Born in 1963, Jacqueline Woodson is a multiple award-winning children books and adolescent fiction books’ author. She is well-known for depicting detailed physical aspects in each of her books.

Her story writing technique involves placing physical and psychological boundaries around her characters, boundaries of all sorts: cultural, economic, physical, sensual, and racial boundaries. Her characters then heroically break all boundaries, creating a solid and touching story.

Early Life

Hailing from the state of Ohio, Woodson was always fond of writing. In her own words, she wrote on “everything and everywhere”. Notebook margins, paper bags, shoes, clothes, sidewalks – she scribbled everywhere.

She lived in Nelsonville before her family shifted south. They lived in Greenville, South Carolina, before finally moving to Brooklyn. Woodson was seven at that time.

Her favorite subject at school was English, because she got to write then. She completed her college degree and went on to work at a children’s packaging company named Kirchoff/Wohlberg.

Writing – Her Source of Happiness

While working at Kirchoff/Wohlberg, she caught the attention of a children’s books agent when she wrote the California standardized reading tests. She partnered with that agent to publish a book, but it didn’t work out. The only good result – she got her first manuscript prepared.

She then decided to take it further and enrolled in a children’s book writing class at The New School. There she met Bebe Willoughby, an editor from Dell Publishing who heard a small part from the “Last Summer with Maizen”. He was impressed and asked for the manuscript. Dell Publishing bought the manuscript and went on to publish Woodson’s first six children’s books.

This is how her writing career started. A few years down the road, and she won dozens of awards.

Acclamation/Awards

In every interview – TV or magazine – Woodson has always talked about how writing has always made her happy. This is the reason for her success. She combined her passion and profession, and it worked like a charm.

Woodson’s love for writing has made her the acclaimed author we know today. She wrote for children, middle graders, and young adults and earned award after award for all categories.

Among her myriad of awards, she is a three-time Coretta Scott King Award winner, with her most recent win in 2021. Woodson is also a four-time Newbery Honor winner, a three-time finalist and one-time winner of the National Book Award.

She was named Young People’s Poet Laureate in 2015 by the Poetry Foundation and the Ambassador for Young People’s Literature by the Library of Congress in 2018. She was also selected for the 2020 MacArthur Genius fellowship.

One of her most prestigious awards came back in 2020 when she received the highest international recognition given to an author and illustrator of children’s books – the Hans Christian Andersen Award.

Apart from all the prizes and awards, her young adult novel Miracle’s Boys was made into a drama television series that aired in 2005.

Writing Style

Her writing style can be labelled as unique, brave, and original. Out of 35+ books, only three have been written from a male perspective – the rest feature female narrators. Her 2009 short story “Trev” features a transgender male narrator.

Woodson’s writings have been primarily issue-related. Her writings got wide acclamation because she wrote on unconventional subjects, including; gender, class, racism, teenage pregnancy, and homosexuality. These issues were not commonly discussed at the time.

Some of her writings became a target of severe critic and censorship, to which she replied: “I’m writing about adolescents for adolescents.”

Apart from these adult topics, she has written numerous children’s books (categorized as picture books or illustrated books).

Her books have been published in various languages, including; Italian, Dutch, Tagalog, French, Spanish, German, Swedish, Russian, Japanese, and a few more.

Notable Books

Her complete works include novels, picture books, and books for middle-graders and young adults. Her books intrigue people at all stages of life — kids, teens, and adults.

Here are some of the fantastic books written by the exceptional Jacqueline Woodson:

Brown Girl Dreaming is a poetic biography about moving between New York and South Carolina. The poem explains how she found her inner-calling with storytelling; she grew up in two contrasting states with the ongoing civil rights movement

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Miracle’s Boys is a young adult novel featuring three young brothers of African-American and Puerto Rican descent growing up without parents in Harlem. It won the Coretta Scott King Award in 2001.

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Locomotion is about an 11-year-old African American orphan named Lonnie Collins Motion, or Locomotion. His teacher is showing him ways to put his jumbled feelings on paper. He learns a new way to to tell the world about his life, his friends, his little sister, Lili, and even his foster mom.

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Feathers is a children’s historical novel that tells the story about a sixth-grade girl named Frannie growing up in the ’70s. One day an unexpected new student causes much chaos to the class because he is the only white boy in the whole school. The book examines what it was like to grow up right after segregation had been outlawed, how all people are equal, and that hope is everywhere.

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Along with these, Woodson wroteLast numerous other books that are not just writings; they are heart-touching stories with great lessons. Her goal is that the reader can find themselves in her work, showing the way for young people to find their voice and share their experiences.

You can visit Jacqueline’s website to learn more about her and her books. http://www.jacquelinewoodson.com