Before the Ever After by Jacqueline Woodson
From the Desk of Zoe Washington by Janae Marks
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Clean Getaway by Nic Stone Before the Ever After by Jacqueline Woodson From the Desk of Zoe Washington by Janae Marks While this chapter book might be picked up by third and fourth graders because of the larger font and sentence spacing on the page and the simpler black and white illustrations, I found this to be a powerful book that deals with mature issues that would make it a better fit for fifth graders and up through middle school students. Simply put, the story follows Scoob as he goes on a road trip with his grandmother in a luxurious camper through the South stopping at places in the Travelers Green Book. The first important thing Stone does is to educate us about this real book, which was an invaluable resource for black travelers as they negotiated places to visit that helped to keep them distanced from segregation, discrimination and violence as they traveled. The next thing Stone does is to reveal many important issues and problems surrounding biracial children, interracial marriage, dying grandparents, jail sentencing, parent abandonment, guilt and memories. What’s striking is that Stone shares all of this important stuff AND writes a good story filled with humor and adventure and history and love that keep kids involved. As the book continues, the family history unravels as Scoob comes to understand the underlying story of systemic racism and its impact on him, his beloved grandmother and his caring, strict father. Nic Stone writes a good story that one can read simply as a humorous road trip or an important family story of many levels. This is a powerful novel, written in verse, of a boy coming to terms with his father, a Super Bowl football hero who is forgetting stuff and feeling moody. The boy is surrounded by three loyal friends who help him get through this very difficult time as it becomes clear that the father has CTE (chronic traumatic encephalopathy) due to too many concussions and hits on the brain. This book has no happily ever after but it expertly conveys the strong sense of bravely going forth and moving on while dealing with life’s problems. This middle grade chapter book shows how our parameters about certain subject matter, deemed inappropriate for this age group, have expanded. The author, Janae Marks, does an excellent job sharing the hard topic of parental imprisonment while also giving readers a thoughtful character and story about friendship, family and independence. On her twelfth birthday, Zoe Washington receives a letter from her father who is in prison and hides it from her mother who believes that Zoe should have nothing to do with this man who has been declared guilty of killing someone. Against this opposition, Zoe is helped by her grandmother and her used-to-be best friend, the boy next store. Although Zoe is scared and confused, she and the man who is her father, write letters to each other and work hard to develop a trusting relationship. During the course of this story, Zoe does some secretive and what might be seen as dangerous things to find out the truth about her incarcerated father. While doing this she declares her independence from her mother and navigates a friendship with a boy. She learns about The Innocence Project, a real organization that works to free people from prison who have been declared guilty but are in fact innocent. (My only regret with this book is that Marks did not add a link to this organization and share a bit more about its importance.) Marks tackles the tough topic of imprisonment and racist, prejudicial attitudes towards people of color as seen through the eyes of a pre-adolescent black child. What makes this book work for middle grade children is that it is an easy to read story about a regular kid. The story line balances a difficult, realistic situation with Zoe’s passion for baking, her search for a brand new tasting cupcake recipe and her developing relationship with a boy. ( I also wish that Marks added a recipe for this cupcake at the end of the book.) I suspect there is more to come from Zoe’s desk. Her character is a welcome addition to middle grade books.
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Author For 29 years I had the best job as School Librarian in the Aaron Kushner Library for grades Pre K-3 at the Solomon Schechter Day School of Greater Boston. Although I am retired, I remain Lori the Librarian. Archives
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