I Hadn't Meant to Tell You This is a book targeted towards young adults published in 1994 by Jacqueline Woodson. The story takes place in Chauncey, Ohio, and it focuses on the growing friendship between a black girl native to this town named Marie and a white girl her age by the name of Lena. Along the way they face challenges and secrets that test their friendship.
The story begins with it being the third day of school and it being the day Lena first arrives in Chauncey and how she slowly becomes friends with Marie. The two girls despite being polar opposites become friends due to their differences and to the fact that they both lost their mothers with Marie's mother leaving her and her father at an early part of her life and Lena's passing away when she was young. There are challenges towards their relationship, with it mainly being towards the community being composed of mostly black people and few white people who aren't as financially well-off compared to the former. There is also Marie's other friend Sherry who views Lena as nothing more than "whitetrash" and Lena confiding in Marie a secret regarding Lena's father sexually abusing her, which Marie struggles to keep secret despite her protests to Lena. By the end of the novel, the abuse has gone to the point where Lena's younger sister, Dion, is being affected as well. Lena and Dion leave Ohio and Lena bids farewell to Marie after the latter calls to see if she is okay. Marie in the days that come is saddened by the departure of her friend and asks herself "Why can't we all just be people here?" after remembering a comment Lena made earlier on how "We all just people here".[1]
Charactersedit
Marie, one of the main protagonists of the story, a black girl native to the town of Chauncey, Ohio and has been shown to have grown up in a privileged household with her father. Her mother left the family when she was little.
Lena is the second main protagonist of the story being a white girl from a poor background, is new to Chauncey, lives with her little sister and abusive father and wishes to become an artist.
Sherry is Marie's first friend, with a bossy attitude and is considered popular in school is someone not fond of white people like Lena.
Dion is Lena's little sister who has a fondness towards books and sports. Becomes a friend to Marie and often goes to her house with alongside Lena.
Marie's Father is the father of Marie who participated in the Civil Rights Movement, and has negative views towards the white people of Chauncey but has a change of views after meeting Lena.
Backgroundedit
Jacqueline Woodson wrote this book, as well as some of her other works, by drawing from aspects of her life and having a sense of how she relates to some of her characters in order to bring experience into her stories.[2]
Themesedit
One of the main themes of this story is the relationship that revolves around the children of different races and the topic of sexual abuse. This theme is showing the complications between the black people who are in a more stable living situation than the white people of this town, yet despite that shows a friendship between these two classes of people.
The other theme, sexual abuse, shows how challenging the situation can be depending on the circumstances, because in the text Lena tells her secret to Marie, who believes it would be best to alert the proper authorities, but because of prior experience as well as being poor Lena is unable to bring herself to do it out of fear of being separated from her sister.[3] Thus, at the end Lena leaves Chauncey with her younger sister, Dion, in tow, leaving Marie to not know what became of her after.[4] According to children's literature scholar Angela Hubler, this book is targeted towards young adults and she speaks of how it contains barriers that the characters had to overcome, but there was one however that Lena could not overcome, and thus the abuse was the reason she and her sister ran away.[4]
Release Informationedit
This book was released on May 1, 1994 with a sequel titled Lena released on October 13, 1999.
Receptionedit
Kirkus describes it as a book where "Friendship lightens the burden of adolescence" .[5]
^Woodson, Jacqueline (1994). I Hadn't Meant to Tell You This. New York: Puffin Books. p. 114. ISBN9780142417041.
^Woodson, Jacqueline. "Who Can Tell My Story". The Horn Book. Retrieved 2020-04-07.
^ abcdeFreedman, Lauren; Johnson, Holly (2000). "Who's Protecting Whom? "I Hadn't Meant to Tell You This", a Case in Point in Confronting Self-Censorship in the Choice of Young Adult Literature". Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy. 44 (4): 356–369. ISSN 1081-3004. JSTOR 40015350.
^ abHubler, Angela E. (2017-06-05). "It Is Not Enough to Speak: Toward a Coalitional Consciousness in the Young Adult Rape Novel". Children's Literature. 45 (1): 114–137. doi:10.1353/chl.2017.0006. ISSN 1543-3374.
^I HADN'T MEANT TO TELL YOU THIS | Kirkus Reviews.
^"I Hadn't Meant to Tell You This | Awards & Grants". www.ala.org. Retrieved 2020-04-20.
January 01, 1970
hadn, meant, tell, this, book, targeted, towards, young, adults, published, 1994, jacqueline, woodson, story, takes, place, chauncey, ohio, focuses, growing, friendship, between, black, girl, native, this, town, named, marie, white, girl, name, lena, along, th. I Hadn t Meant to Tell You This is a book targeted towards young adults published in 1994 by Jacqueline Woodson The story takes place in Chauncey Ohio and it focuses on the growing friendship between a black girl native to this town named Marie and a white girl her age by the name of Lena Along the way they face challenges and secrets that test their friendship AuthorJacqueline WoodsonCountryUnited StatesGenreJuvenile fiction realistic fictionPublisherDelacortePublication date1994AwardsCoretta Scott King Award Contents 1 Synopsis 2 Characters 3 Background 4 Themes 5 Release Information 6 Reception 7 Awards 8 ReferencesSynopsis editThe story begins with it being the third day of school and it being the day Lena first arrives in Chauncey and how she slowly becomes friends with Marie The two girls despite being polar opposites become friends due to their differences and to the fact that they both lost their mothers with Marie s mother leaving her and her father at an early part of her life and Lena s passing away when she was young There are challenges towards their relationship with it mainly being towards the community being composed of mostly black people and few white people who aren t as financially well off compared to the former There is also Marie s other friend Sherry who views Lena as nothing more than whitetrash and Lena confiding in Marie a secret regarding Lena s father sexually abusing her which Marie struggles to keep secret despite her protests to Lena By the end of the novel the abuse has gone to the point where Lena s younger sister Dion is being affected as well Lena and Dion leave Ohio and Lena bids farewell to Marie after the latter calls to see if she is okay Marie in the days that come is saddened by the departure of her friend and asks herself Why can t we all just be people here after remembering a comment Lena made earlier on how We all just people here 1 Characters editMarie one of the main protagonists of the story a black girl native to the town of Chauncey Ohio and has been shown to have grown up in a privileged household with her father Her mother left the family when she was little Lena is the second main protagonist of the story being a white girl from a poor background is new to Chauncey lives with her little sister and abusive father and wishes to become an artist Sherry is Marie s first friend with a bossy attitude and is considered popular in school is someone not fond of white people like Lena Dion is Lena s little sister who has a fondness towards books and sports Becomes a friend to Marie and often goes to her house with alongside Lena Marie s Father is the father of Marie who participated in the Civil Rights Movement and has negative views towards the white people of Chauncey but has a change of views after meeting Lena Background editJacqueline Woodson wrote this book as well as some of her other works by drawing from aspects of her life and having a sense of how she relates to some of her characters in order to bring experience into her stories 2 Themes editOne of the main themes of this story is the relationship that revolves around the children of different races and the topic of sexual abuse This theme is showing the complications between the black people who are in a more stable living situation than the white people of this town yet despite that shows a friendship between these two classes of people The other theme sexual abuse shows how challenging the situation can be depending on the circumstances because in the text Lena tells her secret to Marie who believes it would be best to alert the proper authorities but because of prior experience as well as being poor Lena is unable to bring herself to do it out of fear of being separated from her sister 3 Thus at the end Lena leaves Chauncey with her younger sister Dion in tow leaving Marie to not know what became of her after 4 According to children s literature scholar Angela Hubler this book is targeted towards young adults and she speaks of how it contains barriers that the characters had to overcome but there was one however that Lena could not overcome and thus the abuse was the reason she and her sister ran away 4 Release Information editThis book was released on May 1 1994 with a sequel titled Lena released on October 13 1999 Reception editKirkus describes it as a book where Friendship lightens the burden of adolescence 5 Awards editCoretta Scott King Book Award 6 ALA Best Book for Young Adults 3 ALA Notable Book 3 Booklist Editors Choice 3 Horn Book Fanfare 3 References edit Woodson Jacqueline 1994 I Hadn t Meant to Tell You This New York Puffin Books p 114 ISBN 9780142417041 Woodson Jacqueline Who Can Tell My Story The Horn Book Retrieved 2020 04 07 a b c d e Freedman Lauren Johnson Holly 2000 Who s Protecting Whom I Hadn t Meant to Tell You This a Case in Point in Confronting Self Censorship in the Choice of Young Adult Literature Journal of Adolescent amp Adult Literacy 44 4 356 369 ISSN 1081 3004 JSTOR 40015350 a b Hubler Angela E 2017 06 05 It Is Not Enough to Speak Toward a Coalitional Consciousness in the Young Adult Rape Novel Children s Literature 45 1 114 137 doi 10 1353 chl 2017 0006 ISSN 1543 3374 I HADN T MEANT TO TELL YOU THIS Kirkus Reviews I Hadn t Meant to Tell You This Awards amp Grants www ala org Retrieved 2020 04 20 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title I Hadn 27t Meant to Tell You This amp oldid 1181254901, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
