FEATHERS

Woodson, Jacqueline.  Feathers. New York:  G. P. Putnam's Sons, 2007.  ISBN 978-0-399-23989-2.


Plot Summary

In 1971, segregation is not quite a thing of the past.  When a new boy, who appears to be white, although he claims otherwise, enters Frannie's all-black class, no one is quick to accept him with open arms.  Eleven-year-old Frannie must decide what to do as she contemplates Emily Dickinson's poem, "Hope is the Thing with Feathers."


Critical Analysis

On October 29, 1969, a decade-and-a-half after Brown v. Board of Education, the Supreme Court ordered schools to end segregation at once, in Alexander v. Holmes County Board of Education.  In 1971, informal segregation is not quite a thing of the past. Eleven-year-old Frannie and Sean, her older brother who is deaf, wonder what life is like on the other side of the highway.  Black people live on one side of the highway and attend schools on their side.  White people live on the other side of the highway and attend schools on their side.  The two don't mix...until a tall, skinny, white boy joined Frannie's all-black sixth-grade class.   The class is not thrilled to have this intruder invade their school halls, and they wonder why he doesn't go to school on the other side of the highway where he belongs.  Because of his long hair, the new white "cat" is given the nickname "Jesus Boy."  Some, including Frannie's best friend Samantha, think that perhaps this boy really is Jesus.  Frannie doesn't believe that because, according to her, "I don't be going for that church jive."  Nonetheless, Frannie forms a friendship with Jesus Boy which changes the way she looks at life.  The characters in Feathers complement each other and add to the believability of the story as a whole.

At one point Sean signs to Frannie, "Imagine if somebody built a bridge right outside our window and we could just walk across the highway and be on the other side."  Feathers looks at life in 1971 which was surrounded by prejudice and racial separation.  For the class bully, Trevor, the greatest insult was when someone mentioned that his father was white.  Races did not mix either in marriage or in day-to-day activities during this time period.  Woodson brings the racial tension alive in Feathers and allows young readers to gain a glimpse of what life was like 40 years ago. 

In addition to the tension at school, Frannie has problems at home which she has to sort out.  Frannie's mother is pregnant again.  What should be a joyous occasion scares Frannie to her core.  After Sean and Frannie, Lila was born; however, this tiny baby died before she barely had a chance to live.  A year after losing Lila, Frannie's mother had a miscarriage.  Sometime later, the Wright-Barnes family's next baby dies in utero.  Frannie's mother stayed in the hospital a long time to recover from this third tragedy.  When Frannie discovers that her mother is pregnant again, she is afraid that she will lose her, or at the very least, things will not be the same in her family.  Added to Frannie's burden is how people react to her brother being deaf.  She does not understand how people can be so cruel as to shun him as soon as they realize he is deaf.

Although words such as cat and jive are used to represent the vernacular of the time, Feathers could be set in the current decade and still seem realistic.  Even with the spattering of throw-back words, this book is one that would never go out-of-date.  Woodson has an easy-going conversational style which allows the readers to flow through the pages of the story with no trouble.  Woodson chose to have Frannie narrate much of the book.  This gives the reader the opportunity to see, not only what dilemmas the characters are facing, but also Frannie's thoughts and fears about each situation.  It is no wonder that Feathers is a Newbery Honor Book.

Racial tension, fear of losing loved ones, and the shunning of people with disabilities are all topics which are relevant today.  When Frannie is given Emily Dickinson's poem, "Hope is the Thing with Feathers," she doesn't understand it.  How can people who live in this crazy world have hope? 

 

Frannie:  "If Jesus came back to this world
-- I don't know what I'd want from him. 
I know what I'd ask, though.  I'd say, 'Mr. Jesus,
I'm sorry to bother you but I have a question. 
I wanted to know how do you have hope?'"

Hope is the theme that runs through Feathers.  Frannie's life is not easy, but her world begins to change as her friendship with Jesus Boy grows.  She realizes that dealing with life is not so much about the circumstances in which we find ourselves, rather, it's about how we react to the circumstances and people around us.  Readers today can relate to Frannie's inner struggles and learn from her journey.  Everyone has problems and obstacles to overcome in life.  Everyone is trying to cling to an ounce of hope that better things are on the horizon.  Just like Frannie, today's readers can come to realize that there is such a thing as hope.

Hope is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul,
And sings the tune without the words,
And never stops at all

Awards and Honors

Newbery Honor Book, 2008
Book Sense Children's Pick, Spring 2007
American Booksellers Association NCTE Children's Literature Assembly
        Notable Children's Books in the English Language Arts, 2008
ALSC American Library Association Notable Children's Books, 2008
National Council for Social Studies Notable Social Studies Trade Books for
        Young People, 2008
Charlie May Simon Children's Book Award Nominee, 2009-2010
Georgia Children's Book Award Nominee, 2009-2010
Maine Student Book Award Nominee, 2008-2009
Massachusetts Children's Book Award Master List, 2009-2010
South Carolina Children's Book Award Nominee, 2008-2009


Review Excerpts

"Stepped through that door white and softly as the snow," notes sixth-grader Frannie, on the arrival of a pale, long-haired boy to her predominantly black middle school on a winter day in 1971. He is dubbed the Jesus Boy by the class rowdy, and the name seems to suit the newcomer's appearance and calm demeanor. Frannie is confused, not only by declarations that he's NOT white, but that her friend Samantha, daughter of a conservative Baptist minister, also seems to believe that he is Jesus. In light of this and other surprises in her life, Frannie questions her own faith and, most of all, the meaning of the Emily Dickinson poem that she is studying in class, "Hope is a thing with feathers/that perches in the soul/…." How does she maintain hope when her newly pregnant mother has lost three babies already? She also worries about her deaf older brother, Sean, who longs to be accepted in the hearing world. She sees the anger in the bully intensify as he targets Jesus Boy. With her usual talent for creating characters who confront, reflect, and grow into their own persons, Woodson creates in Frannie a strong protagonist who thinks for herself and recognizes the value and meaning of family. The story ends with hope and thoughtfulness while speaking to those adolescents who struggle with race, faith, and prejudice. They will appreciate its wisdom and positive connections.—D. Maria LaRocco, Cuyahoga Public Library, Strongsville, OH School Library Journal, 4/1/2007

 

One wintry day, a white boy with long curly hair enters Frannie's sixth-grade classroom. "Jesus Boy" is told he's on the "wrong side of the highway," and becomes a catalyst for a shift among friends and enemies in the classroom, all observed from Frannie's point of view. She's also got her eye on things at home: Suddenly her mother is strangely weary, while her older brother, who is deaf, seems impossibly quick to recover when girls attracted to his good looks are turned off by his silence. Frannie's questions about faith, friendship and bridging differences are expressed in a vibrant and accessible narrative set in the early 70s. The theme of "hope" recurs in the description of the Black Power movement, and in Frannie's musings on the Emily Dickinson poem, "Hope is the thing with feathers." Developing this metaphor, Woodson captures perfectly the questions and yearnings of a girl perched on the edge of adolescence, a girl who readers will take into their hearts and be glad to call their friend. Kirkus Reviews, 2/1/2007

 

There's a lot going on in this small, fast-moving novel that introduces big issues--faith, class, color, prejudice, family, disability, and friendship. Woodson tells her story with immediacy and realism through the stirring first-person narrative of a young girl, Frannie, growing up in 1971. The new boy in school is the only white kid in Frannie's sixth-grade class, and she wonders why he doesn't go to the white school across the highway. He's pleased when some of the kids call him Jesus Boy, and Frannie's devout friend, Samantha, thinks he may be the savior. A few of the boys harass him, especially bullying Trevor--who looks white himself. When the new kid turns out to be far from perfect, Frannie wonders: Was he God's child? Aren't we all? In her loving home, filled with light, hope, and laughter, a deaf older brother has always enriched her life, but Frannie realizes that she still has bridges of prejudice to cross. A good choice for discussion. -- Hazel Rochman. BookList, 11/15/2006

The narrator of Woodson's 2008 Newbery Honor title is fascinated with Emily Dickinson's famous couplet Hope is the thing with feathers/ that perches in the soul. Frannie grapples with its meaning, especially after a white student joins her all-black sixth-grade classroom. Trevor, the classroom bully, nicknames him Jesus Boy, because he is pale and his hair [is] long. Frannie's best friend, a preacher's daughter, suggests that the new boy truly could be Jesus (If there was a world for Jesus to need to walk back into, wouldn't this one be it?). Set in 1971, the book raises important questions about religion and racial segregation, as well as issues surrounding the hearing-impaired.  Publisher's Weekly

 

Other Books by Jacqueline Woodson

Miracle's Boys
Visiting Day
Behind You

Visit her website for more information:  http://www.jacquelinewoodson.com/


Book Connections

With the Might of Angels:  The Diary of Dawnie Rae Johnson by Andrea
        Davis Pickney
Hope is an Open Heart by Lauren Thompson
The Smart Princess and Other Deaf Tales edited by Keelin Carey


Connection Activities

• Read the poem "Hope is the Thing with Feathers" by Emily Dickinson.  Allow students to consider the meaning of this poem and share their thoughts with the class.
• Discuss school segregation and the fallacies of "separate but equal."  Utilize the activities in The Civil Rights Movement for Kids:  A History with 21 Activities by Mary Turck, ISBN 9781556523700.  Have the students write  a report on what our school system would be like if segregation still existed today.