A quiet, beautifully etched portrait of a first love that is shattered by the racism, If You Come Softly traces the relationship of two teens whose lives intertwine for a short but life-changing time. Ellie is Jewish and white. Jeremiah is black. Both are from well-to-do families where it's sometimes hard to be yourself, and both are new students at Percy Academy. It was Jeremiah's father, a well-known African American filmmaker, who wanted Jeremiah to attend a private school. Jeremiah doesn't let anyone know who is father is, though, or his mother, an accomplished novelist. It's too hard being yourself--being accepted for yourself, if your parents fame precedes you. For Ellie, Percy was her own choice--made because she liked the sound of the name. "I knew it was a stupid reason to choose a school, but they all seemed exactly alike." Ellie lives with her parents in a large apartment that still echoes with the emptiness of her mother's leaving. It happened twice, and twice her mother returned, but the feeling of abandonment still haunts Ellie, even when she sits in the very same room as her mother harboring the secrets of her heart. One of those secrets is Jeremiah. They meet on the first day of school, and each makes the other feel right. But Ellie isn't sure how her parents would react to Jeremiah, and her heart can't risk finding out. For his part, Jeremiah takes Ellie home to meet his mother, who sees and understands her sons feelings. In his neighborhood, too, he has support, from a best friend whose mother is white and father is black. But he is hesitant to tell his father. "Thing about white people," his father tells him, "they don't know they're white. They know what everybody else is, but they don't know they're white." Jeremiah stays silent. Ultimately, however, it is not secrets and silence that separate Jeremiah and Ellie, it is the racism of our society, racism that makes a black teenage boy running with a basketball in a white neighborhood too quickly assumed as suspect, too quickly mistaken for a "tall, dark man" being pursued by the police. CCBC categories: Fiction for Teenagers. 1998, Putnam's, 181 pages, $15.99. Ages 13 and older. (Cooperative Children's Book Center Choices, 1998)
This story has been done before: a forbidden romance between two young people. Society won't accept their love and only a tragedy can bring everyone together. Romeo and Juliet and West Side Story. It is a plot that has become cliche, but there is something special about If You Come Softly.The book is about Elisha, a white Jewish girl, and Miah, an African-American boy, both living in New York City. For them, it is love at first sight. They click instantly and share everything with eachother, even stories about their dysfunctional families. Throughout their short relationship, they deal with the prejudices from the outside. Elisha's biggest fear is letting her family know that she is dating an African-American, especially after her sister practically abandoned her because of it.The plot itself is not that interesting. What did intrigue me though was the racism the author portrayed. It seemed like it took place in the fifties, not nineties. But it definitely opened my eyes and made me realize that even today, fourteen years after this book was written, the prejudices still exist, even if we aren't aware of them. The characters portray that the racism can lie deep in our subconscious, even if we don't want to admit it.The language the author uses is beautiful. Every word floats off of the page and stays with the reader. Most of the time I became lost in the setting because I could just picture it perfectly in my head. I finished this book in one day, but not because of the characters, but because of the beauty of the language the author uses to describe everything from emotions to the setting.The characters, on the other hand, didn't really grow on me. I felt like I never really got to know them. Apart from their romance and family problems, I never really learned anything else. This book is a quick and emotional read. The author addresses a controversial subject with beauty and grace. For romance and young adult readers, If You Come Softly shoud be added to their to-read list.
What do You think about If You Come Softly (2006)?
Not a perfect book by any means, but definitely one that gets you thinking and moves you. My heart clenched and stomach dropped at respective parts.My favorite parts: “I’ll meet you out front,” I said, kissing my finger and touching it to his face.He grabbed my hand and kissed it. “Four-thirty—Ellie Eisen heads to Brooklyn.”Just, SWOOOON. This kind of stuff makes me want to fall in love! “The train was loud and crowded. Miah had to lean into me to speak. He smiled and touched my cheek.”D'awwwhhhhh. If I saw this on the train, I'd definitely be the person giving them the biggest smile. I just love love, y'know?(view spoiler)[Yeah, dwelling on the "romance" so I can avoid spoilers. But one thing that did annoy me was the fact that the cause of Jeremiah's death was left extremely vague. I don't know if it was to leave the readers guessing or making up their own interpretations, or if it was unintentional. Either way, it perplexed me. And left me pondering the unlawful deaths of the innocent unarmed black men killed in the US that had some light shed on them recently. May they be brought justice even in the afterlife. RIP. (hide spoiler)]
—Tala
Before I'd even finished reading this book, I'd gone onto the online catalogs of my public libraries (I belong to two) to find other Jacqueline Woodson books. It turns out that if I want any more I'll have to get them on inter-library loan, which will cost a couple of dollars each time. But I don't care. This book has been more than enough to convince me that I want to read other books by her. (And then when I read what Show Way was about, well... that was the first one to go on the request list
—Heidi
To be honest, I have mixed feelings about this book. But to be forthright, the book was very difficult to keep focus on. I was bored with the book and felt like some scenes would be stretched and then others were rushed. But I did love the use of words used by Jacqueline Woodson. It is about a two teenagers of different races. Jeremiah is black while Elisa is Jewish. They meet each other in their new high school and become infatuated with each other. They fall in love but see how people look at them when they are seen together. They wonder why people only see skin color, and never the soul of someone. They struggle with strangers staring and even family members prejudice against colors. The ending is a shocker, revealing Jermiah to be killed by the police by an accident. His death affects Ellie deeply but she keeps him alive in her memories. I would recommend this to people who love passionate love stories.
—Ravenne Cooper
