Harbor Me by Jacqueline Woodson

“If the worst thing in the world happened, would I help protect someone else? Would I let myself be a harbor for someone who needs it?”

This books is gold!

Characters, themes, stories…loved it all!

 

 

 

"Harbor Me," penned by Jacqueline Woodson, is a poignant narrative that captures the lives and struggles of six students from a Brooklyn school. The novel, set against the backdrop of their diverse experiences and challenges, unfolds in a special room designated by their teacher, Mr. Hughes, for open and unsupervised dialogue—aptly named ARTT (A Room To Talk). This setting becomes a crucible for the characters to share, reflect, and grow together, emphasizing the power of storytelling and empathy in navigating life's hardships. The students, Ameri, Esteban, Tiago, Ashton, Holly, and Haley Shondell McGrath, each bring their unique perspectives and stories to the room, creating a tapestry of narratives that reflect broader societal issues, including immigration, racism, bullying, and the complexities of identity. Esteban's story highlights the fear and uncertainty faced by families of immigrants, as he shares the distressing experience of his father's detention by immigration officials. This narrative thread delves into themes of belonging and the struggle for familial stability in the face of legal challenges. Haley McGrath's narrative introduces another dimension to the collective story, dealing with the repercussions of her father's imprisonment. Through Haley, Woodson explores themes of loss, resilience, and the quest for understanding and forgiveness within the complexities of family dynamics. Haley's use of a recorder to capture her thoughts and share them with her peers in the ARTT room symbolizes the therapeutic power of voice and storytelling in processing personal trauma. Ameri's experience sheds light on the insidious nature of racism and the societal pressures placed on young Black individuals in America. His story, marked by a poignant incident involving a toy gun, speaks to the broader issues of racial profiling and the dangers faced by Black youths. Through Ameri, the novel addresses the disparities in how children of different races are perceived and treated in society. Ashton and Tiago's stories further enrich the novel's exploration of identity and belonging. Ashton's encounter with bullying and Tiago's experiences of discrimination due to his Puerto Rican heritage and language preference add layers to the narrative, highlighting the multifaceted challenges faced by children in navigating their identities in a multicultural society. "Harbor Me" culminates in a powerful testament to the strength found in friendship and shared vulnerability. The ARTT meetings become a sanctuary for the characters, a space where they can openly discuss their fears, dreams, and challenges without judgment. This process of sharing and listening fosters a deep bond among the students, illustrating the novel's central message: the transformative power of empathy and the importance of providing a safe harbor for one another in times of need. In essence, "Harbor Me" is a narrative that weaves together individual stories of struggle, resilience, and growth, set within the context of a society grappling with complex issues of race, identity, and belonging. Through the lens of six young students, Jacqueline Woodson crafts a compelling exploration of the human experience, highlighting the importance of community, understanding, and the healing power of sharing one's story.

Summary from goodreads

Book Stats

• Reading the Middle:
  • grade: A
  • audience: middle grade, middle school, junior high
• Common Sense Media: 5 of 5 stars for ages 10+
• Goodreads Rating: 4.53

“Back then, we still all believed in happy endings. None of us knew yet how many endings and beginnings one story could have.” 24

“The anger inside me was fire. It was flames and ash too.” 26

“If the worst thing in the world happened, would I help protect someone else? Would I let myself be a harbor for someone who needs it?” 34

“I will harbor you.” 34

“Sometimes I feel tougher than any boy I know.” 36

“I feel bad when I cry... like I'm not a real boy.” 37

“I got smarter words. Anybody can curse.” 38

“Sometimes her hands and mouth worked faster than her brain and made her say and do things she didn’t really mean to do.” 40

“My uncle says that when you tell stories, it’s like letting out all the scared inside of you, I said. It’s like you help stuff make sense.” 41

“My papi always says, ‘I wrote poetry because of love. I stopped writing because of love too. Because I love my family.” 44

“In the quiet moments, I found that hope was not a blazing sun but a faint star twinkling in the distance—fragile, yet refusing to be overshadowed by the night.” 45

“We are all sailors in storms of our own making, sometimes forgetting we can be anchors for each other.” 48

“Words, I realized, are the most powerful anchors; they hold us to our promises, to our dreams, and to each other.” 52

“The wisdom of our elders is like the lighthouse guiding us through treacherous waters, illuminating the path to safe harbor.” 55

“Forgiveness is the sea that washes away the wreckage of our past, leaving us cleansed, ready to sail anew.” 59

“Bravery isn’t the absence of fear. It’s the decision to set sail despite knowing the storms you may face.” 63

“In every heart, there is a room, a sanctuary safe and strong, to heal the wounds from lovers past until a new one comes along.” 67

“You can just play with your Nerf gun all you want, anywhere you want, and no cop is gonna run up and shoot you.” 70

“The familiar. You plan what movie you’re going to watch. You pull your collar up to hide the pain showing on your neck. You sit staring out a window, remembering your papi. You pack your Nerf guns away–maybe forever. You walk into the Unfamiliar.” 79

When asked who was hitting him: “Some eighth-graders, Ashton whispered. I don’t know them. They just do it to be stupid. For laughs.” 93

“Because every single body in this room except you had to think about themselves that way already. Like, way before now. The way you felt like you were on the outside of everything? Like you weren’t a part of it? Well, that the way a whole lot of people feel every day.” 95

Holly: “This is supposed to be America. The land of the free and the home of the brave. What about Lenape? “You think they were somewhere saying, ‘Well, this is supposed to be the land of the free and the home of the brave’? Nah, man. They were here in Lenapehoking, aka New York City, getting robbed.” 122

“And this place acts like it doesn’t have any future dreams of us.” 128

“it feels like this place wants to break my heart.” 129

“Before, you used to hear the word immigration and it sounded like everything you ever believe in. It sounded like feliz cumpleanos and merry Christmas and welcome home. But now you hear it and you get scared because it sounds like a word that makes you want to disappear. It sounds like someone getting stolen away from you.” 135

“But sometimes my mouth hurts people too. Like, I hate that I can’t stop it from saying things.” 146

Possible Cautions:

parent in prison, parent death, car accident, no memory of mom, Hell, deportation, immigration, detention center, gun violence, racial profiling, racism, prejudice, teasing, calling names, physical aggression, bullying, vehicular homicide, leaving scene of crime, drunk driving, message from the dead, grief, forgiveness

Detailed Notes:

• /////// SPOILERS /////// SPOILERS /////// SPOILERS ///////
• Dedication: For Lena and Alana, who harbor so many And for my family, who harbors me
• First Line: We think they took my papi.
• Point of View: first person, Haley
• Setting – Character:
  • Haley, 11 years old
  • Esteban
  • Tiago
  • Holly, 1/2 white and 1/2 black
  • Amari
  • Ashton
  • Ms. Laverne
• Setting – Date: current day
• Setting – Location: borough Brooklyn, City of New York
• Theme – the Familiar, the Unfamiliar, stories, beginnings, endings
• Ms. Laverne takes the kids to an empty room on Friday afternoon, she says they’ll be meeting here for an hour every Friday to talk, no adults
• Haley gets a recorder so she can record all the kids and their stories, to preserve their stories
• “Back then, we still all believed in happy endings. None of us knew yet how many endings and beginnings one story could have.” 24
• Haley’s dad is in prison
• dad refused to come down to see Haley and uncle when they went to prison to visit him
• 7
• Dad’s afraid of life on the outside, he’s been in prison for 8 years
• “The anger inside me was fire. It was flames and ash too.” 26
• no pictures of mom, all were destroyed in accidents
• mom died in a car accident
• Haley can’t remember her mom
• 8
• the Lenape people lived in New York first
• “If the worst thing in the world happened, would I help protect someone else? Would I let myself be a harbor for someone who needs it?” 34
• “I will harbor you.” 34
• Haley wanted to hear her mom
• record ARTT to keep their stories alive
• 9
• Hell
• “I got smarter words. Anybody can curse.” 38
• “Sometimes her hands and mouth worked fast than her brain and made her say and do things she didn’t really mean to do.” 40
• “My uncle says that when you tell stories, it’s like letting out all the scared inside of you, I said. It’s like you help stuff make sense.” 41
• 10
• Esteban’s papi is taken, school is a gift, weekends are for family, where the family came from in the Dominican Republic, Esteban would already be working, papi had a dream of being a poet
• “My papi always says, ‘I wrote poetry because of love. I stopped writing because of love too. Because I love my family.” 44
• what if dad doesn’t come back
• 11
• papi is in Florida, like a jail but he didn’t do anything bad
• America isn’t freedom to everyone, not to poor people
• 12
• Haley can’t remember dad before prison
• father sends her an apology for not coming down to see them
• 13
• the familiar
• 14
• Esteban now sits at the window, the others arrange their chairs around Esteban
• kids agree to meet in 20 years and play the recording
• Amari and Haley like each other?
• Amari- strength
• kids talk about the meaning of their names 65
• Amari is confident in himself
• students discuss their view of age – young vs old
• 15
• Amari’s dad talks straight to him, America is going crazy, can’t use water guns or nerf guns or key chain guns, not even in his pocket
• boy killed for having a toy gun
• not fair that 2 boys of different race can’t do the same thing, not freedom
• “You can just play with your Nerf gun all you want, anywhere you want, and no cop is gonna run up and shoot you.” 70
• Amari thinks of boy dieing
• 16
• Ashton, white, doesn’t get it
• Holly’s cousin age 13 was on a bike and handcuffed
• Tiago’s cousin was pushed by the cops for being in a nice neighborhood and they assumed he was trouble, but his friend did live in that neighborhood
• many more examples
• Ashton says it could happen to anyone
• 17
• would you harbor me
• think of Lenape people when the white settlers came
• the familiar
• 18
• in summer Holly’s skin would get a lot darker and people would say “What are you?” 78
• boys are hitting Ashton on the necking, called necking, he runs
• “The familiar. You plan what movie you’re going to watch. You pull your collar up to hide the pain showing on your neck. You sit staring out a window, remembering your papi. You pack your Nerf guns away–maybe forever. You walk into the Unfamiliar.” 79
• Ashton’s the only white in the class, Holly’s mom does Haley’s hair
• when she was young, Haley was afraid her uncle would fall in love and then what would happen to Hayley
• 19
• Hayley was six when she learned how her mom died, Hayley ran into someone at the bottom of a slide, Haley was hurt, Uncle called her by Mom’s name (Berry), dad was scared after that accident the same was he was scared the night of mom’s accident
• Amari called Ashton albino the first time they met, Ashton thought they were making fun of him, felt a connection with Amari after other things were said
• 21
• Ashton called names – Casper, Wonderbread, Ghostboy, Paleface
• When asked who was hitting him: “Some eighth-graders, Ashton whispered. I don’t know them. They just do it to be stupid. For laughs.” 93 I’ve heard this too many times before. 😦
• on the first day of school, Ashton looks up at the flag and feels that he is part of something with all the other kids that go to that school.
• everybody else in the school is a different color
• Ashton never before had to think about being white
• Holly says he’s lucky that he’s never had to think about his race before this age, “Because every single body in this room except you had to think about themselves that way already. Like, way before now. The way you felt like you were on the outside of everything? Like you weren’t a part of it? Well, that the way a whole lot of people feel every day.” 95
• after school, all six kids walk out with Ashton and nobody hits him
• 22
• December, Esteban’s dad is still in the detention center
• papi write a poem to Esteban and he shares it with the group
• Esteban says he’ll translate his dad’s poems so they are in English and Spanish; Armani responds “Read those poems in all kinds of American son.” 102 LOVE THIS
• 23
• dad home for 2 months, Haley only talks to uncle but he’s now moving out, Haley and Dad are both scared and don’t know what to say
• 24
• drive to Malone, Haley shares about Esteban’s dad with her uncle
• 25
• story of dad’s prison number, she doesn’t want to remember it
• 26
• Grandpa didn’t approve of Dad being with Mom (black), Grandpa died before Haley was born, Grandpa wasn’t a nice guy, Grandma died when the boys were young, racist when first met mom, Mia talking to uncle “She woke you up.” Uncle: “Both of you woke me up.” 114
• car accident on the way home from a party when Haley was age 3
• dad hits go instead of stop
• mom isn’t moving
• dad calls for help but nobody hears him, dad goes to get his brother for help, back to the car and dad is arrested for leaving the scene of a crime and drunk driving; vehicular homicide
• Haley asked if she would be white if she lived with uncle 118
• 27
• Esteban gone all week, phone disconnected
• Holly: “This is supposed to be America. The land of the free and the home of the brave.” What about Lenape? “You think they were somewhere saying, ‘Well, this is supposed to be the land of the free and the home of the brave’? Nah, man. They were here in Lenapehoking, aka New York City, getting robbed.” 122
• 28
• someone yells at Tiago and his mom, speak English, this confuses Tiago because he’s from Puerto Rico which is part of the US, mom lives and breathes Spanish but now she is quiet outside because she is afraid
• “And this place acts like it doesn’t have any future dreams of us.” 128
• Tiago’s story about a dog
• “it feels like this place wants to break my heart.” 129
• 29
• Esteban is back, moved to live with his aunt in Queens
• Esteban has a new poem from his dad
• Esteban’s mom might be deported so she has to hide now also
• Esteban doesn’t know if he’ll be back, if his parents will both be deported, he can stay with his aunt
• “Before, you used to hear the word immigration and it sounded like everything you ever believe in. It sounded like feliz cumpleanos and merry Christmas and welcome home. But now you hear it and you get scared because it sounds like a word that makes you want to disappear. It sounds like someone getting stolen away from you.” 135
• no money for lawyers
• 31
• Holly’s new shoes are lots of money, her family has lots of money
• Haley’s uncle is rich but he’s never acted that way and he’s never treated Haley that way, she didn’t really know
• 32
• “But sometimes my mouth hurts people too. Like, I hate that I can’t stop it from saying things.” 146
• Holly asks Haley why she hasn’t shared in ARTT
• 33
• Esteban has a new poem
• 34
• starting on page 151, Haley shares her story
• Holly and Haley’s mom knew each other when they were pregnant
• light shifting between the clouds is a message from the dead 156
• Haley feels she has to be strong for her dad
• 35
• Amari shares comics his comics, always creating, always drawing
• make everyone a super hero
• 36
• superpower
• Haley wants to forget, she doesn’t want to be sad and mad all the time when she thinks of mom, wants forgiveness, first needs to forgive her father
• 37
• Amari makes them all super heroes in his comics
• uncle is Haley’s super hero
• 38
• after Easter break, Esteban and his family are gone, back to Dominican Republic, no warning
• poem
• last day
• Amari’s drawn a picture of them all and a harbor
• Haley asks dad to play mom’s song
• a beginning….

 

Acknowledgments:

• “Grateful to all the people who helped me write during such a crazy time in our country…..What I will say is harbor each other. Even strangers. Every day.”

Updated: 09/14/2018