Before the Ever After

For as long as ZJ can remember, his dad has been everyone’s hero. As a charming, talented pro-football star, he’s as beloved to the neighborhood kids he plays with as he is to his millions of adoring sports fans. Lately, life at ZJ’s house has been anything but charming. His dad is having trouble remembering things and seems to be angry all the time. ZJ’s mom explains it’s because of all the head injuries his dad sustained during his career.

ZJ can understand that–but it doesn’t make the sting any less real when his own father forgets his name. As ZJ contemplates his new reality, he has to figure out how to hold on tight to family traditions and recollections of the glory days while wondering what their past amounts to if his father can’t remember it. And most importantly, can those happy feelings ever be reclaimed when they are all so busy aching for the past?

For readers 10-13 from award-winning author Jacqueline Woodson.