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Feathers

Today's shopping tips: "Be wise in purchasing ..... find best value one"

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Manufacturer: Putnam Juvenile
List Price: $15.99
Our Price: $5.93
You Save: $ 10.06 ( 63% )
(prices subject to change)

Average Ratings:

Nobody knows what to make of the new boy in Frannie’s class. Not only does he look different, but he’s kind to everyone, he refuses to fight, and he doesn’t even seem to mind when the other kids nickname him Jesus Boy. But as winter progresses, Frannie realizes that she’s starting to see a whole lot of things in a new light: her brother’s deafness, her mother’s fear, her friend Samantha’s faith, their classmate Trevor’s anger, and her own desire for hope—“the thing with feathers.” And it’s all because of Jesus Boy’s differences . . . and his friendship.


DESCRIPTION:

Binding: Hardcover
Format: Bargain Price
Label: Putnam Juvenile
Manufacturer: Putnam Juvenile
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 208
Publication Date: 2007-03-01
Publisher: Putnam Juvenile
Reading Level: Ages 9-12
Studio: Putnam Juvenile


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CUSTOMER REVIEWS:

Customer Rating:
Summary: We loved the book!
Comment: My 4th grade class was completely riveted each day that I read this novel to them. I decided to use it as the Beginning of the Year Read Aloud and I am so happy that I did. It was inspiring and my students could totally relate to the characters. I personally think it is one of my favorite children's novels and it's very heartwarming to see that it has more rave reviews than negative reviews!! I think it's all about who reads it, how it's read, and what you interpret. Jacqueline Woodson is by far not writing on a one dimensional level. We have to teach our students to read beneath the surface and really dissect literature to get at the real meanings and goals the writer has. This was quite enjoyable for all of us!

Customer Rating:
Summary: Feathers Fails
Comment: Feathers failed to interest me as a reader or as a teacher. I read it as part of the NM Battle of the Books selections and this slim volume took five days to finish as each line had no meaning, the book had no coherent plot, and no questions were really answered. Frankly, I am shccked that it won any kind of recognition.

This opinion is not mine alone. Every student who has read this book has despised it. Our school librarian despises it, and other teachers have also found little to recommend.

The book is vague and drifting and the characters seem one dimensional.

There are books I don't like personally, but I can see the literary value. Feathers has neither substance nor literary value, and your money would be best spent on another book.

Customer Rating:
Summary: Feathers
Comment: This book was somewhat different than Woodson's usual books. It seemed more hopeful and optimistic. It's 1971, Frannie is 11 years old and a new boy transfers into her class. He is the only white boy in a class of black students. The kids think that he is Jesus. Frannie has a deaf brother named Sean. I think that Sean is a positive role model for disabled people. He is a positive, strong character. This book would be a good read aloud for upper elementary grades and a good independent read for middle school students.

Customer Rating:
Summary: An o.k. read
Comment: I like some of the subjects presented-an interracially-adopted child trying to fit in, with his race or his parents'; new kids in school; adding a baby to a family; disabilities, etc. But I found the story very disjointed. Some of the themes were not developed well-probably because there were too many themes and conflicts.

Some of the conclusions the narrator comes too are false, and the author doesn't set her straight before the end of the novel. That makes me nervous about my kids reading it without me.

There are a few references to the time period, but not enough to make it feel like a period novel. As the mother of an adopted child of a different race from me, and the aunt of mixed children, I don't see the same fitting in issues today that this book describes. I see so many mixed kids running around, that it's just not an issue anymore in the kids' lives. Thus, I think it would be better if the book emphasized this story was in the past.

I do give the author points for flipping the situation around, and making it a white kid trying to fit into a black school. That makes the reader think a bit more than if it was the usual story of a minority kid trying to fit into a white school.

And I don't get what the poem means. The book references it a few times, but never explains it in a way I understand!

Customer Rating:
Summary: Great Novel
Comment: I bought this for my son and I decided to read it first...I loved it. It was a great story and very well written. My son hasn't read it yet, but I would still recommend it.

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