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If You Come Softly Paperback – January 7, 2010
Jacqueline Woodson (Author) Find all the books, read about the author, and more. See search results for this author |
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A lyrical story of star-crossed love perfect for readers of The Hate U Give, by National Ambassador for Children’s Literature Jacqueline Woodson
Jeremiah feels good inside his own skin. That is, when he's in his own Brooklyn neighborhood. But now he's going to be attending a fancy prep school in Manhattan, and black teenage boys don't exactly fit in there. So it's a surprise when he meets Ellie the first week of school. In one frozen moment their eyes lock, and after that they know they fit together--even though she's Jewish and he's black. Their worlds are so different, but to them that's not what matters. Too bad the rest of the world has to get in their way.
Jacqueline Woodson's work has been called “moving and resonant” (Wall Street Journal) and “gorgeous” (Vanity Fair). Now celebrating its twentieth anniversary, and including a new preface by the author, If You Come Softly is a powerful story of interracial love that leaves readers wondering "why" and "if only . . ."
- Reading age12 - 17 years
- Print length224 pages
- LanguageEnglish
- Grade level7 - 9
- Lexile measureHL570L
- Dimensions5.5 x 0.38 x 8.19 inches
- PublisherNancy Paulsen Books
- Publication dateJanuary 7, 2010
- ISBN-100142415227
- ISBN-13978-0142415221
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Editorial Reviews
Review
"Woodson infuses their romance with the emotional urgency that defines her work and a prescient sense of social justice."--TIME MAGAZINE
* "Once again, Woodson handles delicate, even explosive subject matter with exceptional clarity, surety and depth. In this contemporary story about an interracial romance, she seems to slip effortlessly into the skins of both her main characters. . . . Both voices convincingly describe the couple's love-at-first-sight meeting and the gradual building of their trust. The intensity of their emotions will make hearts flutter, then ache as evidence mounts that Ellie's and Jeremiah's 'perfect' love exists in a deeply flawed society. Even as Woodson's lyrical prose draws the audience into the tenderness of young love, her perceptive comments about race and racism will strike a chord with black readers and open the eyes of white readers."--Publishers Weekly, starred review
"Woodson offers readers a poetically conceived novel of young love, permeated with complications of family dynamics, racism, and violence. . . . Woodson unerringly limns the delicate intensity and passionate innocence of first love. . . . The two points of view effectively communicate the loneliness of the two sensitive teenagers and their breathless delight in discovering one another. Characterization is solid and well-developed as both parents and frirends focus into reality through the eyes of Miah and Ellie. Their conversations ever so gently open up issues of racism, self-awareness, and moral consciousness."--The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books
"Woodson perceptively explores varieties of love, trust, and friendship, as she develops well-articulated histories for both families. . . . A tale as rich in social and personal insight as any of Woodson's previous books."--Kirkus Reviews
"Lyrical narrative. . . . This fine author once again shows her gift for penning a novel that will ring true with young adults as it makes subtle comments on social situations."--School Library Journal
"As in all her fiction, Woodson confronts prejudice head-on."--Booklist
"Gracefully told."--KLIATT
About the Author
Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
I couldn’t stop looking at him, at his smile and his hair. I had never seen locks up close. His were thick and black and spiraling down over his shoulders. I wanted to touch them, to touch his face. I wanted to hear him say his name again. For a moment we stared at each other, neither of us saying anything. There was something familiar about him, something I had seen before. I blinked, embarrassed suddenly, and turned away from him.
Then Jeremiah rose and I rose.
“Well . . . good-bye. I guess . . . I guess I’ll see you around,” he said softly, looking at me a moment longer before turning away and heading down the hall, his locks bouncing gently against his shoulders.
“Jeremiah,” I whispered to myself as I walked away from him. I could feel his name, settling around me, as though I was walking in a mist of it, of him, of Jeremiah.
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Product details
- Publisher : Nancy Paulsen Books; Reprint edition (January 7, 2010)
- Language : English
- Paperback : 224 pages
- ISBN-10 : 0142415227
- ISBN-13 : 978-0142415221
- Reading age : 12 - 17 years
- Lexile measure : HL570L
- Grade level : 7 - 9
- Item Weight : 7.2 ounces
- Dimensions : 5.5 x 0.38 x 8.19 inches
- Best Sellers Rank: #28,426 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- Customer Reviews:
About the author

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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Reviewed in the United States on July 11, 2021
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Honestly, I have no words, other than to say, after I closed the book, I sat and I cried, and I cried. I can't even tell you how long I cried.
This is a relatively short story, focusing on the relationship between Ellie and Micah, which occurs over a few short months. It is also the story of each teen's relationship with their parents and family.
This book is fillled with some heavy, and thought-provoking issues centered around race, family, love, and what it means to truly see another person for what is inside their heart and soul.
It is beautifully written and heartbreaking, and I strongly urge all of you to read it.
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