I Hadn't Meant to Tell You This

Title: I Hadn’t Meant to Tell You This

Author: Jacqueline Woodson

Illustrator: NA

Novel for ages (approximately) 12 and up

Rating: 5 of 5 stars

Summary:

This book is about Marie, the only black girl in the eighth grade willing to be a friend to a new white classmate, Lena. Marie finds out that Lena’s father is doing awful things to her in private. It is a Coretta Scott King Honor book.

Opinion:

I loved this book. It addressed many issues prevalent in schools that need to be talked about. First, Woodson talks about racism, but in a different light than normally shown. Many of the people in this book are racist, but not just white against black, this book shows that one can be racist towards white people and that neither are right. There are bad white people and bad black people, but you should never judge a whole population based on one or two individuals. This could be easily related to the persecution many Muslims are facing today in America. Most Muslims are not terrorists, just like most white people are not murderers, yet we find many innocent Muslims being the target of vandalism and harassment.

 Secondly, this book addresses the issue of child molestation. This subject is also touchy because it is so very uncomfortable to think about. Many people, myself included , like to pretend that this type of thing is only something you hear about from far away, but the reality is this sort of thing happens all the time to people we know. We can’t have people reacting as Marie did when she found out, assuming the victim is lying, exaggerating, or making it up. We need to address the issue so that these children can feel comfortable enough to come out and tell someone.

Thirdly, Woodson addresses death and divorce. I feel we often shut these subjects down, but again the reality is people die and half of marriages these days end in divorce. Children need to be able to deal with the emotions that come with this. School is where they spend most of their day. Teachers often spend more time with children than their own parents do. They should be able to talk about what is going on in their lives and the feelings they have about it.

Finally, this book addresses friendship. What is it? Who is it best had with? What makes it real and special? What is a true friend? All those questions are considered when reading this story. Marie struggles with being friends with Lena because she is poor and white, yet she is there and Marie can talk to her about more than just fashion. She struggles with the possibility of losing other friends only because she hangs out with Lena. This is stuff that goes on with kids on a daily basis. For most kids, this is what concerns them the most during the school day. They need examples of kids doing the right thing. They need to see it, hear it, and read about it.

I would definitely use this book in my classroom, on the stipulation that it is not banned for its “controversial” content. It is rich with literary elements, mood especially. You can really feel what Marie is experiencing as you read. Mood is what I consider to be most important when reading a quality piece of literature. Without it the story is just words on a page and this book has it in truck loads.