Review: If You Come Softly by Jacqueline Woodson
This was my first Jacqueline Woodson novel, and I am sure it will not be my last. Woodson has been one of those authors I knew I needed to read but just hadn't quite yet; I am so glad I picked this book up on a whim.
If You Come Softly is a Romeo and Juliet-inspired book. It begins with Elisha, Ellie, a fifteen-year-old Jewish girl who is the last child left in her slightly tense family home; she starts a new school and meets Jeremiah. Miah is a fifteen-year-old Black boy, his parents are going through a divorce, and his father is paying for him to switch to a private school. The pair are instantly drawn together, and as soon as proximity allows, they begin spending as much time together as they possibly can. We see them dealing with their family lives, figuring out how to be in an interracial relationship with all the judgment from outside their relationship, and just being giddy with first love.
The relationship in this book is so tender and gentle. Woodson does an excellent job so showing the giddiness of young love and how enchanted people can be with each other. The pair are so wrapped up with each other in such a delightful and all-encompassing way that is so realistically teenage. Woodson doesn't just show the pair when they are delighted with each other. She shows the internal and external hardships that come with being in an interracial relationship how the pair have to communicate to actually be able to continue their relationship.
The language throughout this book absolutely enchanted me. I went back and forth between the hardcover and the audiobook; both experiences were top-notch. I cried so much while reading this book, I was worried I wasn't going to cry at about 80% of the way through the book, but I needn't have feared. Woodson was absolutely able to wreck my feelings.
I particularly loved the way Woodson wrote these characters conflicting desires to hold on to their childhoods and also to grow into their adult selves. I thought this was such an interesting thematic choice to focus on so explicitly. I have read lots of books that write around this idea, but I really liked how Woodson managed it in this book.
I am so excited to continue on in my Jacqueline Woodson journey.
