Before the Ever After

"This is a novel, and it’s no secret that Jacqueline Woodson is an incredible author. She is a favourite of ours at AudioFile . We’ve loved audiobooks that she recorded herself, but in this case, there’s a narrator, Guy Lockard, who is just brilliant. It’s a story about a young boy, ZJ, who really idolizes his father. His father was a former pro football player who had to stop playing because of this mysterious illness. It’s set in the late 1990s/early 2000s, when doctors hadn’t made the connection yet between chronic brain injuries and what they were seeing in these football players, but eventually they figure out he has CTE—chronic traumatic encephalopathy. The story is told from the point of view of ZJ, who is 12. It’s written so that you’re picking things up the way he would, so he’s hearing his parents talk and seeing them go to all these doctors’ appointments. He’s watching his father change a lot and struggling to understand it. Support Five Books Five Books interviews are expensive to produce. If you're enjoying this interview, please support us by donating a small amount . I love hearing Guy Lockard narrate—he also does many of Jason Reynolds’s audiobooks. He has such a lively voice and really emphasizes the difference between before, when ZJ was used to his father picking him up and throwing him on his shoulders and all the fans cheering him on and what it was like after, the ‘ever after’ that he talks about, the uncertainty of what’s happening to his father. This is one audiobook that I was listening to and crying, just thinking of my own family’s history with Alzheimer’s. It’s definitely going to be a tough topic for some younger listeners if they’ve had any similar experiences with family members, but it’s also an affirming story. 2020 has been such a tough year for so many kids and I think it can be helpful to have realistic fiction to get a sense of how others deal with uncertainty and how they can overcome it. The book doesn’t end with anything being solved, necessarily, but it ends with him finding a way to be connected to his dad and his mom. I know. Every year the list is a bit different. I think part of it is that when you’re listening to audiobooks, you get that really strong emotional connection to the story. These are all books where the narrator does an amazing job of drawing you into the story—even if it’s such a specific story, like this one, about a football injury. I have no connection to football , but I played sports in high school and college and the heartbreak of being so connected to a sport and having that taken away from you because of the impact of that sport , it’s intense. “When you’re listening to audiobooks, you get that really strong emotional connection to the story” There are some tough stories on this list, but every single one of them also has a bright side. In this one, ZJ has such close friendships, it’s very sweet. His parents are loving and kind and supportive even through this uncertainty and he has good friends and teachers who are there for him. So, I think that’s really good to see. I know and I also think it helps kids—and adults—develop empathy, to be listening to stories of others. It can be so affirming to read a book and see some of yourself in it. Even if it’s somebody who maybe doesn’t look like you or isn’t from the same community as you. In When Stars are Scattered you’re reading about a refugee camp—but you’re also reading about this kid who is dealing with friendships and worrying about schoolwork and how he can get everything done. That’s all so relatable. And waiting to grow up: I think that’s another commonality that we have."