Jacqueline Woodson

The contemporary realistic fiction book Each Kindness, written by Jacqueline Woodson in 2012, is a picture book for elementary and middle school students. The story begins with Maya, a new student, coming into the classroom and whispering hello to the others. Maya wore old clothes and broken shoes, not winter but spring shoes. The other students in the class were silent. The teacher sat her next to Chloe. Maya smiled, but Chloe did not smile back and looked away. Chloe ate her lunch with her friends Kendra and Sophie. Maya tried to engage with the girls and show them her jacks, but they didn't want to play with her. None of the kids wanted to be her friend. The other kids in the class whispered about her, laughed at her, and made fun of her clothes. Kendra called her "never knew" because she wore clothes that looked like they had belonged to someone else before her. Maya was content with playing by herself whether it was Jack's or jump rope. Then, one day Maya did not come to school. Her seat was empty. Their teacher showed them what happens when you drop a stone in water that day. The stone makes a ripple in the water, and the kindness goes out into the world just like the ripple in the water. The teacher had the kids each say a kind act they had done towards someone else, but Chloe couldn't think of any that she had done. Maya never returned to school, even though Chloe hoped she would. Chloe believed that the day Maya returned would be the day Chloe smiled back at her. "Each kindness," Miss Albert said, makes the whole world a little bit better. As Chloe went home that day, she stopped by the pond to throw stones in the water. She thought of all the "kinds things" she should've said to Maya but didn't. She realized that a chance of kindness with Maya was forever gone.… (altro)

Although it's not written in verse, this book is beautifully poetic. There are passages in Woodson's prose which are so moving, so artful, they made me sigh like a Regency novel heroine. Delicately and purposefully, this book tells kids that many things they see in life are ok to live with. It's ok to have tragedy. It's ok to be scared and confused and conflicted about bad things that happen to you. It's ok to be friends with people different than you. It's ok to be different. It's ok to be kind, even when you don't completely understand. This book is a wonderful contribution to YA lit.… (altro)