Feathers
Frannie’s class is reading a poem that begins, “Hope is the thing with feathers.” Frannie hasn’t really thought much about hope before. She’s usually busy thinking about everything else going on in her life.
Each day, her friend Samantha acts a little more “holy,” talking about faith and miracles. A new boy joins their class, and everyone starts calling him the Jesus Boy. He looks like a white kid, but he says he isn’t. Frannie can’t figure him out, and she wonders who he really is.
During a winter full of surprises—some happy, some hard—Frannie begins to see her world differently. She starts to understand her brother Sean’s deafness in new ways. She notices her mother’s quiet worries. She sees the class bully’s anger more clearly. She thinks about Samantha’s strong beliefs. And she begins to discover her own wish for hope, the “thing with feathers.”
Woodson's brilliantly crafted novel tackles large issues of class, prejudice, family, and faith. Unforgettable characters who confront, reflect, and grow impact the reader long after the last page.
