Growing Up & Facts of Life
![Jacqueline Woodson - [object Object] author](https://res.cloudinary.com/readsomnia/image/upload/authors/a_a_jacqueline_woodson.jpg)
Before the Ever After
WINNER OF THE NAACP IMAGE AWARD
WINNER OF THE CORETTA SCOTT KING AUTHOR AWARD
National Book Award winner Jacqueline Woodson's stirring novel-in-verse explores how a family moves forward when their glory days have passed and the cost of professional sports on Black bodies.
For as long as ZJ can remember, his dad has been everyone's hero. As a charming, talented pro football star, he's as beloved to the neighborhood kids he plays with as he is to his millions of adoring sports fans. But lately life at ZJ's house is anything but charming. His dad is having trouble remembering things and seems to be angry all the time. ZJ's mom explains it's because of all the head injuries his dad sustained during his career. ZJ can understand that--but it doesn't make the sting any less real when his own father forgets his name. As ZJ contemplates his new reality, he has to figure out how to hold on tight to family traditions and recollections of the glory days, all the while wondering what their past amounts to if his father can't remember it. And most importantly, can those happy feelings ever be reclaimed when they are all so busy aching for the past?
WINNER OF THE CORETTA SCOTT KING AUTHOR AWARD
National Book Award winner Jacqueline Woodson's stirring novel-in-verse explores how a family moves forward when their glory days have passed and the cost of professional sports on Black bodies.
For as long as ZJ can remember, his dad has been everyone's hero. As a charming, talented pro football star, he's as beloved to the neighborhood kids he plays with as he is to his millions of adoring sports fans. But lately life at ZJ's house is anything but charming. His dad is having trouble remembering things and seems to be angry all the time. ZJ's mom explains it's because of all the head injuries his dad sustained during his career. ZJ can understand that--but it doesn't make the sting any less real when his own father forgets his name. As ZJ contemplates his new reality, he has to figure out how to hold on tight to family traditions and recollections of the glory days, all the while wondering what their past amounts to if his father can't remember it. And most importantly, can those happy feelings ever be reclaimed when they are all so busy aching for the past?
Editorial Reviews
* "Woodson's text may be spare, but it has the emotional wallop of an offensive tackle."-Shelf Awareness, starred review
* "Woodson's latest novel in verse conveys that not all success stories have a fairy-tale ending. Readers will feel an immediate connection to ZJ and his group of authentic, complex friends and family. The idea of showing the dark side of fame through the experiences of a young family member is a unique perspective that will resonate with readers of all ages. ZJ's story will stay with the audience long after the last page is read. A first choice for all collections. A unique take on sports and fame told from an unexpected perspective, and another incredible read delivered by Woodson."-School Library Journal, starred review
* "Using spare and lyrical language for ZJ's present-tense narration, which moves back and forth through time, Woodson skillfully portrays the confusion, fear, and sadness when a family member suffers from brain injury and the personality changes it brings. . . . The well-rounded secondary characters complete a mosaic of a loving African American family and their community of friends. . . . A poignant and achingly beautiful narrative shedding light on the price of a violent sport."-Kirkus Reviews, starred review
* "Woodson delivers a poignant new novel in verse that highlights an important topic within the sports world, especially football. . . . ZJ's life quickly turns from charmed to tragic as he has to face that his father and family are forever changed. . . . Woodson again shows herself to be a masterful writer, and her meaningful exploration of concussions and head injuries in football, a subject rarely broached in middle-grade fiction, provides young athletes with necessary insights into sport's less glamorous side. In addition to this, it is a novel that explores family, mental illness, and the healing that a tight-knit, loving community can provide."-Booklist, starred review
* "Woodson explores the impact of chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) on football players and their families from the perspective of ZJ, son of tight end Zachariah ‘44' Johnson. . . . In lyrical verse, Woodson conveys the confusion and loss that many families feel as they try to figure out what is wrong with their loved one. Each of the poems ably captures the voice of the story's preteen boy protagonist; readers can feel the sense of love and...
* "Woodson's latest novel in verse conveys that not all success stories have a fairy-tale ending. Readers will feel an immediate connection to ZJ and his group of authentic, complex friends and family. The idea of showing the dark side of fame through the experiences of a young family member is a unique perspective that will resonate with readers of all ages. ZJ's story will stay with the audience long after the last page is read. A first choice for all collections. A unique take on sports and fame told from an unexpected perspective, and another incredible read delivered by Woodson."-School Library Journal, starred review
* "Using spare and lyrical language for ZJ's present-tense narration, which moves back and forth through time, Woodson skillfully portrays the confusion, fear, and sadness when a family member suffers from brain injury and the personality changes it brings. . . . The well-rounded secondary characters complete a mosaic of a loving African American family and their community of friends. . . . A poignant and achingly beautiful narrative shedding light on the price of a violent sport."-Kirkus Reviews, starred review
* "Woodson delivers a poignant new novel in verse that highlights an important topic within the sports world, especially football. . . . ZJ's life quickly turns from charmed to tragic as he has to face that his father and family are forever changed. . . . Woodson again shows herself to be a masterful writer, and her meaningful exploration of concussions and head injuries in football, a subject rarely broached in middle-grade fiction, provides young athletes with necessary insights into sport's less glamorous side. In addition to this, it is a novel that explores family, mental illness, and the healing that a tight-knit, loving community can provide."-Booklist, starred review
* "Woodson explores the impact of chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) on football players and their families from the perspective of ZJ, son of tight end Zachariah ‘44' Johnson. . . . In lyrical verse, Woodson conveys the confusion and loss that many families feel as they try to figure out what is wrong with their loved one. Each of the poems ably captures the voice of the story's preteen boy protagonist; readers can feel the sense of love and...
Readers Top Reviews
ErikaTara L Smith
I was so moved by this story. Watching someone that you love deal with a brain injury is so difficult. It was really interesting to read about it from a child’s perspective. The brotherhood of The Fantastic Four was so beautiful. We all need friends that understand the importance of just being present.
gayle h. swiftEri
A pro football player’s real achieves success —on the field and especially as a dad. Woodson creates memorable characters that readers will care deeply about. As they face the heart-breaking reality that football fame, once the distant dream becomes the great destroyer. I loved this book; it made me laugh, cry, and ponder the deep truths about what it is to be family and to be lucky enough to have friends that stand with you to share the good times and help shoulder the hard times
Afomagayle h. swi
Before the Ever After is a brilliant, true-to-life portrayal of a child coping with his famous father’s deterioration due to CTE. The father-son relationship reminded me a bit of the one in Caroline Gertler’s Many Points of Me. This verse novel is perfect for fans of realistic, contemporary middle-grade fiction by Black authors. Lovers of books about sports, music, and father-son relationships will also enjoy it.
DaiaChareseAfomag
My son and husband had been reading this together. My 11-year-old son says he loved the book !
Cameron MullenDai
Excellent middle grade novel, written in verse. A professional football player is experiencing the effects of too many head injuries and his son tells the story of how it changes his family. The main character struggles to accept the changes in his once involved dad, now racked with headaches, angry outbursts, and bouts of forgetfulness. The book is also an ode to friendship and sticking together no matter what.
Short Excerpt Teaser
Memory like a Movie
The memory goes like this:
Ollie's got the ball and he's running across my yard when
Dad comes out of nowhere,
soft tackles him to the ground.
Then everyone is cheering and laughing because
we didn't even know my dad was home.
I thought you had a game, I say, grabbing him.
It's a half hug, half tackle, but
the other guys-Darry and Daniel-hop on too
and Ollie's escaped, so he jumps
on top of all of us jumping on my dad.
Yeah, Mr. J., Darry says. I thought we'd be watching you
on TV tonight.
Coach giving me a break, my daddy says. He climbs out
from under,
shaking us off like we're feathers, not boys.
Ah man! Darry says.
Yeah, we all say. Ah man!
Sometimes a player needs to rest, Daddy says.
He looks at each of us for a long time.
A strange look. Like he's just now seeing us.
Then he tosses the ball so far, we can't even see it anymore.
And my boys say Ah man, you threw it too far!
while I go back behind the garage where
we have a whole bunch of footballs
waiting and ready
for when my daddy sends one into the abyss.
Everybody's Looking for a Hero
Once, when I was a little kid,
this newscaster guy asked me if
my dad was my biggest hero.
No, I said. My dad's just my dad.
There was a crowd of newscasters circling around me,
all of them with their microphones aimed
at my face. Maybe I was nervous, I don't remember now.
Maybe it was after his first Super Bowl win, his ring
new and shining on his finger. Me just a little kid,
so the ring was this whole glittering world,
gold and black and diamonds against
my daddy's brown hand.
I remember hearing the reporter say
Listen to those fans! Looks like everybody's
found their next great hero.
And now I'm thinking back to those times
when the cold wind whipped around me and Mom
as we sat wrapped in blankets, yelling Dad's name,
so close to the game, we could see the angry spit
spraying from the other team's coach's lips.
So close, we could see the sweat on my daddy's neck.
And all the people around us cheering,
all the people going around calling out his number,
calling out his name.
Zachariah 44! Zachariah 44!
Is your daddy your hero? the newscaster had asked me.
And all these years later, just like that day, I know
he's not my hero,
he's my dad, which means
he's my every single thing.
Day after the Game
Day after the game
and Daddy gets out of bed slow.
His whole body, he says,
is 223 pounds of pain
from toes to knees, from knees to ribs,
every single hit he took yesterday
remembered in the morning.
Before the Ever After
Before th...
The memory goes like this:
Ollie's got the ball and he's running across my yard when
Dad comes out of nowhere,
soft tackles him to the ground.
Then everyone is cheering and laughing because
we didn't even know my dad was home.
I thought you had a game, I say, grabbing him.
It's a half hug, half tackle, but
the other guys-Darry and Daniel-hop on too
and Ollie's escaped, so he jumps
on top of all of us jumping on my dad.
Yeah, Mr. J., Darry says. I thought we'd be watching you
on TV tonight.
Coach giving me a break, my daddy says. He climbs out
from under,
shaking us off like we're feathers, not boys.
Ah man! Darry says.
Yeah, we all say. Ah man!
Sometimes a player needs to rest, Daddy says.
He looks at each of us for a long time.
A strange look. Like he's just now seeing us.
Then he tosses the ball so far, we can't even see it anymore.
And my boys say Ah man, you threw it too far!
while I go back behind the garage where
we have a whole bunch of footballs
waiting and ready
for when my daddy sends one into the abyss.
Everybody's Looking for a Hero
Once, when I was a little kid,
this newscaster guy asked me if
my dad was my biggest hero.
No, I said. My dad's just my dad.
There was a crowd of newscasters circling around me,
all of them with their microphones aimed
at my face. Maybe I was nervous, I don't remember now.
Maybe it was after his first Super Bowl win, his ring
new and shining on his finger. Me just a little kid,
so the ring was this whole glittering world,
gold and black and diamonds against
my daddy's brown hand.
I remember hearing the reporter say
Listen to those fans! Looks like everybody's
found their next great hero.
And now I'm thinking back to those times
when the cold wind whipped around me and Mom
as we sat wrapped in blankets, yelling Dad's name,
so close to the game, we could see the angry spit
spraying from the other team's coach's lips.
So close, we could see the sweat on my daddy's neck.
And all the people around us cheering,
all the people going around calling out his number,
calling out his name.
Zachariah 44! Zachariah 44!
Is your daddy your hero? the newscaster had asked me.
And all these years later, just like that day, I know
he's not my hero,
he's my dad, which means
he's my every single thing.
Day after the Game
Day after the game
and Daddy gets out of bed slow.
His whole body, he says,
is 223 pounds of pain
from toes to knees, from knees to ribs,
every single hit he took yesterday
remembered in the morning.
Before the Ever After
Before th...
