Books like Feathers by Jacqueline Woodson
When a new student named Jesus Boy joins Frannie’s class, his gentle presence and refusal to fight stand out amid the playground’s teasing. As the winter months pass, Frannie begins to view her brother’s deafness, her mother’s anxieties, her friend Samantha’s faith, and her classmate Trevor’s anger with fresh eyes. Jesus Boy’s differences and his friendship bring hope—captured in the phrase “the thing with feathers”—and invite Frannie to reexamine her own desires, family life, and beliefs.
This juvenile fiction explores themes of race relations, religion, and disability, featuring a diverse cast of characters—including African American families and a deaf student—within a school setting, making it a broad conversation about empathy, prejudice, and friendship.
First publish date: 2007
Genre: Children's Fiction/Children's Adventure
Authors: Jacqueline Woodson
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