And most importantly, can those happy feelings ever be reclaimed when they are all so busy aching for the past? Shipping may be from multiple locations in the US or from the UK, depending on stock availability. As ZJ contemplates his new reality, he has to figure out how to hold on tight to family traditions and recollections of the glory days, all the while wondering what their past amounts to if his father can't remember it. ZJ can understand that-but it doesn't make the sting any less real when his own father forgets his name. he’s not my hero, he’s my dad, which means he’s my every single thing. Jacqueline Woodson, Before the Ever After. Till you can’t even tell where that thing you love begins and where you end. ZJ's mom explains it's because of all the head injuries his dad sustained during his career. National Book Award winner Jacqueline Woodson's stirring novel-in-verse explores how a family moves forward when their glory days have passed and the cost of professional sports on Black bodies. When you love a thing, little man, my dad said, you gotta love it with everything you got. His dad is having trouble remembering things and seems to be angry all the time. But lately life at ZJ's house is anything but charming. As a charming, talented pro football star, he's as beloved to the neighborhood kids he plays with as he is to his millions of adoring sports fans. For as long as ZJ can remember, his dad has been everyone's hero. WINNER OF THE NAACP IMAGE AWARD WINNER OF THE CORETTA SCOTT KING AUTHOR AWARD National Book Award winner Jacqueline Woodson's stirring novel-in-verse explores how a family moves forward when their glory days have passed, and the cost of professional sports on Black bodies.

Before the ever after book