If You Come Softly | Jacqueline Woodson

Book: If You Come Softly

Author: Jacqueline Woodson

Age Rating: young adult (12+)

Page Count: 224 pages

Star Review: 5/5 stars

Summary: Jeremiah feels good inside his own skin. That is, when he's in his own Brooklyn neighborhood. But now he's going to be attending a fancy prep school in Manhattan, and black teenage boys don't exactly fit there. So it's a surprise when he meets Ellie the first week of school. In one frozen moment their eyes lock and they know that they fit together-- even though 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 has to get in their way.

Memorable Quote: "Time comes to us softly, slowly. It sits beside us for a while. Then, long before we are ready, it moves on."

This book was incredibly touching. I wish I read it sooner, to be completely and totally honest because though the book was in fact short, every second was gorgeous and perfectly sculpted. I fell in love the moment I opened the book with the readable-ness of it and the realness. This book will totally stay with me for a long while and I know that I want to read it again in the near future.

This book was a quick read, I finished it in less than two days. While it's short in general, the chapters are also short which was always something that kinda decided how fast I'd be finishing the book. It's a good book for when you want/need to finish something in a really short amount of time. And then I personally adored the way Woodson formatted her chapters, with Jeremiah's being in third person and Ellie's being in first person. It was unexpected, but a very smart move and helped shape many things that happened later in the book, strangely enough. It was apart of the book I greatly enjoyed.

Furthermore, the characters were all amazing. They were very different than most books I read or at least they felt different. The way they spoke was quite different, but I enjoyed it, nevertheless. I enjoyed the way the book spoke about racism especially when they spoke about Miah's friend Carlton, and how he had a white parent and a black parent. It was very real and raw in that sense which is something I always like in a book. These are important issues that must be mentioned, like when people see Miah and Ellie together, they would always shoot glares at them. It's important to realize that racism towards inter-racial marriage/dating is something that still exists, as sad as it is and something that needs to stop. People love who they love and it's not our decision if someone else is in a relationship.

Would I recommend? YES!!!