Feathers ****1/2

Woodson, Jacqueline. Feathers. 2007.

This is a Newbery Honor Book.

This was a great book. I normally only read books aimed at HS students, but this book was a Newbery Honor book so I thought I would read it anyway. No high school student would be interested in this book at all, but younger readers would.

Frannie is going through a lot. She lives on the side of town where all of the black people live. Her brother is deaf. Her mother has lost babies in the past and is pregnant again. A new white boy moves in and is the only white boy at their school. Because of his long hair, people start calling him Jesus Boy. Immediately, some of the school bullies start to give him a hard time. Frannie feels a connection to him but doesn't want to get involved and become a target of the bullies herself.

Frannie is an honest and flawed character. She is easy to like and her story should keep readers interested.