BEFORE THE EVER AFTER

BEFORE THE EVER AFTER by Jacqueline Woodson

Fall = Football, right? Jacqueline Woodson brings us an absolutely wonderful, but highly emotional sports story, in Before the Ever After.

ZJ's dad is a famous football player. Everyone knows him. Everyone loves him. But recently he hasn't been himself. He's dealing with debilitating headaches, he loses his temper easily which is very uncharacteristic, and his memory is shot. There are times he can't remember his closest friends' names. It's dumbfounding. How is this even possible? ZJ's dad has always been superman - invincible. After visiting multiple doctors, the consensus is all the concussions he's experienced over his career are now taking a toll on him. The question ZJ finds himself wondering is is this the new forever for his dad?

Read past the next sentence I am going to tell you. This book is written in non rhyming verse. BUT it doesn't read like poetry, it reads like a story. Don't be afraid of it for your kids even if they typically dislike verse. The verse set up gives the book a very focused and extra emotional push due to the limited word choice that probably wouldn't happen the same way in a traditional chapter book.

This book is fantastic, and I highly recommend it!