Jacqueline Woodson: By the Book

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/28/books/review/jacqueline-woodson-by-the-book.html

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The author, most recently, of “Another Brooklyn” loved “The Little Match Girl” as a child. First, “I cried for a week. Then I was done and ready to go out and change the world!”

What books are currently on your night stand?

I’m one of those people who will read more than one book at a time — I write the same way. Once I get deeply into a book, the rest have to wait. So right now, having just returned from Palestine, I’m reading Jimmy Carter’s “Palestine Peace Not Apartheid.” Carter was one of my favorite presidents, and I got to have lunch with him last year for The Times’s Table for Three feature. He was as lovely in person as I had imagined, and he’s been such an amazing activist. My son and partner are reading Jason Reynolds’s “As Brave as You,” so I’m reading it too. My son is 8 and loves this book! I’ve also just finished rereading “A Step From Heaven,” by An Na. Na has a beautiful sense of language and rhythm, so rereading this book feels more like a meditation to me. Also, she was a student of mine, and the book went on to win all of these awards, so I kinda revisit out of sheer pride as well. Of course, there are a few collections of poetry — “Voyage of the Sable Venus,” by Robin Coste Lewis; Cornelius Eady’s “You Don’t Miss Your Water”; and Nick Flynn’s “Some Ether.”

What’s the last great book you read?

Oh, man — I was blown away by Ann Patchett’s “State of Wonder.” It was one of those books that really made you stop breathing. I kept asking myself, “How did she do that?” She’s a phenomenal writer. “Commonwealth” is no joke either.

Which writers — novelists, playwrights, critics, journalists, poets — working today do you admire most?

I really love writers who pay attention to both language and story. I’ve read books where I’ve had to choose between one or the other, and it bums me out. It’s a fine balance, that kind of crossover between poetry and fiction. It’s easy to let beautiful language get in the way of story or to create a story just for the story and plot’s sake. I love writers who move between language and story. So of course we have to talk about Toni Morrison and James Baldwin as my early loves. “Song of Solomon” is as brilliant and beautiful today as it was when first published in 1977. (Although I was too young to read it then.) The same for James Baldwin’s “Giovanni’s Room.” That’s a book I go back to when I feel like I’m forgetting the importance of language. Edwidge Danticat’s “Brother I’m Dying” just stays groundbreaking and timely. I just read Brit Bennett’s “The Mothers”; she’s a writer to watch. Wow. In terms of playwrights, anything Marcus Gardley puts his hand to, I’ll run to see. D. J. Older is both a novelist and a journalist, and he’s pretty much telling the story of what it means to be of color in the 21st century.

What genres do you especially enjoy reading? And which do you avoid?

I read very slowly, going back to that love of language thing. I reread lines that are stunning, take my time moving through books where I feel like the writer really cares about words but isn’t letting that desire to write beautifully get in the way of moving the story. So I read a lot of fiction and nonfiction. I also read a lot of poetry. As young people’s poet laureate, I do want to know who’s out there doing interesting stuff, both via written and spoken word. I can listen to Carl Hancock Rux wax poetic forever — his voice is deep and haunting. It doesn’t hurt that everything coming out of his mouth is brilliant.

Who are your favorite poets?

Denice Frohman, Marie Howe, Nikky Finney, Mahogany Brown, Willie Perdomo, Nikki Giovanni, Naomi Shihab Nye, Robin Coste Lewis, Claudia Rankine, Tupac Shakur, Cornelius Eady. . . . My list could go on and on.

Tell us about your favorite picture books. And your favorite novels for children?

One of my favorite picture books of all time is “The Little Match Girl,” by Hans Christian Andersen. When I was first introduced to that book as a child, I feel like I cried for a week. Then I was done and ready to go out and change the world! It was the first book that unlocked empathy in me. I also love John Steptoe’s “Stevie.” It was the first book I read where characters talked and looked like the people I loved. I think no one should leave young adulthood without reading Rita Williams-Garcia’s “One Crazy Summer”; Thanhha Lai’s “Listen, Slowly”; Naomi Shihab Nye’s “Habibi”; and Sherman Alexie’s “The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian.”

If you were a fifth-grade teacher, which book would you assign every child to read? And if you taught 10th grade?

Oh man, that’s tough. Young people are so different from each other, and it’s hard to find one book that’s going to appeal to a whole class — across lines of gender, race, economics, etc. It’s also about the teacher’s comfort level, right? A teacher who is uncomfortable with queer issues isn’t going to teach a book with gay characters. Someone who has never dealt with people of color and is teaching in an all-white classroom is probably not going to be able to really unpack a book that deals with race from the perspective of someone of color. So it’s not just finding a book that could work for the students but one that would work for the person leading the discussion, since teachers set the tone.

But it’s me, and I’m pretty comfortable with young people, so I guess I’d start with “Each Kindness” as the gateway book. Then they could have lots of discussions about kindness and tolerance and the meaning of a greater good. Once that’s all done, I’d go straight into “One Crazy Summer,” by Rita Williams-Garcia, and let them unpack all the stuff Rita’s bringing.

For the 10th graders, we’d read “Romeo and Juliet” alongside my book “If You Come Softly.” I think once they read the two together, they’ll not only understand why I assigned these books, but also have a deeper understanding of what’s happening in this country right now.

What moves you most in a work of literature?

I love when writers work with something deeper than the story of self. I want a story in the context of the world so that as a reader I’m bearing witness to how the characters are impacting and being impacted by all that’s happening around them. And again, I love books that pay attention to language.

How do you organize your books?

My books are alphabetized. And then my kids go up to our library and mess things up. Then, when I’m deep in the writing of a novel and needing a way to procrastinate, I re-alphabetize them. I have poetry in its own section. My kids have their own library on the floor with their bedrooms. Mainly, we have stacks of books on every floor. I remember doing the same thing when we were potty training — we put those little potties everywhere, hoping they’d remember to use them. Right now, I’m sitting in the living room and see that a stack of Jarrett Krosoczka’s Lunch Lady books have made their way to the table beside my chair. I’ll take them back downstairs after this. When I want my teenage daughter to read a book, I usually leave it in her bathroom. Works every time.

What book might people be surprised to find on your shelves?

O.K., so not exactly a book: Mad magazine. Or maybe not. I think people who know me know I was a Mad magazine geek.

What’s the best book you’ve ever received as a gift?

Mad magazine. (Just kidding.) A friend gave me James Baldwin’s collection of nonfiction “The Price of the Ticket” in hardcover many years ago. I’ve cared for this book the way my brothers used to care for their comic books — except I don’t have it wrapped in plastic. But I do make sure to handle it gently and keep it high on the shelves away from my kids’ reach. (It helps that his last name begins with B.)

What’s your favorite TV, film or theater adaptation of a book?

“Brooklyn,” by Colm Toibin. I love the book and love the movie. I was just in Palestine with Colm, and now I love the author too.

Tell us about your ideal adaptation of any book.

The movie would have a different title than the book and not say “based on” anywhere. I’d walk into the theater not ready to compare it to the book. The two would remain the separate entities that books and movies are.

Who is your favorite fictional hero or heroine? Your favorite antihero or villain?

I love my Frances/Francies: Francie in “A Tree Grows in Brooklyn” and Francie in “Daddy Was a Number Runner.” My favorite villain is Eartha Kitt as Catwoman.

What kind of reader were you as a child? Which childhood books and authors stick with you most?

I was a slow reader who was always either reading or writing. Like now, I would read the stories and poems I loved over and over until I’d pretty much memorized them. Even today, I have a lot of my work memorized and usually don’t have to carry my books with me when I do readings. It’s a cool skill to have. Judy Blume was a go-to for me. I also loved Virginia Hamilton and Mildred Taylor. “Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry” has held up over the years. I love watching my children rediscover the books I loved. Anything by Louise Fitzhugh was a must for my sister and me.

If you could require the president to read one book, what would it be?

Having met both the president and the first lady, I know firsthand that they’re both avid readers and have probably read anything I’m just learning about! When I was at the White House last October, the first lady told me that President Obama was the bigger reader, but I knew that she was no slouch. She spoke really eloquently about poetry. (Can you tell I love them so much?) That said, even though I’m sure the president has already read it, I’d ask him to read or reread “The Way to the Spring: Life and Death in Palestine,” by Ben Ehrenreich. It’s beautifully written and so important.

You’re organizing a literary dinner party. Which three writers, dead or alive, do you invite?

James Baldwin, Pablo Neruda, Elie Wiesel. We’d bust out some really nice Bordeaux and start a very loving, patient and determined revolution.

Disappointing, overrated, just not good: What book did you feel you were supposed to like, and didn’t? Do you remember the last book you put down without finishing?

I would never throw any of my fellow writers under the bus by speaking negatively about the books they’ve written. I think writing a book is hard enough without someone coming along and talking smack about it. I was brought up with “If you have nothing nice to say, don’t say anything at all” being drummed in my head by my grandmother. I learned that lesson well.

Of the books you’ve written, which is your favorite or the most personally meaningful?

Well obviously “Brown Girl Dreaming,” because it’s a memoir, is the most personally meaningful, but I think “Feathers” is the book that gives the clearest voice to what I’m trying to say in so many of my novels: We all have a right to walk through this world safely.

Whom would you want to write your life story?

I’d want Ta-Nehisi Coates and Roxane Gay to write it. Then I’d want Lin-Manuel Miranda to make the musical.

What do you plan to read next?

“Here Comes the Sun,” by Nicole Dennis-Benn. I’ve been hearing so many great things about this book, so I’m taking it to France with me. We’ll be there for a few weeks, so I’ll either have finished it or be halfway through it depending on the beauty of the language.