0 out of 5 stars An unbelievably timely and important novel that ever tween should read!

5.0 out of 5 stars beautifully written story

4.0 out of 5 stars Heavier-than-usual middle grades novel

5.0 out of 5 stars A fantastic read

Top reviews from other countries

5.0 out of 5 stars Would recommend

4.0 out of 5 stars ok

5.0 out of 5 stars Very interesting reading

4.0 out of 5 stars Good

A Lyrical must-read

An unbelievably timely and important novel that ever tween should read!

beautifully written story

Heavier-than-usual middle grades novel

A fantastic read

Would recommend

ok

Very interesting reading

Good