The House You Pass Along the Way

Blog #10

The House You Pass Along the Way – Jacqueline Woodson

Again, I surprise myself each week with how much I am enjoying reading. I did not expect this story to be about a teenage girl struggling with her sexuality and her parents’ interracial marriage. I am not really sure what I expected, but definitely not that. Especially the struggles Staggerlee has because of being a lesbian, because our novels two weeks ago dealt with sexuality struggles. But, the book wasn’t bad at all. It kept me drawn in and it was a pretty easy read. I quickly got attached to the characters, especially Staggerlee and Trout (Tyler, Staggerlee’s cousin). The way their friendship grew and the things they were able to share with each other shows the reader that being a teenager, especially with struggles like Staggerlee has, is easier to handle when you have a friend you can share things with. Unlike most people, I really enjoyed middle school! I had awesome friends, and for the most part, we got along really well without much drama (all the drama came in high school). Although I did feel like I had “problems” I had to face while in middle school, I can’t imagine going through anything that Staggerlee was experiencing. My problems consisted of frizzy hair and braces, nothing anywhere close to Staggerlee! Anyway, I think Woodson does a really good job at putting a positive light on these situations, showing teenagers that they are not alone in their problems, and that having friends to share these problems with, makes getting through them much easier.

While The House You Pass Along the Way is fairly short, it tackles a number of important social issues while also telling a good story. Regardless of your race or sexuality, the love and warmth of family and friends is an uplifting theme.

Ben. The first chapter was much longer than I wanted it to be. I was tired of reading by then, and wasn’t really feeling the whole reading thing. Just saying. But after reading it, I did end up enjoying it. It was a little too much about slavery for me, but over all it ended happily. I was very glad to find out that Ben and his wife escaped slavery, after fighting so hard for their lives.

In “Who Can Tell My Story,” Woodson makes a good point in saying that writers should indeed tell their stories. You get so much more from a novel when the story being told has actually happened to the person telling it. I would much rather read about something that really happened to someone than something made up or told from an outsiders perspective. I feel like the writer is able to put so much more emotion into a story if it is coming from their heart, and it is easier to feel the emotions of the writer when they are writing about themselves. I think all writers should take into account what Woodson says about telling their own stories.

I liked reading “Cultural Politics for a Writer’s Point of View” as well, because I enjoy reading about things that will help me as a future teacher. I am not a very confrontational person, so it is sometimes hard for me to address tabooed or uncomfortable topics. Actually all the time it is hard for me. Be able to read about how I should approach these situations/topics in the classroom, makes me somewhat at ease about having to discuss uncomfortable topics.

Citations: 

Lester, J. (1971). Ben. The long journey home: Stories from black history. (pp. 60-88).            New York, NY: Dial.

Paterson, K. (1994). Cultural politics for a writer’s point of view. New Advocate, 7(2),            85-91.

Woodson, J. (1997). The house you pass along the way. New York, NY: Delacorate            Press.

Woodson, J. (2003). Who Can Tell My Story? In D.L. Fox & K.G. Short (Eds.), Stories            matter: The complexity of cultural authenticity in children’s literature (pp. 41-            45). Urbana, IL: National Council of Teachers of English.