"If You Come Softly" follows the poignant love story of two teenagers: Ellie, a biracial girl, and Jeremiah, a Black boy, who meet at a New York City prep school. Their bond deepens as they navigate the complexities of race, identity, and societal expectations. Set against a backdrop of systemic racism and personal challenges, their relationship is a delicate balance of joy and heartache. The novel explores themes of love, loss, and the harsh realities of the world around them, ultimately highlighting the power of connection amidst adversity. Woodson's lyrical prose captures the beauty and struggles of their journey. [Generated by language model - please report any problems].

This book is aimed at children at US 7th grade+.

This book has been graded for interest at 12-17 years.

There are 200 pages in this book.

It is aimed at Young Adult readers. The term Young Adult (YA) is used for books which have the following characteristics: (1) aimed at ages 12-18 years, US grades 7-12, UK school years 8-15, (2) around 50-75k words long, (3) main character is aged 12-18 years, (4) topics include self-reflection, internal conflict vs external, analyzing life and its meaning, (5) point of view is often in the first person, and (6) swearing, violence, romance and sexuality are allowed.

This book was published in 2020 by Thorndike Striving Reader .

Jacqueline Woodson was born in Ohio and grew up in South Carolina. She has written several books for teenagers and recently won the Coretta Scott King Award which honours African-American writers of outstanding books for children. She has received two American Library Association Awards, and the Kenyon Review Award for Literary Excellence in Fiction for Autobiography Of A Family Photo, published by Penguin US. Jacqueline now lives in Brooklyn, New York.