The release date for the English version of 'Before the Ever After' by
Jacqueline Woodson is Sep 2020. If you enjoy this novel, it is available for buy as a paperback from Barnes & Noble or Indigo, as an ebook on the Amazon Kindle store, or as an audiobook on Audible.
The novel-in-verse by Jacqueline Woodson examines the consequences of professional athletics on Black bodies as well as how a family continues to live after its heyday has past.
ZJ's dad has been everyone's idol for as long as he can remember. He's a pleasant, gifted professional football player who's as popular with his millions of adoring sports fans as he is with the neighbourhood youngsters he plays with. However, ZJ's residence has not been pleasant recently. His father seems to be always furious and struggles with memory. According to ZJ's mother, it's due of all the head traumas his father had while working. Although ZJ is aware of this, it doesn't lessen the pain when his own father forgets his name. ZJ must decide how to cling to family customs and memories of the good old days as he mulls over his new situation. He must also consider what their history has been reduced to if his father is unable to recall it. Most importantly, given how much time they are all spending pining for the past, can those joyous emotions ever be reclaimed?