Feathers

Feathers by Jaqueline Woodson is a Newbery Honor book.

This is a little book that packs inside its cover a very big story.  The story of Frannie and her hearing imparied brother Sean is one that shows how delicate relationships are and how each relationship leaves its mark on your world.  Frannie and her family live in a large city in the early 1970's and even though the city and school are not segregated, the concept is lost on the city where the black families live on one side of the highway and the white families on the other.  When a new white boy comes into Frannie's class, it rocks everyone's world as he doesn't seem to belong, but somehow does.  Everyone from the good-goody girl to the school bully is taken by the mysterious, new boy who eventually makes his way in his new world.  I connected with this book in many ways because not only have I been the new kid in class, I have also been the one who stood up for someone without knowing them against the bully.  The relationships between Frannie and her family and her friends are so simple yet also seem so complex.  I love the way it is written so that you delve into Frannie's deepest thoughts and understand her fears, and see her understand the symbolism in the feathers. 

Woodson, J. (2007). Feathers . New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons.