Kim King

October 31, 2009

Individual Book Choice
FRMS 7331

Book:
Woodson, Jacqueline. I Hadn’t Meant to Tell You This. New York: Speak, 1994. Print.

Annotation
I Hadn’t Meant to Tell You This is a young adult novel by award winning author Jacqueline
Woodson. Set in Chauncey, Ohio, Marie and Lena forge a friendship against much opposition
from peers and parents. Together, the two girls sort through their feelings about race, death,
abandonment, and molestation as they deal with the pressures of living in two different worlds.
My Review
Jacqueline Woodson tackles some hard hitting issues in this brief novel. Marie is a twelve year
black girl who seemingly has it all. Yet, she is battling many emotional scars resulting from her
mother’s unexplainable departure and her father’s emotional withdrawal. One day, Lena arrives
as the new girl. She is white and poor, which is reflected by her humble dress and unkempt hair.
As a bond is formed, Marie learns that Lena is battling her own demons, the death of her mother
which results in her father’s inappropriate touching. They try to learn from each other how to
heal the wombs of these traumatizing circumstances. Lena finds peace in drawing. Marie tries to
deal with her mother’s abandonment by secretly writing letters to respond to her mother’s
mysterious postcards that come ever so often. Marie’s father objects to the relationship, and
Lena’s father doesn’t like black people. Finally, things take a turn for the worst. Lena’s father
begins touching her younger sister Dion. Lena and Dion runaway, as Lena has been threatening
to do for some time. Marie finally gets the affection of her father who gives her comfort after
losing a friend, a friendship that he learns to respect.
Woodson does a superb job of giving us the exposition. The story is effectively narrated from the
first person point of view of Marie. The novel reaches a climatic end that leaves many issues
unresolved. I was left feeling unfulfilled and with many questions which took away from my
initial enjoyment. It is quite refreshing to learn that there is a sequel, Lena, that, hopefully,
provides some resolution to many issues left opened. The content helps the reader understand
the profound effect of adult decisions on the lives of children. It is also a poignant look at how
children make decisions about their own lives in spite of the rearing of their parents.
Reviews
1. School Library Journal
“Gr 7 Up-This exceptional book is told from the viewpoint of Marie, a popular eighth
grader in a predominantly black, middle-class school. When a poor white girl shows up
mid-term, Marie finds herself drawn to Lena; both have recently lost their mothers.
Despite social and familial pressures, an awkward friendship develops. Then Lena blurts
out that her father is molesting her. Marie avoids her, unable to face the awfulness of
what she's been told. When Lena confronts her, Marie in turn doubts that she is telling the
truth, blames her friend, and then feels impotent rage. Lena shouts back, "`Don't be
hating me. It ain't about me!'" Far from being a diatribe on child abuse, this novel
explores the complex and often contradictory responses of individuals-and society-to the
plight of abused children. With searing honesty, Woodson shows Lena's father for the
damaged and pitiful person that he is. She raises questions for which society has no
answers. By skillfully weaving together themes of abandonment, emotional maturation,
and friendship across social and economic barriers, the author goes far deeper than the
typical ``problem novel.'' Lena's tragedy-her only recourse is to take her sister and run-is
balanced by Marie's ability to come to terms with the loss of her mother and by her
decision to tell her friend's story so that ``maybe someday other girls like you and me can
fly through this stupid world without being afraid.'' Lena's hope lies in the fact that she
does break through, express her anger, and get out. While there are no easy answers for
either girl, there is honesty, growth, and love in their relationship that gives young
readers hope for the future.-Carolyn Polese, Humboldt State Univ., Arcata, CA”
2. Horn Book Guide
“Fiction: O Twelve-year-old Marie, who comes from the well-off African-American community
of her Ohio suburb, is still reeling from her mother's sudden departure two years earlier. She
develops an unlikely friendship with Lena, a poor white girl who has also lost her mother, and the
two forge a strong bond. Yet Lena has a sadness that runs even deeper than Marie's: she confides
that her father has been sexually abusing her. Woodson's characters are deftly drawn, whole
individuals; her spare prose and crystal images create a haunting, poetic novel. Horn Rating:
Outstanding, noteworthy in style, content, and/or illustration. Reviewed by: la”
3. Publisher’s Weekly
“This sensitive yet gritty novel about incest may be Woodson's (Between Madison and
Palmetto) strongest work to date. Marie, the eighth-grade narrator, lives in an all-black
suburb of Athens, Ohio, with her father; her mother, who has inherited money from her
own parents, sends arty messages from the far-flung locales she has toured since leaving
the family two years ago. Ignoring the sneers of her friends--and her father's warnings--
Marie befriends ``whitetrash'' Lena, the new girl at school. Woodson confronts sticky
questions about race head-on, with the result that her observations and her
characterizations are all the more trustworthy. Her approach to the incest theme is less
immediate but equally convincing--Marie receives Lena's restrained confidences about
being molested, at first disbelieving Lena, then torn between her desire to help her friend
and her promise not to tell anyone. Lena has tried all the textbook solutions--including
reporting her father to the authorities--and has learned that outside interference only
brings more trouble. Marie, struggling to cope with her mother's desertion, must accept
Lena's disappearance, too, when Lena and her younger sister first decide to run away and
then do flee. Told in adroitly sequenced flashbacks, Woodson's novel is wrenchingly
honest and, despite its sad themes, full of hope and inspiration.”

In response to the reviews:

The reviews seem to give the book much praise and admiration, which is very much
deserved. It is noted that my thinking on the abrupt ending is not shared in these reviews. The
reviews do speak to the skill through which the characters were developed. This marks one of
the novels most outstanding features. All and all it was a good read, and I would definitely
recommend it to others.
 Response to Literature

I Hadn’t Meant to Tell You This Project

Images of different places play a predominate role in the novel. Choose one of the following
activities that incorporate the visual images described in the novel.

Materials:
Magazine pictures
Glue
Coloring pencils
Post board
4X6 Index cards

Option 1: Lena’s Drawings

Create one of Lena’s drawings. Use magazine clippings to make a picture.
It can be the drawing she gives to Marie, the willow by the lake. Or, imagine that Lena
leaves a drawing for Marie before she runs away. What image would she draw so that Marie will
not forget her?
Present and explain your drawing to the class.

Option 2: Postcards from the Edge (example seen below)

Lena’s mom always sends a postcard of where she is and includes a hello/poem on the
inscription. Where will Lena’s mom go next? Use magazine clippings to make a post card on
your index card.
Make a postcard of her next adventure and add a poem that sounds like one that she
would write to Lena.
Postcard from the Edge

(Inscription)
Paris is mesmerizing. This is living.

Lonely, do you feel as lonely as I do

I am living, but something’s missing
Can’t quite find the hole for the gap.
Don’t realize how much you need
Familiarity till nothing is familiar anymore.

Love, Me
Explanation of Responses

If I did this with my students, I would have given the choice to complete one of the two
options.

Option 1:
In the novel, Lena gives Marie this picture she has drawn. When, she does this, Lena reveals
that she has a passion for drawing. Drawing makes her feel peace inside. She will see
something when she is with Marie. Then she goes home and uses it as inspiration for
drawing. Once she starts a picture, she can’t stop until it is finished.

I would like students to recreate one of the pictures Lena makes. This assignment will help
students reflect over the places that Lena and Marie visit when they spend time with each
other. It will help students use their comprehension and inference skills to think of the things
that inspire Lena.

Option 2:

Marie’s mother leaves some years before the novel starts. Marie is still scared by this
abandonment, which becomes evident when she reveals to Lena that she keeps a box of
letters she writes back to her mother but is never able to send. Her mother sends post cards of
where she has been. However, the mother never leaves messages as to how she can be
contacted. Also, the messages are an enigma because she speaks as if she is talking to herself
and sometimes there really is no message but more of a meaningless poem that neither Marie
nor her father can interpret. Then, the mother closes the messages with “Love, Me”.

This assignment will be an option for students who like to write versus draw and create
visual art. Students will demonstrate what they understand about Marie’s mom, even though
she is not an actual character. The mother’s presence in the story is one of the driving themes
of the book. This assignment will help show what students understand about that theme.