Goodreads Mobile | see what your friends are reading

Jul 20, 2008

Julie rated it:

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 l More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Feb 22, 2008

Greta rated it:

if you come softly
as the wind within the tress
you may hear what i hear
see what sorrow sees...

and if you come i will be silent
nor speak harsh words to you
i will not ask you why, now.
or how, or what you do.

we shall sit here softly
beneath two different years
and the rich earth between us
shall drink our tears.

-177
bi-racial city romance.
lyrical, simple, sweet, and as such, heartbreaking.

1 comment like (3 people liked it)

Jan 06, 2011

Travis rated it:

Ellie and Jeremiah fall in love at first sight. The fact that he's black and she's white doesn't matter to them, but it's all everyone else can see.[return][return]This had some good stuff going on. I particularly liked the chapters in Jeremiah's POV and his observations about the world...that's pretty much all that saved it from being a run-of-the-mill teen issue book. As it is, it didn't save it enough for me. [return][return]There's a lot of stuff labelled YA that I read and wonder why it was More...

0 comments like

Feb 08, 2012

Skye rated it:

Skye Kordistos
Multicultural

If you come softly is a sweet story about two high school teens falling in love. Jeremiah, an African American male from Brooklyn, starts a new year at Percy academy, a prep school in Manhattan. There, he bumps into a white, Jewish girl named Ellie and its love at first sight. After ditching school for a nice, romantic walk in central park, they share a kiss and start to date. As their love flourishes, people who seem them give them dirty looks and wo More...

0 comments like

Nov 14, 2011

Kara rated it:

Jeremiah feels good inside his own skin. That is, when he's in his own Brooklyn neighborhood. But now he's going to be attending a fancy prep school in Manhattan, and black teenage boys don't exactly fit in there. So it's a surprise when he meets Ellie the first week of school. In one frozen moment their eyes lock and after that they know they fit together -- even though she's Jewish and he's black. Their worlds are so different, but to them that's not what matters. Too bad the rest of the world More...

0 comments like

Mar 22, 2011

Caroline rated it:

I REALLY liked this book. I started reading it yesterday, and I finished today. It was so clear and understanding. It shows me a lot of how people think and how it feels to be the victim of a stereotype. Ellie and Jerimiah are sophmores in a private school called Percy. Jerimiah is black, and Ellie is white, but that doesn't seem to matter. Since they both first saw each other they knew that they were meant to be together. Througout the story there are people who judge their reliatonship, like t More...

0 comments like

Oct 17, 2010

Courtney rated it:

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here

2 comments like

Jun 04, 2010

Talese rated it:

Jeremiah is an African-American teen who is used to his Brooklyn neighborhood but things change when he starts going to a prep school in Manhattan. He feels that he is not accepted by his peers because he is black. He bumps into a girl named Ellie and is instantly intrigued by her. Luckily he is also transferred into Ellie’s class. They became inseparable and fall in love. The problem is that he is black and Ellie is Jewish. This makes the other students talk and laugh at Ellie and Jeremiah behi More...

1 comment like

Apr 09, 2010

Kate rated it:

Ah yes, you guessed it already. Another heart-smashing (“breaking” doesn’t cut it this time) book about young people in tragic circumstances. This book is the saddest one I’ve read from Woodson yet, and I just don’t know if my heart can take any more.

The book centers on two young people in love, Jeremiah and Ellie. They live in New York City with fairly good parents and in good homes and neighborhoods. But of course, there’s a catch. Jeremiah is black and Ellie is white. Neither has More...

0 comments like

Mar 01, 2010

Mytresa rated it:

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here

0 comments like

Nov 24, 2009

Amanda rated it:

This book was listed as a LGBTQ novel, but the book didn't really deal with any LGBTQ issues. The story is about a relationship between an interracial couple, Ellie and Jeramiah, at a wealthy private school; about how their relationship progresses, and how they deal with the outside world's response to their love.
I thought the book painted a beautiful picture of two people who had a deep connection. From the moment they first see each other, Ellie and Miah are atracted to one another. The More...

1 comment like (2 people liked it)

Nov 21, 2009

Jennifer rated it:

If You Come Softly is a touching, deeply moving novel that takes its name from a poem by Audre Lorde. The book unfolds the love story between two teenagers of different races and religions. Although Woodson doesn’t delve into their difference in religion, she brings their racial differences to the forefront with ease, making the reader question what he or she knows about race relations. Instead of taking the “colorblind” approach, Woodson chooses for her characters to acknowledge their differenc More...

0 comments like

Nov 21, 2009

Lizabeth rated it:

If You Come Softly written by Jacqueline Woodson is a great novel. I probably wouldn't incorporate this novel into a unit because of the touchy subject matter, but I would be sure to have this book in the classroom on my personal book shelf to be available to any student who was interested in reading it; however, I would most likely try to incorporate certain parts and aspects of this novel in a unit including a play like Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet as this novel is very much a modern day ver More...

0 comments like

Oct 21, 2009

Kathryn rated it:

YA/romance/interracial love

Surprisingly gripping from the start, "If You Come Softly" has a powerful voice which carries the reader through the story of Jeremiah, a black kid from a Brooklyn neighborhood, and Ellie, a white girl who lives right off of Central Park - who both new at a prep school, meet each other and feel a deep connection. Told from both of their perspectives, we see how this relationship fits in their lives with their very different families, and how it m More...

0 comments like

Aug 26, 2009

K. rated it:

I didn't know about Jacqueline Woodson. I don't even remember where I got the recommendation to read her books.

But I'm glad I know now.

If You Come Softly is about a Jewish girl and Black boy at a mostly white New York prep school who come together in love.

No, it's not what you think. There are some obvious ways this story could have been addressed, but Woodson chose a more lyrical, complex route than what I've come across before.

Their coming togeth More...

0 comments like

Jul 16, 2009

David rated it:

This novel is written beautifully. It is easy to read - not only because of its simplicity, but also due to its enjoyability. If You Come Softly deftly weaves many complex and confusing relationships into the same story. The main conflict concerns a white, Jewish girl who falls in love with a black boy. The racial conflict is nicely counter-pointed with a seemingly ironic socioeconomic difference. Other relationship issues are also addressed: a lesbian relationship, an extra-marital affair, and More...

0 comments like

Oct 24, 2010

Daniela rated it:

This book is an eloquent, simple story of tragic love. Ellie and Jeremiah are likable teenagers who fall in love with each other despite their racial differences. In each other, they find a remedy for their loneliness and hope for their future. At every turn, they encounter prejudice, whether it be an elderly white lady on the street, or Ellie's own sister Anne. But for Ellie and Jeremiah, black and white doesn't exist, only the feeling that they are irrevocably meant for each other.
More...

0 comments like

Apr 21, 2010

Molly rated it:

I met Jacqueline Woodson last year at a local children's bookshop (Children's Book World in Haveford) and she signed a copy of this for me. In person she was graceful and so kind and had a definite presence and I was moved to buy one of her books, having never read one before (I know, I'm behind on this.) I was blown away by her writing here; lyrical and so fluid, her narrative voices feel so genuine and so well-thought-out and imagined, it's interesting to know what Woodson is like while readi More...

0 comments like

Aug 07, 2009

Trisha rated it:

This book is the most beauiful, heart-wrenching,all-engrossing book i've ever read! Elisha "Ellie" Eisen, a white Jewish girl, has just been transfered to Percy School, a private school in Manhattan, for her sophomore year. So has Jeremiah "Miah" Roselind, a black boy from Brooklyn with an author mother and movie-making father who are seperated. They fall in love in the pure, sweet, inoccent style likened to Romeo and Juliet. This novel perfectly captures the injustices of bi More...

0 comments like

Mar 15, 2009

Heidi rated it:

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Sep 23, 2010

Becky rated it:

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here

0 comments like

Jul 18, 2010

Heather rated it:

This book was recommended by Justine Larbalestier who wrote "Liar" in her recommendations for books "like" Liar. Um, I don't know what planet anyone who saw any similarities between these two books is from, beyond both being set in NYC. Seriously, that's all I can come up with, other than the race of one of the characters.

If You Come Softly is the most trite, simplistic love story about the love between a Jewish girl and a black boy - that perfect star crossed lov More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jun 25, 2011

Lisa rated it:

I didn't find this to be well written and the whole plot was too bland for me. The love story was pretty lame and the characters were 'eh'.
This would probably be more well-suited to someone much younger. I think 12 and under. I expect a certain standard of writing and this was too dumbed-down for me. It took me no time to read because it was short, had HUGE font and was such simple writing.
I read it for a challenge(I had to read a YA book with a minority as one of the main characters) More...

0 comments like

Nov 21, 2009

Sandy rated it:

A love-at-first-sight story of two teenage students at a private New York school, this novel focuses on stereotypical responses to this racially mixed couple. Miah (short for Jeremiah) is black, and Ellie (short for Elisha) is white. Their lifestyles are anything but stereotypical. Miah’s father is a big shot movie-maker, and his mother is a famous novelist. Ellie’s mother has abandoned the family on two occasions, leaving scars that keep Ellie from sharing the details of her new romance. Sh More...

0 comments like

Nov 11, 2009

Kaitlyn rated it:

this book is about a boy named Jermiah but Miah for short and a girl named Elisha but Ellie for short. Miah is black and Ellie is white. they start to like eacother but the color of there skins is a problem. They soon start to date and hold hands at there school called Percy acadmey its mostly only white people. everyone always stares at them but they look away and feel like there in there own worlds. Ellie and Miah both have to deal challneges abou dating eahcother with family aand dost tell t More...

0 comments like

Dec 03, 2010

Lydia rated it:

I've been reading Woodson's books and truly do not understand how she has accumulated so many awards. Yes, her books deal with race and cultural differences. But I find most of them extremely short, to the point of not exploring the subjects in depth. I also find her endings very distressing. If you are black, you seem to have a tragic ending where there is no real indication about a future for the other characters.

In this book, which in fact does have a sequel, there is an interracial More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Dec 07, 2009

Rachel rated it:

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here

0 comments like

Aug 09, 2009

Jenny rated it:

Jacqueline Woodson can slip into the soul of her characters, and she has two Newbery Honor Books (Feathers; Show Way) and a Margaret A. Edwards Award (given to an author for the “body of his or her work, for significant and lasting contribution to young adult literature”) that attest to her gifts. She has never been afraid to address issues that are an everyday part of adolescence but that are not easy to talk about, such as racial tensions and sexuality. In this book, she explores the impact of More...

0 comments like

Sep 08, 2009

Amrika rated it:

Why are people looked differently at cause of their race and color?

This book is great.! Miah and Ellie are in love. They feel is love when they first saw each other. They were each others first. But as in everylove story their was a problem Miah was black and Ellie was white and jewish. Eventhoug they saw each other for not the color but for their love the world outside them saw them for their color. When i was reading this book I did not want to stop. I was mad and happy when More...

0 comments like

Jul 03, 2009

Rhollers rated it:

If you come softly
Jacqueline Woodson

Woodson writes a compelling story of young love, not the - I think you’re cute – love but the soul mate at first sight love. High school students at a prestigious New York private school, Ellie and Miah find each other and the problems associated with interracial couples. Miah comes from a high profile black family and Ellie’s parents are an upper class Jewish family. Both experience family issues th More...

1 comment like (1 person liked it)

reviews