If You Come Softly By Jaqueline Woodson
Available At: Air Academy, Chinook Trail (MS), DCC (HS)
Categories: Anti-Police, Anti-Religion, Racism, Whiteness
Description: “After meeting at their private school in New York, fifteen-year-old Jeremiah, who is black and whose parents are separated, and Ellie, who is white and whose mother has twice abandoned her, fall in love and then try to cope with people’s reactions”.
YA Label?: Sometimes
Notes: This book contains controversial racial commentary; controversial social commentary; and derogatory term.
Rating: 1
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The above scale indicates whether, in our view, the referenced book violates established and upheld Federal (Miller Test) and State (Colorado Obscenity Test) standards. Books that violate ALL established standards will have a table printed in red. Under Colorado Law, willful distribution of such material is deemed a Class 6 penalty carrying a fine and/or up to 18 months in prison.
Snippets
Page 135: “That’s true. But you also have to take it a step deeper ’cause you’re black. They’re not ‘those churches,’ they’re black churches and because they’re black churches, they affect you.”
Page 136: “…holding hands when these white boys started acting stupid- saying stuff like “jungle fever” and “who turned out the lights?”
Additional Snippets Here