1. Bibliography:
Woodson, Jacqueline. 2004. Behind You. New York: G. P. Putman's Sons. ISBN 0-399-23988-X.
Woodson, Jacqueline. 2004. Behind You. New York: G. P. Putman's Sons. ISBN 0-399-23988-X.
2. Plot summary:
Fifteen-year-old Jeremiah Roselind, Miah to his friends and family, is dead; shot in the back by a policeman while running through Central Park; on his way home from seeing his girlfriend Ellie. However, Miah is not gone. His spirit lingers, trying to find a way to relieve the pain, anguish, hurt, and feelings of hatred and anger his death has left behind; his girlfriend Ellie, a white girl whose parents did not approve of her relationship with a black boy, his mother Nelia and his father Norman, separated from each other and dealing with the pain of losing their only son, his basketball teammate Kennedy, angry and blaming the fear and ignorance of white people for his friend's death, and Carlton who has lost the only friend who knew he was gay and accepted him. Can Miah, in death, ease the pain of the people he loved and bring them together so they do not grieve alone?
Fifteen-year-old Jeremiah Roselind, Miah to his friends and family, is dead; shot in the back by a policeman while running through Central Park; on his way home from seeing his girlfriend Ellie. However, Miah is not gone. His spirit lingers, trying to find a way to relieve the pain, anguish, hurt, and feelings of hatred and anger his death has left behind; his girlfriend Ellie, a white girl whose parents did not approve of her relationship with a black boy, his mother Nelia and his father Norman, separated from each other and dealing with the pain of losing their only son, his basketball teammate Kennedy, angry and blaming the fear and ignorance of white people for his friend's death, and Carlton who has lost the only friend who knew he was gay and accepted him. Can Miah, in death, ease the pain of the people he loved and bring them together so they do not grieve alone?
3. Critical analysis:
Woodson's story deals not so much with a single culture as it presents the reader with a group of people from many different cultures; all individually linked to Miah and brought together by his death. Ellie, Kennedy, and Carlton attend the same prep school as Miah; they are all wealthy except Kennedy who attends Percy Prep on a basketball scholarship. Kennedy speaks in a black dialect. Angry at losing their first basketball game after Miah's death Kennedy lets loose, "even if Miah's dead, that ain't no reason to get your booty slammed...show a dead brother some respect...don't be just straight up losing like that." Acknowledging that he comes from a poor neighborhood he points out that teen pregnancy and dropping out, "goes on where I live, but it be going on where everybody else be living too." What Kennedy eventually discovers however, is that he, the scholarship kid, is not the only outsider. They are all outsiders; Ellie, because she is a white girl dating a black boy against her parents wishes, Carlton because he is gay, and Miah the black kid with a famous father. They blunder around trying to find a way to communicate with each other; Kennedy angry at Miah's death and the racism that caused it, Ellie wanting to be close to Kennedy because he reminds her of Miah, yet afraid to get too close for fear of what her parents will say about her relationship with another African-American boy, and Carlton needing friends but afraid of the reaction he might get if he admits to anyone else that he is gay. Through it all Woodson reminds us we are really all the same underneath. Our skin may be different colors, we may have sexual preferences outside the mainstream, we may not be the person our parents want us to be, but we all want to belong, we all want to be accepted for who we are, and we all want to have friends we can talk to. Teens will identify with and understand Ellie, Kennedy, and Carlton as they all struggle with the pain of loss, the emptiness of being the outsider, and the need to belong.
Woodson's story deals not so much with a single culture as it presents the reader with a group of people from many different cultures; all individually linked to Miah and brought together by his death. Ellie, Kennedy, and Carlton attend the same prep school as Miah; they are all wealthy except Kennedy who attends Percy Prep on a basketball scholarship. Kennedy speaks in a black dialect. Angry at losing their first basketball game after Miah's death Kennedy lets loose, "even if Miah's dead, that ain't no reason to get your booty slammed...show a dead brother some respect...don't be just straight up losing like that." Acknowledging that he comes from a poor neighborhood he points out that teen pregnancy and dropping out, "goes on where I live, but it be going on where everybody else be living too." What Kennedy eventually discovers however, is that he, the scholarship kid, is not the only outsider. They are all outsiders; Ellie, because she is a white girl dating a black boy against her parents wishes, Carlton because he is gay, and Miah the black kid with a famous father. They blunder around trying to find a way to communicate with each other; Kennedy angry at Miah's death and the racism that caused it, Ellie wanting to be close to Kennedy because he reminds her of Miah, yet afraid to get too close for fear of what her parents will say about her relationship with another African-American boy, and Carlton needing friends but afraid of the reaction he might get if he admits to anyone else that he is gay. Through it all Woodson reminds us we are really all the same underneath. Our skin may be different colors, we may have sexual preferences outside the mainstream, we may not be the person our parents want us to be, but we all want to belong, we all want to be accepted for who we are, and we all want to have friends we can talk to. Teens will identify with and understand Ellie, Kennedy, and Carlton as they all struggle with the pain of loss, the emptiness of being the outsider, and the need to belong.
4. Review excerpts:
Library Journal: "Grade 8-10–In this poignant, stand-alone sequel to the wrenching romance, If You Come Softly (Putnam, 1998), Woodson's characters are dealing with grief and picking up the pieces of their lives after the death of 15-year-old Jeremiah (Miah) Roselind. The impact of their loss is revealed through the alternating voices of his white girlfriend, Ellie; basketball teammate, Kennedy; childhood friend, Carlton; and his separated parents. With tenderness and compassion, the author exposes the characters' vulnerabilities and offers the hope that they will emerge and grow from this tragic loss. Readers who savor tough reality stories as much as happy endings will appreciate this thought-provoking, satisfying novel that offers hope but no easy answers."
Library Journal: "Grade 8-10–In this poignant, stand-alone sequel to the wrenching romance, If You Come Softly (Putnam, 1998), Woodson's characters are dealing with grief and picking up the pieces of their lives after the death of 15-year-old Jeremiah (Miah) Roselind. The impact of their loss is revealed through the alternating voices of his white girlfriend, Ellie; basketball teammate, Kennedy; childhood friend, Carlton; and his separated parents. With tenderness and compassion, the author exposes the characters' vulnerabilities and offers the hope that they will emerge and grow from this tragic loss. Readers who savor tough reality stories as much as happy endings will appreciate this thought-provoking, satisfying novel that offers hope but no easy answers."
Booklist: "Gr. 7-12. "Even if you turn your back on the world you left, you're still pulled toward it, you're still turning around--always--to look behind you. To make sure everyone's o.k.," says teenage Jeremiah, who first appeared in Woodson's If You Come Softly (1998). In this moving sequel, Jeremiah is dead, killed by New York City police bullets. Jeremiah watches over the people he has left behind--his girlfriend, Ellie; his friends; his divorced parents--as each struggles through grief and tries to "keep doing what the living do," ultimately finding new connections with one another and themselves. Still, Woodson writes with impressive poetry about race, love, death, and what grief feels like--the things that "snap the heart"--and her characters' open strength and wary optimism will resonate with many teens."
5. Connections:
Reader's advisory suggestions for library user's who enjoyed Behind You:
The First Part Last by Angela Johnson
Hush by Jacqueline Woodson
Afterlife by Gary Soto
Reader's advisory suggestions for library user's who enjoyed Behind You:
The First Part Last by Angela Johnson
Hush by Jacqueline Woodson
Afterlife by Gary Soto
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