Feathers by Jacqueline Wooson
Eleven year old Frannie goes to an all black school and lives on the other side of the highway, the black side. When a white boy with long curly hair started attending her sixth grade class her perception in life started to change. The class started calling him Jesus Boy because of his resemblance to Jesus and she was surprised that he was comfortable and not afraid of being around all black students. The school bully thought he could take advantage of him, but he soon realized that this cool cat was not about to let anyone insult him or get in his face. What they were soon going to find out is that both his parents are black (he was adopted). He used to live on the white side of the highway but the people on that side were treating his family unfairly. Frannie relates his struggles with her older brother, Sean. Sean is deaf and is not accepted by the hearing girls. He wishes he could be accepted in both worlds: the hearing and the deaf. Throughout the story, Frannie ponders on the poem by Emily Dickinson,"Hope is the thing with feathers." As all these events are unfolding around her (Sean and Jesus boy seen as different and Frannie's mother is expecting a baby) she realizes that each moment is a thing with feathers. I highly recommend this book to middle and upper grades. The book was an easy read and students can learn about the barriers that existed in the 1970's and how they still exist today. I feel that students can learn from this novel. They can learn that it is not easy to be accepted by today's society because of a disability, color of your skin, not wearing the latest trends, and just for being slightly different. I also feel that students can analyze themselves in the way they react towards someone that is different from them and give them a chance in being their friend.
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