Books like The house you pass on the way by Jacqueline Woodson
Staggerlee, once named Evangeline, has always felt apart—tragedy in her family and a parent‑to‑parent interracial marriage set her apart from her peers. After her grandparents die in an anti‑civil‑rights bombing, she retreats into herself. This summer, a visit from her cousin Trout offers her a glimpse of a future beyond her small Southern town. As Staggerlee struggles with her own identity and a complicated longing for her friend Hazel, Trout's presence challenges her sense of self and the narrow way her family has lived.
The novel explores themes of grief, race, and sexuality, charting a young woman’s search for belonging in a world that feels both limiting and opening.
First publish date: 1997
Genre: LGBTQ+ Fiction/Lesbian Fiction
Authors: Jacqueline Woodson
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