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Jacqueline Woodson

Goodreads Author

Born

in Columbus, Ohio, The United States

Website

http://www.jacquelinewoodson.com/

Genre

Literature & Fiction, Children's Books, Young Adult

Member Since

June 2013

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I used to say I’d be a teacher or a lawyer or a hairdresser when I grew up but even as I said these things, I knew what made me happiest was writing.

I wrote on everything and everywhere. I remember my uncle catching me writing my name in graffiti on the side of a building. (It was not pretty for me when my mother found out.) I wrote on paper bags and my shoes and denim binders. I chalked stories across sidewalks and penciled tiny tales in notebook margins. I loved and still love watching words flower into sentences and sentences blossom into stories.

I also told a lot of stories as a child. Not “Once upon a time” stories but basically, outright lies. I loved lying and getting away with it! There was something about telling the lie-story and I used to say I’d be a teacher or a lawyer or a hairdresser when I grew up but even as I said these things, I knew what made me happiest was writing.

I wrote on everything and everywhere. I remember my uncle catching me writing my name in graffiti on the side of a building. (It was not pretty for me when my mother found out.) I wrote on paper bags and my shoes and denim binders. I chalked stories across sidewalks and penciled tiny tales in notebook margins. I loved and still love watching words flower into sentences and sentences blossom into stories.

I also told a lot of stories as a child. Not “Once upon a time” stories but basically, outright lies. I loved lying and getting away with it! There was something about telling the lie-story and seeing your friends’ eyes grow wide with wonder. Of course I got in trouble for lying but I didn’t stop until fifth grade.

That year, I wrote a story and my teacher said “This is really good.” Before that I had written a poem about Martin Luther King that was, I guess, so good no one believed I wrote it. After lots of brouhaha, it was believed finally that I had indeed penned the poem which went on to win me a Scrabble game and local acclaim. So by the time the story rolled around and the words “This is really good” came out of the otherwise down-turned lips of my fifth grade teacher, I was well on my way to understanding that a lie on the page was a whole different animal — one that won you prizes and got surly teachers to smile. A lie on the page meant lots of independent time to create your stories and the freedom to sit hunched over the pages of your notebook without people thinking you were strange.

Lots and lots of books later, I am still surprised when I walk into a bookstore and see my name on a book’s binder. Sometimes, when I’m sitting at my desk for long hours and nothing’s coming to me, I remember my fifth grade teacher, the way her eyes lit up when she said “This is really good.” The way, I — the skinny girl in the back of the classroom who was always getting into trouble for talking or missed homework assignments — sat up a little straighter, folded my hands on the desks, smiled and began to believe in me. ...more

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Jacqueline Woodson’s books

Average rating: 4.06 · 363,916 ratings · 52,084 reviews · 78 distinct works • Similar authors

	Brown Girl Dreaming 4.15 avg rating — 89,549 ratings — published 2014 — 48 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Red at the Bone 3.97 avg rating — 80,447 ratings — published 2019 — 30 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Another Brooklyn 3.87 avg rating — 40,431 ratings — published 2016 — 39 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Before the Ever After 4.18 avg rating — 15,060 ratings — published 2020 — 12 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Harbor Me 4.20 avg rating — 12,915 ratings — published 2018 — 19 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Day You Begin by Jacqueline Woodson (Goodreads Author), Rafael López (Goodreads Author) (Illustrator) 4.44 avg rating — 11,790 ratings — published 2018 — 15 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	If You Come Softly 4.04 avg rating — 12,270 ratings — published 1998 — 50 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Other Side by Jacqueline Woodson (Goodreads Author), E.B. Lewis (Illustrator) 4.51 avg rating — 8,545 ratings — published 2001 — 10 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Each Kindness by Jacqueline Woodson (Goodreads Author), E.B. Lewis (Illustrator) 4.42 avg rating — 7,558 ratings — published 2012 — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Locomotion 4.02 avg rating — 7,269 ratings — published 2003 — 41 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

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Series by Jacqueline Woodson

If You Come Softly (2 books)
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4.04 avg rating — 13,850 ratings

Locomotion (2 books)
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4.02 avg rating — 9,274 ratings

I Hadn't Meant to Tell You This (2 books)
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3.93 avg rating — 1,767 ratings

Maizon (3 books)
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3.84 avg rating — 792 ratings

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6 Great Books Hitting Shelves This Week

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Polls

We have read a lot of wonderful books this year, but have we missed your favorite?

What book should we read in December?

As always, you may write in titles, provided the book is a 2024 Newbery contender and already published.

The Mona Lisa Vanishes: A Legendary Painter, a Shocking Heist, and the Birth of a Global Celebrity by Nicholas Day

19 votes 23.8%

Remember Us by Jacqueline Woodson

18 votes 22.5%

Alebrijes by Donna Barba Higuera

9 votes 11.3%

Mexikid by Pedro Martín

8 votes 10.0%

The Greatest Kid in the World by John David Anderson

7 votes 8.8%

Buffalo Flats by Martine Leavitt

7 votes 8.8%

The Mona Lisa Vanishes by Nicholas Day (write-in)

4 votes 5.0%

Dreamatics by Michelle Cuevas (write-in)

2 votes 2.5%

The Song of the Swan by Karah Sutton (write-in)

2 votes 2.5%

The Mona Lisa Vanishes: A Legendary Painter (write-in)

2 votes 2.5%

Mona Lisa Vanishes (write-in)

1 vote 1.3%

The Fire, the Water, and Maudie McGinn (write-in)

1 vote 1.3%

80 total votes

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