Feathers is a children’s historical novel by young adult fiction American writer Jacqueline Woodson that was first published in 2007. It was a Newbery Honor winner in 2008. The story is about a sixth grade girl named Frannie growing up in the 1970s.
One day an unexpected new student causes much chaos and tension to the class because he is the only white boy in the whole urban all African American school. He is soon dubbed “Jesus Boy” as some of the students believe that he is Jesus and others simply hope he is.
He is very quiet even when Trevor, the class bully, picks on him because he is the only one who is lighter skinned than himself (Trevor has a white father who left his mother before he was even born). He just calmly talks to him and never retaliates.
Jesus Boy knows sign language which intrigues Frannie since she has known sign language her whole life, growing up with a deaf older brother who is very sensitive to how people treat and perceive him. She is however hesitant about being friends with him because she does not understand him and she is torn because she knows how difficult it can be to be the new kid, but she does not want to stand out.
Frannie’s best friend Samantha believes that Jesus Boy truly is Jesus Christ and that he has come in this time of war. During all that is going on Frannie onstantly thinks of the poem by Emily Dickinson she read in class that said "hope is the thing with feathers". One day changes everything though and at the end, Frannie reflects on all that has been happening in her life.
She thinks of her mother’s baby, her brother, Samantha’s loss of faith, and, especially, Jesus Boy. She remembers the poem and decides “each moment, I am thinking, is a thing with feathers”. The book grapples with hard concepts such as religion, racism, hope, disabilities, and understanding. Feathers examines what it was like to grow up right after segregation had been outlawed, how all people are equal, and that hope is everywhere.
One day an unexpected new student causes much chaos and tension to the class because he is the only white boy in the whole urban all African American school. He is soon dubbed “Jesus Boy” as some of the students believe that he is Jesus and others simply hope he is.He is very quiet even when Trevor, the class bully, picks on him because he is the only one who is lighter skinned than himself (Trevor has a white father who left his mother before he was even born). He just calmly talks to him and never retaliates.
Jesus Boy knows sign language which intrigues Frannie since she has known sign language her whole life, growing up with a deaf older brother who is very sensitive to how people treat and perceive him. She is however hesitant about being friends with him because she does not understand him and she is torn because she knows how difficult it can be to be the new kid, but she does not want to stand out.
Frannie’s best friend Samantha believes that Jesus Boy truly is Jesus Christ and that he has come in this time of war. During all that is going on Frannie onstantly thinks of the poem by Emily Dickinson she read in class that said "hope is the thing with feathers". One day changes everything though and at the end, Frannie reflects on all that has been happening in her life.
She thinks of her mother’s baby, her brother, Samantha’s loss of faith, and, especially, Jesus Boy. She remembers the poem and decides “each moment, I am thinking, is a thing with feathers”. The book grapples with hard concepts such as religion, racism, hope, disabilities, and understanding. Feathers examines what it was like to grow up right after segregation had been outlawed, how all people are equal, and that hope is everywhere.
