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...

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.

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, eve More...

This book..... I have never read a book that has spoken to me more, and trust me I have read A LOT of books.
The character of Jeremiah truly resonated with me. I've never seen so much of myself in a character...... And that makes the book all the more special to me.
I actually had the pleasure of meeting Ms Woodson during the Summer. She is an amazing woman, so down to earth and real.
There is something much deeper than the basic plot in this story. Deeper than boy meets girl, a love tainted by r More...

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...

"If You Come Softly" is one of the more better books issued by my school's English department for us to read. Although I'm not entirely sure if it was appropriate subject matter for this day & age where interracial couples are pretty much in vogue but it did paint a vivid picture of how things were probably like years ago. At our high school which is outstandingly over 99% black, the students who actually read this book could see their own fears and other feelings within the pages of this bo More...

This book was called “If you come softly” by Jacqueline Woodson. This novel was about Elisha, and Jeremiah. Elisha was nicknamed Ellie and Jeremiah was nicknamed Miah. These two were both in Percy Academy, a private school where the two of them fell in love. The school students and their families did not approve of their relationship and the two were constantly being discriminated by others in the school just because of their race. They dealt with racism and they handled it until the end. But, More...

JACQUELINE WOODSON

If You Come Softly depicts a love story between black Jeremiah and white Ellie in Manhattan, NY. Even though the book takes place in the 1990s, Jeremiah and Ellie experience racial tendencies against their relationship. Family and friends alike disdain of the match, but Jeremiah and Ellie love each other enough to ignore other people's comments. Also during the novel, Ellie struggles with her relationship with her mother, and Jeremiah has a rough time with his father relationsh More...

This ROMANCE by JACQUELINE WOODSON is told from the perspective of two people: Jeremiah and Ellie. Ellie is a young white woman with a Jewish background, whereas Jeremiah is black. Both have troubled backgrounds. Jeremiah's famous, wealthy parents are divorced and divorced because Miah's father cheated on his mother. Jeremiah struggles to forgive his father. Ellie's parents, though still married, have a strained relationship. She also has a lesbian sister who lives with a significant other, whic More...

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...

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...

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...

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 ever dated More...

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 t More...

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...

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...

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 makes a turning point fo More...

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 together is portrayed as a love that just is; no parti More...

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...

In If You Come Softly, Jacqueline Woodson does a lovely job of introducing two young characters struggling to understand the dynamics of their own families—from divorced parents, to being an only child, to having a sister who is gay. At the same time, both characters have recently transferred to a new private school, and in this transfer, they meet each other.
Ellie is white and Jewish. Jeremiah is black. This is the first of their dilemmas—how do they tell their parents? But I didn’t quite un More...

WOODSON

This is a beautifully written book about a black boy who falls in with a white Jewish girl. Both Miah and Ellie attend a prestigious prep school where they feel out of place. They meet int the hallway at school and it's one of those "love at first sight" episodes. They both realize that society will not accept an interracial relationship and they are hesitant to share their relationship with their parents. Both have struggling relationships--Miah with his Dad, and Ellie with her mother. M More...

"If You Come Softly" is a story of unrequited love between Jeremiah, a fifteen-year-old African American and Ellie, who is Jewish. Both are transferring from other areas. Jeremiah, a basketball player, has just begun going to a preparatory school (Percy Academy) in New York. He and the other few African American boys are not widely accepted because of the color of their skin, and Jeremiah unexpectedly meets Ellie. They become inseparable from that day forth but are reluctant to tell their parent More...

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.
This was More...

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 readin More...

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 bigotry and hatred tow More...

Review posted at The Bookie Nook

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If You Come Softly is a young adult/middle grade story about two teenagers, Ellie and Miah. They meet at Percy Academy, the private school that they are both unwillingly attending. They know that they have something special upon meeting each other, and they can remember each moment they sneak off together. Their first kiss. But time is fragile, and so is life. They realize how hard it will be: Miah is black, and Ellie is Jewish.

Carlton stood up and tucked the b More...