Subtle changes in inflections distinguish the many characters' voices in a skillful performance that enlarges the book's already wide appeal. , sensitively renders Frannie's narration, and her slow delivery affords listeners the opportunity to fully experience Frannie's keen perceptions. Set in 1971, the book raises important questions about religion and racial segregation, as well as issues surrounding the hearing-impaired (Frannie's brother is deaf). Trevor, the classroom bully, nicknames him “Jesus Boy,” because he is “pale and his hair long.” Frannie's best friend, a preacher's daughter, suggests that the new boy truly could be Jesus (“If there was a world for Jesus to need to walk back into, wouldn't this one be it?”). The narrator of Woodson's 2008 Newbery Honor title is fascinated with Emily Dickinson's famous couplet “Hope is the thing with feathers/ that perches in the soul.” Frannie grapples with its meaning, especially after a white student joins her all-black sixth-grade classroom. Jacqueline Woodson is the celebrated author of over twenty-five books for children and young adults, most dealing with serious themes of gender, class, and race in innovative ways.
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