Jacqueline Woodson

ZJ's friends Ollie, Darry and Daniel help him cope when his father, a beloved professional football player, suffers severe headaches and memory loss that spell the end of his career.

Before the Ever After

WINNER OF THE CORETTA SCOTT KING AUTHOR AWARD! National Book Award winner Jacqueline Woodson's stirring novel-in-verse explores how a family moves forward when their glory days have passed and the cost of professional sports on Black bodies. For as long as ZJ can remember, his dad has been everyone's hero. As a charming, talented pro football star, he's as beloved to the neighborhood kids he plays with as he is to his millions of adoring sports fans. But lately life at ZJ's house is anything but charming. His dad is having trouble remembering things and seems to be angry all the time. ZJ's mom explains it's because of all the head injuries his dad sustained during his career. ZJ can understand that--but it doesn't make the sting any less real when his own father forgets his name. As ZJ contemplates his new reality, he has to figure out how to hold on tight to family traditions and recollections of the glory days, all the while wondering what their past amounts to if his father can't remember it. And most importantly, can those happy feelings ever be reclaimed when they are all so busy aching for the past?

Raven K

wow, I did not want this book to end. it was interesting from the beginning, and got better throughout the story. it was kinda hard to read, but nonetheless a story everyone should read.

Kelsey Munson

A short, 161 page book written in verse. This is narrated by ZJ, the son of a professional football player suffering from a neurodegenerative disease after a career filled with concussions. Quick read aimed for a middle grade audience, full of heart and hope.

Steph Lodico

Appropriate for middle school age kids, despite the tough themes, this prose is impactful for any age. I listened to it as an audiobook, which was produced phenomenally and I absolutely adored. There is not a ton of plot and it’s fairly short, but Woodson works her magic regardless to tell an important and realistic tale. Definitely worth the read (or my personal recommendation, listen).

Ashley Wendt

Beautifully written insight into A family struggling with the long term effects of contact sports and concussion. I didn’t think I would love this story the way I do. But my heart just ached for ZJ and everybody who loved his father all throughout the story.

Kim Tyo-Dickerson

Digital Review Copy (DRC) provided by Edelweiss+ in exchange for an honest review.

Jacqueline Woodson writes poetry that grips you and doesn't let go. This historical fiction Novel In Verse does just that, beginning in 1999 when the eponymous Prince song gives confidence to 12 year old ZJ's group of friends on the eve of the new millennium. ZJ's dad Zachariah "44" Johnson is a famous NFL pro football player, a hero to ZJ and his whole community, but lately can't remember simple things, forgets the names of ZJ's best friends, and becomes terrifyingly angry whenever his head aches. So many tackles, so many concussions, ZJ's mom tries to help him understand how his father is changing before his eyes. 

This is story set in the early days of the NFL's reckoning with chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) and conveys the frightening uncertainty that surrounded the symptoms without a clear diagnosis. ZJ's crew of friends are there for him as well, each with their own hobbies and talents, to help keep ZJ grounded in his community as his parents struggle to adapt to their changed lives now that Zachariah can no longer play ball. This is a story that combines professional sports with tween life, the moments where ZJ grows, despite his wish for things to never change, from his daddy's "Little Man" to a new role in his family as his father's condition deteriorates. Hand this to fans of Sports Stories, Realistic Fiction set in the not too distant past, books about friendship and being true to oneself, and readers of The Crossover and Rebound by Kwame Alexander, also about professional sports, in this case basketball, and fathers and sons. Highly recommended for readers ages 11 and up, interest level G5 and up.

Jeff Brown 

4.5

I hadn't caught the news that Jacqueline Woodson had a new book out, so I was surprised to find a copy available. That it is a short novel was probably part of the reason. I hadn't even looked to see what it was about when I checked it out. It probably wouldn't have stopped me, but this makes the third book of the last four that have dealt with memory loss. I've been trying to avoid those.

This makes the third Jacqueline Woodson book I've read in the last 10 months. I'm pretty sure I that I never read three Jack Reacher books in 10 months (some combo, huh).

I knew immediately that the NFL-playing father had CTE and that was the basis of the book. The book is set around the year 2000, over 10 years before studies of the actual condition led to a diagnosis.

While the deterioration of Zachariah is the center of the book, the main character is ZJ. We follow him through his relationship with his father, their shared love of music, the confusion, then the realization of what is happening to his father, and the special days of good moments where they can share their music, maybe for the last time. 

Also what was special was the relationship of the "Fantastic Four" -- three friends of ZJ that are there with him through thick and thin. When they realized what was happening with his father, their support of him when ZJ gets blasted playing football and decides to never to play again, and rallying around him in his dad's final days.

I expected in the author's notes that she would say that she had a personal connection with someone who had CTE. It was simply the fact that the majority of football players are black, and therefore contract CTE at an alarming rate.

A sad, but endearing book.

Nadine 

One of those books that when you’re finished you find yourself still thinking about it for a long while and then constantly referring back to it in conversations and recommendations to kids and fellow educators. 
Will definitely be one of those books that endure.

Arc provided by Libro.fm

KADY BURNS

A short book that left me gutted and steadfast that my boy will never play football

Aishah McTell

This was a good story, but I read it via audiobook and did not like the narrator at all. 

Samantha Seeman

Beautiful. Important but sad. What a beautiful way to touch on such a “new” and difficult subject. Many boys dream of playing pro football, unaware of the dreamers before them who are now suffering unheard of consequences for playing a violent sport for others entertainment. I worry personally about having children who dream of playing football, a sport that I myself love so much, but am now more aware of its trauma.

Makayla Reed

This isn't one of my favorite Woodson novels but I still did find it quite emotional and powerful.

The relationships between father and son, mother and son, and the friendships in this novel are all quite beautiful and very different. I think Woodson accurately showcased the different relationships and how moments and life in general can strain these relationships.

I think I would have connected a little bit better to the book and characters if there wasn't so much about football, but I understand the necessity of it. As someone with a sick mother who will possibly lose her memory one day, this definitely hit home with me a few times throughout the book.

Before the Ever After

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