“If You Come Softly,” by Jacqueline Woodson

“If You Come Softly,” by Jacqueline Woodson is the story of romance between a Jewish girl and a black boy.

The two main characters are Jeremiah, a teenage boy attending a fancy prep school in Manhattan. Although he is one of the few black boys there he still feels relatively comfortable being who he his. Jeremiah's greatest worries are about his rich parents who have separated and just can't seem to get along. But Jeremiah's life is due to change when he meets Ellie.

Ellie is a Jewish girl who has her own family problems. She lives with her mother, who has twice abandoned her, so she doesn't really trust her. So when Ellie meets Jeremiah she choses to not tell her mother about him, in part just because she is shy, but to a large extent because she is afraid of what her response will be to the news that Jeremiah and her are romantically attached.

I felt that Jacqueline Woodson did a remarkably good job of approaching this rather delicate subject with careful balance, but also vivid clarity. “If You Come Softly,” has very well designed characters that the reader can commiserate with, no matter what race or color they are.

“If You Come Softly” is about how Ellie and Jeremiah must cope with other people's reactions to their relationship. Though it is not the best book I've ever read, it has a rather unique plot that not many other authors have dared to tackle.

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