Woodson, Jacquline. Feathers. New York: G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 2007. ISBN 9780399239892
PLOT SUMMARY
Feathers opens with Frannie explaining her confusion over Dickinson’s description of hope as a “thing with feathers.” Over the course of the book, however, Frannie begins to understand hope as a multifaceted thing. She feels hope in the white child that shows up suddenly at the all black school she attends in the 1970s. She feels hope in her much admired older brother who perseveres through peer rejection because he is deaf. She feels hope in her best friend who holds fast to her faith in God despite poverty and disappointment. Finally, she feels hope within her own family as together they face their mother’s new pregnancy after miscarriage. In Feathers Frannie comes of age as she discovers the importance of having, experiencing, and holding on to hope in the everyday.
CRITICAL ANALYSIS
Jacqueline Woodson’s beautifully written book is the story of keeping hope despite life's setbacks and circumstances.
Frannie, the book’s main protagonist, is a sixth grade girl that is well loved by her family. Although she wishes for some of her best friend Samantha’s gracefulness or the “dark, pretty skin” of her father, Frannie is pleasantly self-assured for her young age.
Frannie’s family is tested when her mother finds out she is pregnant. Scared that her mother will have another miscarriage, Frannie begins to obsess over everything that could go wrong. It is with the support of her family, however, that Frannie comes to understand how to let go of her worry and see “each moment” as a “thing with feathers.”
The 1971, post segregation New York setting influences the culture and language of Feathers. The Black Panther's impact can be seen when Frannie’s brother picks his hair into an afro and makes the "Black Power sign." Students in Frannie’s classes “jive” and call each other “cat” and “my brother.” Although segregation has ended, students that are white live and go to school on one side of town, and students that are black live and go to school on the other side.
The new student, Jesus Boy, causes a disruption to the status quo when he shows up to Frannie's school one January morning. He is hard to place into a category and this troubles his fellow students. He appears white, but identifies himself as black. Frannie is immediately drawn to the new boy at school, but others are not as immediately accepting. His arrival poses the question of what it means to be black and how one lives in two worlds (black/white).
Feathers is a insightful novel that delves into the human desire for belonging and the need to hold onto hope.
REVIEW EXCERPTS
BookList: “Woodson tells her story with immediacy and realism”
The Horn Book: “Woodson deftly, even lyrically, weaves some large ideas through her story”
Kirkus Reviews: “Woodson captures perfectly the questions and yearnings of a girl perched on the edge of adolescence”
Publishers Weekly, Starred Review: “Woodson's novel skillfully weaves in the music and events surrounding the rising opposition to the Vietnam War, giving this gentle, timeless story depth”
CONNECTIONS
Read everyday poems told from a child’s point of view, from celebrated poet Greenfield.
Greenfield, Eloise. Honey, I Love. ISBN: 9780064430975
Read another child’s perspective of the same historical time period in One Crazy Summer.
Williams-Garcia, Rita. One Crazy Summer. ISBN: 9780060760908
Read about two friends and their summer following desegregation in the South in Freedom Summer.
Wiles, Deborah. Freedom Summer. ISBN: 978-0689878299
Read about one boy’s experience of going with his deaf father to meet famous African-American baseball player Jackie Robinson.
Uhlberg, Myron. Dad, Jackie, and Me. ISBN: 9781561455317
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