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3.8 AVERAGE
3.8 AVERAGE
I want to swim around in a giant pool of Jaqueline Woodson’s prose. Beautiful novel about what it means to be you-I really, really liked it. Woodson is a genius.
emotional
reflective
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
emotional
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Hush is not just about a family in the witness protection program... It's a lot more than just that. Evie Thomas is not just Evie Thomas. She was once... and still is... Toswiah Green. But she had to give up Toswiah, and everything she used to have, because two white cops shot a black boy. This book is not just about adjusting to a new life... a new name, a new person... It's about identity, race, friendship, and family... About the fact that all people have evil inside of them, but it takes something huge to bring it out... About the fact that families get torn apart all of the time, but nothing is stronger than the bond between them. Jacqueline Woodson has managed to turn fiction into something more real that reality.
I have put my feet onto those "old floors in Denver," and I walked. I walked through the house and smelled the perfume in Cameron's room. I have picked up Toswiah's journal. These are not just words on paper. This is a journey through the darkest nights, when those three bullets came through their window, all the way to the brightest days, when the little girl sang, "Hush little baby, don't you cry..." and skipped through the halls. All the way from the distant ghost of the past, to the unknown path into the future. I am not likely to ever forget this book. If I did, I would be forgetting Toswiah...
This is, quite honestly, the best book I have ever read, not to mention my favorite. Each sentence is heart-wrenchingly real, as if this is not fiction, but a documentary about something real. This is real. Things like this happen all the time. Like I said, forgetting this would be forgetting Toswiah, but it would also be forgetting all of the people who went through the same thing.
The other thing that I must touch on is that Jacqueline Woodson writes things incredibly well: making it suitable for everyone, but not shying away from anything "too intense." This is basically real. Saying something in this book is too intense for kids reading it is the same as saying life is too intense, and we should keep children away from reality and feed them lies about what is real and what is not. This is one of the most real things in modern literature, and everyone should read this, because it happens. I will not forget.
I have put my feet onto those "old floors in Denver," and I walked. I walked through the house and smelled the perfume in Cameron's room. I have picked up Toswiah's journal. These are not just words on paper. This is a journey through the darkest nights, when those three bullets came through their window, all the way to the brightest days, when the little girl sang, "Hush little baby, don't you cry..." and skipped through the halls. All the way from the distant ghost of the past, to the unknown path into the future. I am not likely to ever forget this book. If I did, I would be forgetting Toswiah...
This is, quite honestly, the best book I have ever read, not to mention my favorite. Each sentence is heart-wrenchingly real, as if this is not fiction, but a documentary about something real. This is real. Things like this happen all the time. Like I said, forgetting this would be forgetting Toswiah, but it would also be forgetting all of the people who went through the same thing.
The other thing that I must touch on is that Jacqueline Woodson writes things incredibly well: making it suitable for everyone, but not shying away from anything "too intense." This is basically real. Saying something in this book is too intense for kids reading it is the same as saying life is too intense, and we should keep children away from reality and feed them lies about what is real and what is not. This is one of the most real things in modern literature, and everyone should read this, because it happens. I will not forget.
A decent, quick read. It kept me interested throughout and a kind of abrupt ending that made me stop and say, "Huh? That's it?". Woodson writes many books in verse and this one is worth reading but not one of my favorites.
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
This is a serious book. It deals with a LOT of difficult issues, especially for a child. Moving alone can be extremely hard, but this book deals with so much more than that. Police brutality, depression, new religious beliefs, attempted suicide, and many other factors. This wasn't easy. And it didn't end with a beautifully wrapped bow, but it was such a good read. It could be especially helpful for any child experiencing any aspect of this story, or anyone for that matter.
I read this on lunch hours over the last month or so. It's quite a short book, but I only read about 10 pages at a time usually.
This is the basic Young Adult Problem Novel in all its best clothes. Really, there's not much to this story, but it is beautifully told. Toswiah Green has a perfect life and family, until her father agrees to testify against cops who shot a black kid claiming they thought he was armed. Now Toswiah is Evie Thomas and they live a long ways from Denver and the rest of their extended family and all of their friends. Her father has sunk into depression: being a cop is all he's ever wanted, and he can't do that anymore. Her mother has taken up with Jehovah's Witnesses to soothe her pain. And her sister doesn't seem to care that their old life is completely over.
A wonderful book about a girl struggling to figure out who she is and what is important in her world.
This is the basic Young Adult Problem Novel in all its best clothes. Really, there's not much to this story, but it is beautifully told. Toswiah Green has a perfect life and family, until her father agrees to testify against cops who shot a black kid claiming they thought he was armed. Now Toswiah is Evie Thomas and they live a long ways from Denver and the rest of their extended family and all of their friends. Her father has sunk into depression: being a cop is all he's ever wanted, and he can't do that anymore. Her mother has taken up with Jehovah's Witnesses to soothe her pain. And her sister doesn't seem to care that their old life is completely over.
A wonderful book about a girl struggling to figure out who she is and what is important in her world.
emotional
hopeful
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
I do not recommend the audiobook. After suffering through the first third, I moved to print. Then I began to think it was "okay," and by the end, I liked it. Heavy topics, interesting symbolism and metaphorical imagery, and a quick read with parts that beg you to linger. So far, none of my 6th-8th grade girls (and one boy) who have chosen it for Battle of the Books have given it more than 2 stars, but it's definitely a quality middle-school-appropriate book, though not popular among its targeted age group, at least in my rural MS.