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The Dear One
Author:
Type of Book:
Novel
Age Level:
8-12
My Star Rating:
****
Summary
- “The Dear One” is a story about Afeni, a young girl who struggles with feeling unloved since her grandmother passed away, four years prior. Afeni tries to make sense of her world, but at the young age of 12, she can’t seem to do so, that is, until 15-year-old, pregnant Rebecca comes into her life; a time when her paradigms change.
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My Thoughts
- I thought this book was good, very controversial, but then again, I love controversy. I thought the raw emotion Woodson exposes in this book was phenomenal. She has such an incredible fluency in childish thought and reasoning, I felt as if I was actually there, observing all the interactions between Afeni and Rebecca. I felt just as present as the characters were, as if I was a fly on the wall. I also loved how I could relate myself to this book through my own childhood thoughts and encounters. There is a beautiful moment between Afeni and her mother, where Afeni declares she wants to go live with her dad because she thinks that her mom doesn’t lover her. Afeni’s mom, Catherine, responds by saying that although she doesn’t say, “I love you” everyday to Afeni, that it doesn’t mean she doesn’t love her everyday. It just means that she expresses love in a different way, such as providing for Afeni, and taking care of her. This type of love is so familiar to me, and once, as a child, I went through the same fears of being unloved by my mother, and just like in this book, my mother explained that she loves best through her actions. After hearing that, I was able to see incredible amounts of love, more love than I had ever imagined, my mom loves me best through helping me through life. I connected very well with Afeni in that moment.
- I also loved the truth and fears that Afeni and Caesar shared. My favorite example of this was seen in chapter 15, when the two friends were discussing their fears of lying in bed naked with a boy. I remember growing up, with these same fears, and the same thoughts about intimacy. I loved how special that moment in the book was for me. Again, Woodson has an outstanding way of bringing my life out, through her characters, a feat not easily accomplished. I am so happy with this book and the sentimental moments it offered me, while reading.
How to Use in the Classroom
- For more mature grades, this novel could be used to discuss the very controversial subjects it includes, such as, teenage pregnancy, alcoholism, homosexuality, divorce, abortion, rich VS poor, and the racial divide of whites and blacks. All of these topics are seen throughout this book, and although some are more controversial than others, all of them are seen in our culture today. These issues are real, kids will come across them and kids will have questions. As teachers, we have to decide if we want to bring them up for discussion in our classrooms, and how we wish to handle them. Although controversial subjects are often discouraged from school districts, I believe it is very important to prepare students for reality, and this would be a great book to do start with!
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- I also think that posing the question, “How can we show love” is a great way to bring awareness to the varied appearances of love. For kids like Afeni, and myself, sometimes love is not so apparent, but, as a class, making a list or chart on the different ways love can be shown, will help to build community, as well as, explain how, as a class, we can show love to each other. Perhaps this could include an activity or a service project appropriate for Valentines Day (Assigning a Valentine to each student, so that each student spends time showing a friend love, and feeling loved by a friend, through an encouraging note, or helping hand. This will also work towards building community).
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