Going On Home Soon

Going On Home Soon

Author: Jacqueline Woodson

Illustrator: E.B. Lewis

Publishing Company: G. P. Putman’s Sons

Copyright Date: 2004

44 pages

Historical Fiction

I discovered this book simply while looking for books that were historical fiction. The reason I chose to read this book was simply because of the illustration on the cover. Looking at the little girl, she seems so realistic, and I wanted to know her story. After reading I was pleasantly surprised by what I found out. Ada Ruth is the name of the little girl. In the book, her mother has decided to go to Chicago. Her mother has heard of the jobs openings available with the railroad due to all of the men away at war, so she decided to get one of these positions. Ada Ruth was, as most would be, very upset with her mother leaving. But her mother promised to write to her while she was away, so Ada Ruth and her Grandmother waited and waited and waited for a letter. As they did, they wrote to her constantly, but still they were waiting on their letter. Finally a letter arrives, all her mother has written is, “Tell Ada Ruth I’ll be coming on home soon.”

I really enjoyed the illustrations throughout this book. As I previously mentioned this is the main reason I read this book. E.B. Lewis’s illustrations are very realistic and help to bring the story to life. Lewis does this through the use of watercolor. These illustrations cover a full page and the text is placed on the opposite page with a very small illustration below.

I really enjoyed this book. I would most definitely use this book within the classroom. I would recommend using this text within middle and late elementary classrooms. In these classrooms I would choose to use this text as a black history month book. I would also use this book as a realistic narrative while learning about World War II. While this book is realistic fiction, I still think that this account would be great to use as it is told from a child’s perspective. I believe this would make history more relatable for students. The last way I personally would use this book in my own classroom would be with a writing assignment. This assignment would be more appropriate to the younger grades you would use this book in. I would give the students the option to either write a letter from the little girl to the mother or finish the story telling what the little girl’s reaction will be when she realizes her mother has come home.