jacqueline woodson before the ever after

tells ZJ stories about what he wanted most growing up-to play professional football.

In their more quiet moments, Zachariah Sr. They drive to and from school, make visits to Central Park, and hang out on the weekends and off-season writing songs together. His father is his best friend the two spend a lot of time together whenever his father is not away at a game. At home and with his friends, he feels seen, loved, and content. ZJ only feels like he’s in his father’s shadow in front of reporters or people who don’t know him personally. ZJ is the son of famous African American football player Zachariah “44” Johnson Sr., who plays tight end for an NFL team. This contemporary/historical fiction book takes place in Maplewood, New Jersey in 19. Many poems take the form of ZJ talking about long-ago events and recent ones, often in the same poem, jumping backward and forward in time. Instead, the novel consists of poems, which serve as Zachariah “ZJ” Johnson, Jr.’s memories. Woodson’s storytelling is non-linear, meaning the novel does not chronicle one event after the other. This guide references the first edition, published in 2020 by Nancy Paulsen Books, an imprint of Penguin Random House. Like these authors, Woodson’s works are known for tackling complex emotional issues in a way that young readers can readily understand, even as the characters grapple with mature topics.

Woodson was also the 2018-2019 National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature, preceded by Walter Dean Myers, and Gene Luen Yang. The novel earned Woodson the 2021 Coretta Scott King Author Award from the American Library Association.

Jacqueline woodson before the ever after