Review : If You Come Softly by Jacqueline Woodson

*Warning: This review may contain spoilers. Read at your own risk.

Publisher: Penguin Group (USA) Incorporated
Release Date: January 1998
Pages: 208
Source: Borrowed

The Story:

Jeremiah is confident about who he is -- that is, when he's in his own Brooklyn neighborhood. But when he starts attending a fancy prep school in Manhattan, he realizes that black teenage boys don't exactly fit in there. So it's a surprise when, during his first week of school, he feels an immediate connection with a white girl named Ellie. In one frozen moment their eyes lock, and after that they know they belong together -- despite the fact that 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 feels differently.

--via Barnes & Noble

Rating: FOUR Gold Stars!!!!

My Review: One word: HEARTWRENCHING

Elisha Sidney Eisen and Jeremiah Roselind are both 15 and attend Percy Academy -- a school neither wanted to attend in the first place. Elisha is a white Jewish girl and Jeremiah is a black boy from the wrong side of the tracks. Love strikes them the first time they lay eyes on each other. It's no surprise when they find themselves facing people who don't want them together.

But as many of us know, not all love ends as the highly sought happily ever after. One fateful day. One crime. One case of mistaken identity ... Pick up a copy and see how Jeremiah and Elisha's story ends.

Having read this novel when I was in middle school, I still believe If You Come Softly is an extraordinary novel. A novel that touches on one of many racial dilemmas people -- for example, interracial couples -- are faced with on a daily basis. Jacqueline Woodson's book is a must read!

Here is one of my favorite quotes from If You Come Softly:

"Ellie smiled, then leaned forward and kissed him again. A black woman eyed them suspiciously... Jeremiah felt Ellie's hand close tighter around his own." [Pages 130-131]

***Check out Jacqueline Woodson's website for more information about her and the If You Come Softly: HERE

Happy Reading!