Most Popular Books by Jacqueline woodson

Ada Ruth''s mama must go away to Chicago to work, leaving Ada Ruth and Grandma behind. It''s war time, and women are needed to fill the men''s jobs. As winter sets in, Ada Ruth and her grandma keep up their daily routine, missing Mama all the time. They find strength in each other, and a stray kitten even arrives one day to keep them company, but nothing can fill the hole Mama left. Every day they wait, watching for the letter that says Mama will be coming on home soon. Set during World War II, Coming On Home Soon has a timeless quality that will appeal to all who wait and hope.

A #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER! Featured in its own episode in the Netflix original show Bookmarks: Celebrating Black Voices! National Book Award winner Jacqueline Woodson and two-time Pura Belpré Illustrator Award winner Rafael López have teamed up to create a poignant, yet heartening book about finding courage to connect, even when you feel scared and alone. This edition features optional audio narration for compatible ebook readers. There will be times when you walk into a room and no one there is quite like you. There are many reasons to feel different. Maybe it''s how you look or talk, or where you''re from; maybe it''s what you eat, or something just as random. It''s not easy to take those first steps into a place where nobody really knows you yet, but somehow you do it. Jacqueline Woodson''s lyrical text and Rafael López''s dazzling art reminds us that we all feel like outsiders sometimes-and how brave it is that we go forth anyway. And that sometimes, when we reach out and begin to share our stories, others will be happy to meet us halfway. (This book is also available in Spanish, as El Día En Que Descubres Quién Eres!)

Jacqueline Woodson and Rafael López''s highly anticipated companion to their #1 New York Times bestseller The Day You Begin illuminates the power in each of us to face challenges with confidence. On a dreary, stuck-inside kind of day, a brother and sister heed their grandmother’s advice: “Use those beautiful and brilliant minds of yours. Lift your arms, close your eyes, take a deep breath, and believe in a thing. Somebody somewhere at some point was just as bored you are now.” And before they know it, their imaginations lift them up and out of their boredom. Then, on a day full of quarrels, it’s time for a trip outside their minds again, and they are able to leave their anger behind. This precious skill, their grandmother tells them, harkens back to the days long before they were born, when their ancestors showed the world the strength and resilience of their beautiful and brilliant minds. Jacqueline Woodson’s lyrical text and Rafael Lopez’s dazzling art celebrate the extraordinary ability to lift ourselves up and imagine a better world.

NATIONAL BOOK AWARD WINNER • NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • The acclaimed author of Red at the Bone tells the moving story of her childhood in mesmerizing poems. A NEWBERY HONOR BOOK • WINNER OF THE CORETTA SCOTT KING BOOK AWARD • A KIRKUS REVIEWS BEST MIDDLE GRADE BOOK OF THE CENTURY “Moving and resonant . . . captivating.”—The Wall Street Journal I am born in Ohio but the stories of South Carolina already run like rivers through my veins. Raised in South Carolina and New York, Jacqueline Woodson always felt halfway home in each place. In vivid poems, she shares what it was like to grow up as an African American in the 1960s and 70s, living with the remnants of Jim Crow and her growing awareness of the Civil Rights movement. Touching and powerful, each poem is both accessible and emotionally charged, providing a glimpse into a child’s soul as she finds her voice through writing and searches for her place in the world. Teeming with feeling and deeply personal, Brown Girl Dreaming is the groundbreaking chronicle of Woodson’s journey to storytelling, and a beautiful portrayal of physical, emotional, and spiritual growth.

A lyrical story of star-crossed love perfect for readers of The Hate U Give, by National Ambassador for Children’s Literature Jacqueline Woodson--now celebrating its twentieth anniversary, and including a new preface by the author 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 in there. So it''s a surprise when he meets Ellie the first week of school. In one frozen moment their eyes lock, and after that they know 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. Jacqueline Woodson''s work has been called “moving and resonant” (Wall Street Journal) and “gorgeous” (Vanity Fair). If You Come Softly is a powerful story of interracial love that leaves readers wondering "why" and "if only . . ."

Two children’s book superstars—#1 New York Times bestseller Jacqueline Woodson, the author of The Day You Begin, and Leo Espinosa, the illustrator of Islandbornu00ad—join forces to celebrate the joy and freedom of summer in the city, which is gloriously captured in their rhythmic text and lively art. One of The Atlantic’s 65 Essential Children’s Books It''s getting hot outside, hot enough to turn on the hydrants and run through the water--and that means it''s finally summer in the city! Released from school and reveling in their freedom, the kids on one Brooklyn block take advantage of everything summertime has to offer: Freedom from morning till night to go out to meet their friends and make the streets their playground--jumping double Dutch, playing tag and hide-and-seek, building forts, chasing ice cream trucks, and best of all, believing anything is possible. That is, till their moms call them home for dinner. But not to worry--they know there is always tomorrow to do it all over again--because the block belongs to them and they rule their world. (This book is also available in Spanish, as El mundo era nuestro!)

A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER! Jacqueline Woodson''s first middle-grade novel since National Book Award winner Brown Girl Dreaming celebrates the healing that can occur when a group of students share their stories. It all starts when six kids have to meet for a weekly chat--by themselves, with no adults to listen in. There, in the room they soon dub the ARTT Room (short for "A Room to Talk"), they discover it''s safe to talk about what''s bothering them--everything from Esteban''s father''s deportation and Haley''s father''s incarceration to Amari''s fears of racial profiling and Ashton''s adjustment to his changing family fortunes. When the six are together, they can express the feelings and fears they have to hide from the rest of the world. And together, they can grow braver and more ready for the rest of their lives.

Margaret loves her parents and hanging out with her best friend, Maizon. Then it happens, like a one-two punch, during the summer she turns eleven: first, Margaret''s father dies of a heart attack, and then Maizon is accepted at an expensive boarding school, far away from the city they call home. For the first time in her life, Margaret has to turn to someone who isn''t Maizon, who doesn''t know her heart and her dreams. . . . "Ms. Woodson writes with a sure understanding of the thoughts of young people, offering a poetic, eloquent narrative that is not simply a story of nearly adolescent children, but a mature exploration of grown-up issues: death, racism, independence, the nurturing of the gifted black child and, most important, self-discovery."(The New York Times)

An intriguing look at teen pregnancy from a three-time Newbery Honor winning author Feni is furious when she finds out that her mother has agreed to take a fifteen-year-old pregnant girl into their home until her baby is born. What kind of girl would let herself get into so much trouble? How can Feni live under the same roof as someone like that? Her worst fears are confirmed when Rebecca arrives: she is mean, bossy, and uneducated. Feni decided she will have nothing to do with her. But it’s hard not to be curious about a girl so close to her own age who seems so different…

Jacqueline Woodson--New York Times Bestselling, National Book Award and Newbery Honor winning author--writes a rich story of a family adapting to change as they hold on to the past and embrace the future. With Coretta Scott King Award–winning illustrator James Ransome. During the time of the Great Migration, millions of African American families relocated from the South, seeking better opportunities. The story of one family’s journey north during the Great Migration starts with a little girl in South Carolina who finds a rope under a tree one summer. She has no idea the rope will become part of her family’s history. But for three generations, that rope is passed down, used for everything from jump rope games to tying suitcases onto a car for the big move north to New York City, and even for a family reunion where that first little girl is now a grandmother.

This novel from the National Book Award-winning author of Brown Girl Dreaming is a look back on four friends’ fifteenth year: the year that changed them all forever. Against the backdrop of a changing neighborhood and a changing world, four brown teenage girls are figuring out their lives. Their dreams of modeling, lawyering, dancing, and writing feeling very real until “the most beautiful among us” becomes pregnant. Suddenly, the world is different, more dangerous, their vulnerability more evident, and their dreams of success begin to feel like part of “another Brooklyn, a different time.”

Jacqueline Woodson is the 2018-2019 National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature Clover''s mom says it isn''t safe to cross the fence that segregates their African-American side of town from the white side where Anna lives. But the two girls strike up a friendship, and get around the grown-ups'' rules by sitting on top of the fence together. With the addition of a brand-new author''s note, this special edition celebrates the tenth anniversary of this classic book. As always, Woodson moves readers with her lyrical narrative, and E. B. Lewis''s amazing talent shines in his gorgeous watercolor illustrations.

Jacqueline Woodson’s evocative story about the power of sharing memories, with glorious illustrations by Tonya Engel The earth changes, Sarah’s grandpa always said as they worked together in his garden. Like us, some part of it never dies. Everything and everyone goes on and on. Now that Grandpa’s gone, though, it’s hard for Sarah to imagine “on and on” without him. But when loved ones gather to share stories of Grandpa, she begins to understand how much he meant to so many people. And when the harvest comes in and family and friends gather for a sunset supper, they make sweet new memories, reminding Sarah that everything and everyone truly does go on and on.

Three-time Newbery Honor author Jacqualine Woodson explores race and sexuality through the eyes of a compelling narrator Melanin Sun has a lot to say. But sometimes it''s hard to speak his mind, so he fills up notebooks with his thoughts instead. He writes about his mom a lot--they''re about as close as they can be, because they have no other family. So when she suddenly tells him she''s gay, his world is turned upside down. And if that weren''t hard enough for him to accept, her girlfriend is white. Melanin Sun is angry and scared. How can his mom do this to him--is this the end of their closeness? What will his friends think? And can he let her girlfriend be part of their family?

Margaret and Maizon are back together on Madison Street, but their friendship is different now. Margaret needs more time alone, and it''s not just the two of them any more-their new neighbor and classmate, Caroline, has become part of their lives. But that seems minor next to what is about to happen to Maizon. . . . "Woodson''s candid assessments of relations between blacks and whites are as searching as ever, and her characters just as commanding." (Publishers Weekly)

Twelve-year-old Marie is a leader among the popular black girls in Chauncey, Ohio, a prosperous black suburb. She isn''t looking for a friend when Lena Bright, a white girl, appears in school. Yet they are drawn to each other because both have lost their mothers. And they know how to keep a secret. For Lena has a secret that is terrifying, and she''s desperate to protect herself and her younger sister from their father. Marie must decide whether she can help Lena by keeping her secret... or by telling it.

A powerfully moving novel from a three-time Newbery Honor-winning author Evie Thomas is not who she used to be. Once she had a best friend, a happy home and a loving grandmother living nearby. Once her name was Toswiah. Now, everything is different. Her family has been forced to move to a new place and change their identities. But that''s not all that has changed. Her once lively father has become depressed and quiet. Her mother leaves teaching behind and clings to a new-found religion. Her only sister is making secret plans to leave. And Evie, struggling to find her way in a new city where kids aren''t friendly and the terrain is as unfamiliar as her name, wonders who she is. Jacqueline Woodson weaves a fascinating portrait of a thoughtful young girl''s coming of age in a world turned upside down A National Book Award Finalist