Before the Ever After

For as long as ZJ can remember, his dad has always been everyone's hero: a pro football superstar, a beloved member of the neighbourhood and a really, really great dad. But there's something not right about ZJ's dad these days. He's having trouble remembering things, seems to be angry all the time and is starting to forget ZJ's name.

Bit by bit, ZJ has to face this new reality that his family can't keep holding on to his dad's glory days. As his dad begins to have more bad than good days, will they ever find happiness again?

Written in lyrical, emotive poetry, this book is beautiful and accessible - perfect for readers aged 9+.

Woodson's text may be spare, but it has the emotional wallop of an offensive tackle. Shelf Awareness, starred review
ZJ's story will stay with the audience long after the last page is read. School Library Journal, starred review
A poignant and achingly beautiful narrative shedding light on the price of a violent sport. Kirkus Reviews, starred review
Woodson delivers a poignant new novel in verse that highlights an important topic within the sports world, especially football. . . . In addition to this, it is a novel that explores family, mental illness, and the healing that a tight-knit, loving community can provide. Booklist, starred review
Each of the poems ably captures the voice of the story's preteen boy protagonist; readers can feel the sense of love and loss that ZJ is experiencing as his dad slips away. Even though that loss is difficult, Woodson reminds readers that life's challenges are more easily faced with the support of friends and family. Horn Book, starred review
A beautiful and heart-wrenching story. . . . Eloquent prose poetry creates a moving narrative that reveals the grief of a child trying to understand why his father has changed and why nothing can be done. Publishers Weekly, starred review

Jacqueline Woodson is one of the US's most acclaimed contemporary authors for young people. She first came to attention with her multi-award-winning book Brown Girl Dreaming, a memoir in blank verse of her childhood and family life moving between the American South and New York. She was the Young People's Poet Laureate from 2015 to 2017 and the National Ambassador for Young People's Literature for 2018-19. She was awarded the Hans Christian Andersen Medal in 2020.

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