Coming On Home Soon

                             by Jacqueline Woodson

                                               With

                          Illustrations by E. B. Lewis

           Counselor's Book of the Month Response

     After graduating from college with a major in English, Jacaqueline Woodson, worked as a drama therapist for runaways and homeless children in New York City.  She is now a dedicated writer who has won numerous awards for her books.  Over the years she has enjoyed encouraging young people to write.

     Coming on Home Soon is a simple yet emotional story.  The dialogue is written in italics which makes it easier for the reader to follow the text.  I find it important that Ms. Woodson repeats the phrase "coming on home soon" to reassure us and the characters that the mother will indeed return.

     Ada Ruth really tries to be brave when her mother goes to Chicago to work on the railroads during World War II.  Ada Ruth must stay with her grandmother.  She comes to realize how much her grandmother misses her mother also.  Ada Ruth, her grandmother and a little stray kitten help to comfort and console each other while anxiously waiting for Ada Ruth's mother to return home.

     There is a simple wistful longing in the scenes of snow falling, bringing in firewood, giving the kitten some milk, knitting, listening to the news on the radio and even the disappointment felt by this young girl as the postman passes without leaving a letter.  E. B. Lewis has filled the pages with beautiful watercolor illustrations filled with light.  The pages are brought to life when light shines through the window or is seen streaming through the doorway.  It is the repeated sources of light that give the reader a sense of warmth and hope that mother will return home.  In one scene Ada Ruth is sitting on the rug with the kitten in front of the fireplace.  The embers burn a red and orange light which case a shadow on Ada Ruth's face which deepens her look of loneliness.  This is a wonderful book of love and hope as seen through the eyes of a child.

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