View our feature on Jacqueline Woodsons FeathersldquoHope is the thing with feathersrdquo starts the poem Frannie is reading in school Frannie hasnrsquot thought much about hope There are so many other things to think about Each day her friend Samantha seems a bit more ldquoholyrdquo There is a new boy in class everyone is calling the Jesus Boy And although the new boy looks like a white kid he says hersquos not white Who is he During a winter full of surprises good and bad Frannie starts seeing a lot of things in a new lightmdashher brother Seanrsquos deafness her motherrsquos fear the class bullyrsquos anger her best friendrsquos faith and her own desire for ldquothe thing with feathersrdquo Jacqueline Woodson once again takes readers on a journey into a young girlrsquos heart and reveals the pain and the joy of learning to look beneath the surface.
