Harbor Me by Jacqueline Woodson

Abstract

Reviewed by: Harbor Me by Jacqueline Woodson Deborah Stevenson, Editor Woodson, Jacqueline Harbor Me. Paulsen/Penguin, 2018 [192p] ISBN 978-0-399-25252-5 $17.99 Reviewed from galleys Ad Gr. 4-7 Narrator Haley is one of six kids in a Brooklyn combined fifth/sixth grade who goes in the afternoons to what the group dubs the ARTT room, for "a room to talk." There the children begin to share their sadnesses and insecurities, and Haley creates a project to record their stories for memory's sake. She's especially haunted by the story of Esteban, whose father is taken away by ICE, and she longs to tell him her about her own missing father, who is about to be released from prison after years inside. Woodson writes with her usual polished beauty, and the depiction of young people facing difficulty and dealing with pain is timely, while the evocation of the Lenni Lenape who once lived on the same ground serves as a reminder that "the land of the free and the home of the brave" was morally complicated from the start. The premise is awkwardly contrived, though, and the monologues by the children are implausibly fluent; the result therefore seems more like a dramatic presentation than authentic discourse among preteens. It's still a deeply sympathetic and accessible approach to some challenging issues, however, and it could definitely provoke discussion among young readers. Copyright © 2018 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois