Newbery Honor: Feathers by Jacqueline Woodson

Feathers written by Jacqueline Woodson is a complex story that follows a short portion of the life of 6th grade student Fannie and her experiences growing up in the 1970's.  This Newbery Honor book takes a poignant look at a girl who has an introspect towards her own life, life growing up as an African-American who lives on what she and those around her call "the other side of the highway".  This other side is a predominantly African-American, lower income community.  However, this book, while on the surface may appear to center around race and judgments, is in fact, more about hope and faith.

I thoroughly enjoyed that the status of race isn't recognized immediately when beginning to read this book.  The book focuses on Fannie, her thoughts, her reactions, her daily routine of life, without race being made a strong factor in setting the state of this book.  Instead, it is about halfway through the first chapter before it is made clear Fannie's race and economic status.

I found several themes through this book.  One theme that resonates is the struggle of acceptance and fitting in.  Fannie is faced with learning more about herself through the introduction of a new student at school.  This new student is of a different race than her and her classmates and he is immediately labeled and presumed to fit into certain stereotypes based upon this.  However, this new student ends up bringing a new idea to those he encounters, one where his fellow students must reconsider their misconceptions and look more at the person within.

Another predominant theme is hope.  Fannie, in the end, must rely on hope and faith, as the tools that allow her to get through the day to day routines of life.  This book, allowed me to relate to the themes, the characters, even though on the surface, it would appear that I wouldn't have made that personal encounter.  I truly loved this book.  It was a beautiful telling of the power of faith and the different forms that faith can take in each of us.  Upon the completion of this book, it is more than obvious why Feathers was a true Newbery Honor winner.