After Tupac and D Foster

Between Madison and Palmetto

Beneath a Meth Moon

Brown Girl Dreaming

Harbor Me

Red, White, and Whole

Geography Club

While I Was Away

Jacqueline Woodson's 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?

Discover Your Child's Next Read

After Tupac and D Foster

Jacqueline Woodson, 2008

Between Madison and Palmetto

Jacqueline Woodson, 1993

Beneath a Meth Moon

Jacqueline Woodson, 2012

Brown Girl Dreaming

Jacqueline Woodson, 2014

Harbor Me

Jacqueline Woodson, 2018

Red, White, and Whole

Rajani Larocca, 2021

Geography Club

Brent Hartinger, 2003

While I Was Away

Waka T. Brown, 2021