User Reviews
Rating: really liked it
I like football.
This is somehow both one of the most embarrassing and most surprising things about me. I am doomed to an existence of not only knowing the names of coaches and players on my favorite team (cough, go Birds, cough), but of being eternally condescended to when every single man I have ever encountered finds out I know these names.
I receive the equivalent of a pat on the head and a Dum-Dum pop, every time.
Anyway. I do enjoy football, perhaps too much, but it is the worst sport in existence and I am ashamed of it. Not only does it make extremely bigoted, extremely white, extremely old men richer and richer, it also continues to employ misogynists and violent criminals. And as if that weren't enough, it quite literally destroys the brains of everyone who plays it.
And yet, I and millions of other people keep watching.
I picked this book up because I have a 100% success rate with Jacqueline Woodson books. I did not read the synopsis because of a little thing called TRUST. And I'm glad I didn't. Because this book is about a football player and his family dealing with the effects of CTE, and out of willful ignorance, if I had known that, I likely wouldn't have picked it up.
But I'm glad I did.
Bottom line: Jacqueline Woodson does it again!
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pre-reviewi think if i had read the synopsis of this, i probably wouldn't have picked it up - which is exactly why it was something i needed to read.
review to come / 3.5 stars
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currently-reading updatesdon't mind me, just slowly but surely trying to read every Jacqueline Woodson book i see
Rating: really liked it
4.5 Stars. I'm telling ya'll Jacqueline Woodson can do no wrongBefore the Ever After is such a short novel (under 200 pages) but holy crap does it pack a punch. I first became aware of CTE after watching Concussion with Will Smith. When I realized that Woodson was telling a fictionalized account of CTE I knew that it would be a book that I needed to pick up. However, what is so interesting about this book is that Woodson takes the opportunity to show the reader how CTE affects family members specifically children. ZJ slowly watches his father deteriorate from CTE and has to somehow manage to continue to live as normal of a life as possible. It was heartbreaking. Woodson has the ability to write in such a poetic manner that forces you to truly connect with plight of her characters. My heart broke for ZJ because while his father continued to change, ZJ never stop loving his father and he used some of their best memories to keep himself going.
There are also some great secondary characters including ZJ's friends. It was the epitome of friends supporting another friend that was going through a tough time. They were capable of supporting ZJ without even bringing up specific details about his father which was great because ZJ wasn't in a place where he felt comfortable talking about it. It was great to see him so supported without ever having to directly ask for it. There was also this element of familial support. Not everyone was nice to ZJ's family, but I think that it was important that ZJ was able to decipher who was willing to support his family during this tough time.
Overall, I absolutely loved this book. It was great, but I expect nothing less from Woodson. I listened to this on audio and would highly recommend it. The author does a wonderful job capturing the emotion that ZJ experiences as he watches his father struggle with CTE. I know there were a couple of times that he made my eyes water.
Rating: really liked it
Before the Ever After relayed the story of a child of a retired professional football player before his world upended when his father was diagnosed with a traumatic brain injury.
I always have had a mixed relationship with poetry, but I know that I am always a fan of prose that was written as a story. Woodson presents fascinating people for whom readers will feel strongly. As they confront the heartbreaking fact that football fame, which was once a distant fantasy, has now become the great undoer. The story is straightforward and never complex, yet it conveys the experience of being perplexed by life's unexpected and unexplainable happenings. Readers struggling with physical or mental illness in the family may find this book useful. It was heartfelt, hopeful, and informative as well.
This was such a unique experience and an excellent book for provoking thoughts. Aside from opening the door to a greater conversation about CTE and athletes, it also provides a mosaic of the deep truths about what it means to have a family and to be fortunate enough to have friends who stand by you through good times and bad.
While I understand it wouldn't gravitate many readers, as I was saying, this is still beautiful yet heartbreaking.
Rating: really liked it
This book talks about the late 90s and early 2000s and tells the story of ZJ whose father is a popular football player in those times.
His dad began losing his memories, started losing his abilities to perform his daily activities gradually. He began experiencing severe headaches, mood swings, confusion, depression and aggression which became very difficult for young ZJ and his mother to cope.
But I love how ZJ's mother being the strong woman she's, never letting the situation disrupt the family's harmony and playing a strong parent for ZJ.
I love how the words in verse described the pain and agony of not only gradually losing the prestige, the popularity, the adoration for someone who used to be so popular as experienced by the father who's suffering from Chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), a condition unknown during those days.
I love how supportive the friends, the relatives and the community are in the story. ZJ's friends are the best! Love how adorable these kids are!
A heart-wrenching but a beautiful, hopeful read I definitely am putting this book in my list of best middle grade books ever!
I love the author's note towards the end of the book describing the condition ZJ's father was going through, the same brain disease affecting boxers.
CTE, a degenerative brain disease is generally found in sportsmen who have suffered repeated blows to the head. There's still no cure but yes, thorough research throughout the years have shown some clarity to the condition.
Such an insightful and informative read. Amazing middle grade book!
One of the best 2020 releases 💯
Rating: really liked it
The calendar is about to turn to September. Leaves are starting to fall from the giant tree in our front yard, days are slowly becoming shorter, and in the mornings there is a crisp feel in the air marking an upcoming change in season. That can only mean one thing: football season. In this unprecedented year with sports adapting to changes as well as every facet of society, the NFL is about to embark to play a complete season. There are political undertones that make this year feel different, but the fan in me is giddy in anticipation for another season of football Sundays. To get me in the mood during this time of year when baseball and football overlap, I turned to a familiar author whose words should be mandatory reading for all Americans. Jacqueline Woodson has written a book about football, about the long term toll physical and mental health injuries take on families, and the place of retired athletes in society. While not your typical football book, Woodson’s writing is must read for me, so I knew I’d have to indulge in her latest poetry in motion before the season kicks off.
Zachariah Johnson, Jr., ZJ, is a typical twelve year old kid living in Maplewood, New Jersey. He is an aspiring song writer who enjoys experimenting with new tunes on his guitar and spends all of his free time with his boys Daniel, Darry, and Ollie. Yet, ZJ is not your typical twelve year old kid in that his father his star tight end Zachariah Johnson #44, the best his team (most likely the Giants [boo] ) ever had. The Johnson’s Maplewood home has a swimming pool, indoor basketball court, and a sprawling yard with oak, birch, pine, and fruit trees, all creature comforts of what a professional sports salary can buy. The Johnsons dote on ZJ, their only child, yet remain as humble as possible in their suburban community where Zachariah stands out as an NFL star. Everyone wants his autograph, all the boys want him to play in their touch football games as all time quarterback, and most kids at school gape in awe of ZJ when they find out who his dad is. Yet, ZJ is a kid who loves his mom’s maple pancakes and lemon cakes, Saturday mornings with his boys, and rap sessions with his dad. His dad might have won a Super Bowl and plays on Sunday night football, but to ZJ, Zachariah is his dad first, and a football star next. He is his father’s little man, and in their joint rap sessions, the two show deep love and admiration for each other as they create poetry in motion.
On New Year’s Eve of the new Millenium, ZJ’s world turns upside down as his dad starts forgetting things and experiencing excruciating headaches on a daily basis. By the time the new football season starts, Zachariah sits out every game. The headaches and moodiness become increasingly worse, and doctors do not know what is the matter. Whispers from his mom’s friends, other football wives, are rumors that Zachariah’s symptoms are becoming more and more common around the NFL, but no one knows what this disease or it’s cause is. It was not until 2016 that Dr Bennet Omalu published his findings in Concussion, linking repeated concussions and traumatic hits to the head to the brain disease known as CTE that is unfortunately now common in football players. Today all professional sports have a concussion protocol that their players have to pass to be allowed to play, with a battery of tests that football players must complete in order to be allowed back on the field. Many players have voluntarily cut their careers short after even one concussion because their long term health is more important to them than the fame and glory of an NFL career. This information was hardly a blip on the horizon twenty years ago, and players like Zachariah shuttled from doctor to doctor in hopes of finding what made their minds foggy. In the interim, their families coped with the new reality that their fathers/husbands were no longer everybody’s hero but men struggling to get through their lives.
While Zachariah becomes a shell of his former self, ZJ gives up tackle football for good after seeing what has happened to his dad. His boys got his back and they find plenty of other activities to take the place of football. This is more common today as even well known professional athletes have stated publicly that they do not want their children playing contact sports. ZJ finds an outlet in his music, poetry, and walks in the woods. Woodson writes this book in prose, and I have yet to find many writers who are as adept as she is at creating complex characterizations in a short amount of words. This book, at 160 pages, might be geared toward older, middle grade readers, exposing sports fans to poetry, but also a joy for adult readers who have long enjoyed Woodson’s work. As I have struggled to find many wholesome books for my kids over the years, Woodson has a knack for creating friendships where kids genuinely have their backs and there is little competition or tension between them. Her books are a throwback to books I read growing up where I knew that all of the protagonists, even if they coped with real life issues, were all friends and would get through life together. While ZJ and his friends move full speed toward their teen years, at a time where kids can be plain mean, Woodson has the fantastic four of ZJ, Daniel, Darry, and Ollie always supportive of each other through thick and thin. Their relationship brought a smile to my face as ZJ and his mom navigate the new life as care givers to their father/husband ahead of them.
With the NFL season hopefully starting in less than two weeks without a hitch, I have much to look forward to. My favorite player is on a new team and hopes to get back to the Super Bowl for an unheard of tenth time. That should keep my excitement level on high for the next five months; however, even with rules on the books to protect quarterbacks, brutal hits are always a possibility. Even the stars know that each game could be their last, something fans try not to think about. Jacqueline Woodson has crafted a story about the early days of CTE research in a way that kids can see the fine line between athlete and person, and mature readers can appreciate the love of writing she brings to each story. Woodson is truly a gift to this generation of readers of all ages. Each story is as exquisite as the last and I know that it will not be long until she births her next one. Anticipating her next book should keep me as giddy as I feel on a typical NFL Sunday.
4+ 🍁 🏈 🍂 stars
Rating: really liked it
A short, 161 page book written in verse. This is narrated by ZJ, the son of a professional football player suffering from a neurodegenerative disease after a career filled with concussions. Quick read aimed for a middle grade audience, full of heart and hope.
Rating: really liked it
This is a middle grade written in verse. Books written in verse is hit or miss for me. I did not love this one, but I did not hate this one. This was a super quick read. I love the topic/storyline, but I feel it did not go deep enough in the story line.
Rating: really liked it
Heartbreaking and hopeful. This is a story of a resilient family coping with change and loss due to the father's CTE. The story is told through the perspective of the son, ZJ. He recalls memories of happier times and talks of coming to terms with the circumstances of what is now. I loved how the mom cared for the dad and encouraged ZJ to find a new way to connect with his dad through music.
Rating: really liked it
"Before the Ever After" is a 2020 Goodreads Choice Awards finalist in the Best Middle Grade & Children's category.
Woodson's novel-in-verse tells the story of a young boy, ZJ, (aged approx. 9 - 12 throughout) who's struggling to understand his father's descent from star NFL player to man suffering from traumatic brain injury. Author Woodson was wise to set it in the '90s, when not much was known about the chronic traumatic encephalopathy caused by hard-hitting days playing (American) football. That makes it easy for the reader to relate to ZJ as his young mind tries to piece together what is happening to his dad.
A book about football brain injuries isn't something I'd normally pick up, but Woodson makes the subject approachable through her lyrical prose. Time with her writing is always well spent.
3.5 stars rounded up.
Rating: really liked it
Actual Rating: 4.5 stars
A beautiful and heartbreaking story told in verse about a professional football player experiencing degenerative symptoms of CTE from repeated head injuries and the impact it has on his son. Told through the perspective of ZJ we experience what this is like for a child seeing his father change, forget things, experience mood swings, and become unpredictable. Woodson's prose is stunning and poignant, telling a story of the impact the lack of transparency surrounding this issue on professional athletes has had on families. The authors note at the end offers context and info on how this finally came into the light so that people can get more help. This may be brief, but it packs a punch and I would recommend it and the audiobook is very well done. I received an audio review copy from the publisher. All opinions are my own.
Rating: really liked it
Wow, what can I say as far as Jacqueline Woodson’s forthcoming middle grade novel that will get across just how incredible it is? Because I had to sit and hold it for awhile last night when I finished it, because I could so deeply feel the confusion and longing from ZJ, because I could feel the love surrounding him from his friends, because I knew as a reader what was happening to his dad and how devastating it is, and yet, this book is about love, family, hope, football, and everything else that fills in the gaps of what becomes our lives. I think this will be a must read in my classroom this year, this is perfect for so many ages. One of the best books of the year, preorder now #pernillerecommends
Rating: really liked it
5 stars
Not unlike the rest of Woodson's books, I rate this one highly. Woodson tends to write about up-to-date issues that affect people. This book is written in verse - similar to many individual connecting poems that tell one continual story.
ZJ lives through the process of his Dad losing his football career to Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy, better known as CTE. He sees his Dad go from a hero to a man he barely knows, and much less understands. It tells how the family adapts to a change that they never saw coming.
Rating: really liked it
5 stars!
Jacqueline Woodson is a renowned author whose works I’ve been wanting to read for a long time, but unfortunately, never got around to doing so. Luckily for me, a few days ago, my library hold for Woodson’s newly published novel,
Before the Ever After , came through, so I decided to clear my schedule and read it immediately. Since I jumped into this one so quickly, I didn’t realize it was novel-in-verse format until I opened up to the first page. I had just finished Elizabeth Acevedo’s
The Poet X last month, which was my very first time reading a novel-in-verse, and seeing how much I loved that experience, it made me even more excited to get into this one.
At the center of this story is 12-year-old Zachariah Johnson Jr., or ZJ, as he is known to all his friends and family except his dad, whose special nickname for him is “Little Man.” As a charismatic and talented pro football superstar, ZJ’s dad is everyone’s hero -- a man beloved and admired by millions of people, from sports fans across the country to the neighborhood kids in the Maplewood, New Jersey town where the family lives. ZJ loves and adores his dad, but at times, he can’t help but feel that he is living in his dad’s shadow, even though his interest is in music and creating songs rather than playing pro ball like his dad. Aside from his parents, the only other people who see and love ZJ for who he is are “his boys”: best friends Darry, Ollie, and Daniel -- together, they are the Fantastic Four and no matter what happens, they are there for each other. Everything is going well – until it doesn’t. ZJ starts to notice his dad behaving strangely – he gets headaches a lot and seems to be angry or agitated all the time, but worst of all, he’s gotten forgetful to the point that he has trouble remembering his son’s name. ZJ’s mother explains that his dad’s behavior is due to all the head injuries from his football career, though his dad’s doctors seem to be trying to figure things out still. When his dad’s condition starts to fluctuate more frequently – one minute, he is the dad who sings with ZJ and always has a big grin for his Little Man, but the next minute, he is staring into space and is unable to remember his surroundings – ZJ struggles to come to terms with the realization that this is his family’s new “ever after.” As ZJ tries desperately to hold on to the happy memories of the past, he gradually learns to face this new reality with the love and support of his family and friends.
I’m not a sports fan whatsoever — in fact, my knowledge in this area is so limited that I can barely tell one athlete apart from another (my friends who are into sports often tease me about getting teams and players mixed up, sometimes even across disciplines). Given this, I normally would not pick up a sports-related book to read, but in this instance, I decided to go for it because 1) the author is Jacqueline Woodson (see first paragraph for further explanation) and 2) the premise sounded interesting, plus this is a short book (less than 200 pages) so it would be a quick read for me. In the end, I didn’t have to worry, as the story turned out to be more about the sports players and their families rather than the intricacies of the sport itself (though with that said, without football as the central theme, the story probably would not have worked as well as it did).
Those who are familiar with my book reviews know that I can be quite stingy when it comes to rating a book 5 stars. I sometimes go with gut reaction, but more often than not, it takes a lot of careful reflecting and pondering (and at times, agonizing) on my part to reach the “this deserves 5 stars” point. Well, this book captured my heart from the start! I loved nearly everything about this book — from the moving story to the endearing characters to the realistic depictions of society and human interactions (ie: the sacrifices we make for our loved ones to live a better life), to the struggles of having to deal with a debilitating illness from the eyes of children, etc. what I especially loved though was the Fantastic Four — the friendship between the four boys was so genuine and sweet — the way they were always there for each other regardless of what happens, how no words need to be spoken, just being who they are and keeping each other company, their friendship warmed my heart and always managed to put a smile on my face! At the same time, this book also made me cry, with ZJ watching his beloved father deteriorate right before his eyes and losing all the memories of their happy times together — the scene where ZJ’s dad forgets who his son is, and ZJ’s emotional reaction to it, absolutely broke my heart!
Jacqueline Woodson has won many awards for her works and now after finally having read one of her books, I definitely understand why. With this book being novel-in-verse, the writing is sparse, yet still packed such a punch. I admire the way Woodson is able to craft such a heartfelt, emotionally poignant story populated with endearing, unforgettable characters so beautifully, yet also sparingly. While I wait for Woodson’s next book, I can’t wait to go back and explore as much of her backlist as possible!
Rating: really liked it
This is a special book. And I say that as a member of Jacqueline Woodson's Newbery Committee for Brown Girl Dreaming, so you know that all her books are special to me. This book is special.
ZJ misses his dad. His dad isn't gone, but lately his head has been hurting and he's been confused and sometimes aggressive. Sometimes he can't remember who ZJ is. He hasn't been able to play on his football team for a long time. He had the career he always dreamed of, got to be a famous football star, but at what cost?
This is a story, told in exquisite verse, of a boy coming to grips with the fact that life's not okay right now. That there's hope that things will get better, but that now is not yet that time. It's a story about the emotional lives of boys and about the relationships you build that are stronger than bad times. It's about the friends who will always be there no matter what and the way family comes together to help cope when disaster strikes. It's about memory and loss and hope and joy and grief, all wrapped up in one.
Rating: really liked it
4.5 stars rounded up!I was blown away when I read Red at the Bone by Jacqueline Woodson earlier this year, so when I heard about Before the Ever After, I jumped at the opportunity to read it.
A lyrical novel written in verse, this middle grade novel follows the life of 12 years old ZJ who is the son of Zachariah the professional football player.
The story starts off as ZJ reminiscing all of the amazing memories he has of his dad playing football and interacting with him and his friends. However, the story quickly devolves into the tragic personality changes and memory loss associated with CTE, which is common in athletes who endure too many concussions.
This story is eye-opening and heartbreaking, but what amazes me most is ZJ’s hope. This is definitely one of those books that isn’t age specific. We all have something to learn in these amazing words.
Thank you to Penguin Kids for providing a review copy. This did not influence my review. All opinions are my own.
