7. If You Come Softly

Woodson, Jacqueline. If You Come Softly. New York: Penguin Group. 1998. Print.


Annotation:

At first sight, Ellie, who is white and Miah (Jeremiah), who is black bump into each other in the hallway of their private high school and fall in love. Being together does not make things any better while both of them have to deal with the reality of an inter-racial relationship.



Justification for Nomination:

This is a story that sticks with a reader even after it ends. Jaqueline Woodson has created a love story between Ellie and Miah so heartbreakingly painful that one cannot help, but to fall in love with their story. Ellie struggles with telling her family the truth about Miah and when she decides to tell her sister, Anne, who is in a same-sex relationship, she brings up the issue of race. No matter what other people say or how they react to Ellie and Miah, the both of them know that they love each other and will seek this through together.

Woodson has structured a plot so beautifully written. Her descriptive writing of Ellie and Miah's emotions are so profound and clear that readers will find themselves feeling these very same emotions. They will feel the love that Ellie and Miah had for each other and readers will hurt the way they hurt for each other. This is a story with love, pain, race, culture, social-class, family, identity, friendship and trust. It is a calling for a movement in itself. Woodson has carved a masterpiece that every young adult can relate to. Moreover, this is a novel that is recommended for everyone to read to understand that no matter how different the world has changed, historical issues are timeless and sometimes, the world that we live in is just not so different from the past.


Genre: Multicultural; Identity; Romance

"If you come softly 
as the wind within the trees
You may hear what I hear
See what sorrow sees"