Before the Ever After by Jacqueline Woodson - ADVISABLE

Before the Ever After by Jacqueline Woodson, 176 pages. Nancy Paulsen Books (Penguin), 2020. $18 

Content: G 

BUYING ADVISORY: EL, MS - ADVISABLE 

AUDIENCE APPEAL: AVERAGE 

When ZJ was 10yo, his family started seeing the first effects of the multiple concussions his father, a tight end on a professional football team, suffered. At first the memory lapses are a bit embarassing, but now, 2 years later, the effects are debilitating – and everyone knows that Zachariah 44 will never be back on the field. 

 Set in 1999, before the devastating effects of concussions were acknowledged, Woodson takes us through the descent of one man. She is a master of unfolding the emotional tidal wave. I didn’t even mind that it is written in free verse. 

Cindy, Library Teacher, MLS