Bibliography:
Woodson, Jacqueline. After Tupac & D Foster. Grand Haven, MI: Brilliance Audio, 2009.
ISBN: 9780399246548
Plot Summary:
After Tupac & D Foster is a book that embodies the essence of friendship and what it means to have a true friend. Three girls, Neeka, D Foster and the narrator, share three years together that bonds them tighter than any experience they could ever share. They experience the issues that come with being 11 and blossoming into 13. They lean on each other through family issues they experience and they find themselves clinging to each other during times of loss as well. The girls love D Foster even though she is somewhat of a mystery to them and doesn't share much of her life. The girls are deeply saddened when D moves back with her mother and their beloved Tupac is proclaimed dead.
Critical Analysis:
I listened to the unabridged audio of After Tupac & D Foster. The book was read by Susan Spain. Spain did a wonderful job of identifying with each character being portrayed in the story. I especially liked it when she would use the voice of John Jay. Spain made it sound really deep compared to when she used the voice of Tash, Neeka's oldest brother. Tash was a homosexual, but was very flamboyant and this was easily portrayed in listening to the book. Spain made it easy to see Tash flipping his hair and his hands and bobbing his head when he was talking.
I chose this book because I thought I would have a personal connection with the lives of these girls. I too loved Tupac and remember when he was killed. I however, did not absolutely identify with Tupac as did the Neeka, D and the narrator. The girls reflected on Tupac surviving his first shooting and how everyone thought he was such a miracle. D identified with Tupac's mommy issues and how he was strong and really wanted to empower those around him as well. The girls also had dreams of marrying a gangster rapper that would buy them a house and take care of them someday. Although I couldn't identify with these aspirations, I understood the pedestal they placed the famous singer.
There was not a major rise in action in this book. There were no critical events that happened or changed the story until the very end when D Foster left Queens to live with her mother again and Tupac died. These were major events in their lives and this is how they remember their time with D and listening to Tupac's music. I really didn't like this book at all. It was about regular life situations and how three girls dealt with them. I did not find it interesting and frankly if it weren't for the book being on audio, I would have probably read a different book. I understand it is a Newberry Honor book, but it is not one I will be revisiting or recommending to young readers.
Review Excerpt:
Review by Booklist
“The summer before D Foster’s real mama came and took her away, Tupac wasn’t dead yet.” From this first line in her quiet, powerful novel, Woodson cycles backward through the events that lead to dual tragedies: a friend’s departure and a hero’s death. In a close-knit African American neighborhood in Queens, New York, the unnamed narrator lives across from her best friend, Neeka. Then D Foster wanders onto the block, and the three 11-year-old girls quickly become inseparable. Because readers know from the start where the plot is headed, the characters and the community form the focus here. A subplot about Neeka’s older brother, a gay man serving prison time after being framed for a hate crime, sometimes threatens to overwhelm the girls’ story. But Woodson balances the plotlines with subtle details, authentic language, and rich development. Beautifully capturing the girls’ passage from childhood to adolescence, this is a memorable, affecting novel about the sustaining power of love and friendship and each girl’s developing faith in her own “Big Purpose.” Grades 6-9. --Gillian Engberg
Awards:
Newberry Honor Book
Connections:
Author's Website: CLICK HERE
Lesson Plan for book: CLICK HERE
Interview with author: CLICK HERE
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