Hush

by Jacqueline Woodson

Book Overview

Evie Thomas used to live in a beautiful house with a breathtaking view of the mountains. She felt happy and safe with her policeman father, her schoolteacher mother and her popular cheerleading older... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0399231145
• ISBN13: 9780399231148
• Release Date: January 2002
• Publisher: G. P. Putnam's Sons
• Length: 192 Pages
• Weight: 0.80 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.7" x 8.3"
• Age Range: 10 years and up
• Grade Range: Grade 5 and higher

Customer Reviews

New Life

This novel is about a black family. There are 2 girls and 2 parents.Cameron and Toswiah are the 2 girls. Cameron is a cheerleader and Toswiah is an athlete. Therefore the father witnessed a crime scene and was forced to start a new life in a new place with a new name. Cameron is now Anna and Toswiah is now Evie. Evie experiences a new life at her new shool and even found someone named Toswiah. They become good friends. The mom becomes a Jehovah's Witness and the father stares out the window all day. I reccomend this book to to all people because people should know what its like to start a new life.

Bye Bye Home

In the story Hush a girl named Toswiah is the main charater.She and her family are forced to leave their beloved home in Denver. They left because her father witnessed two white police officers murder a young african american boy. Her mother studies her bible and attends Kingdom Hall. Her sister is a high school student and hates her life. The ending is a little rough because it leaves the reader wondering what's gonna happen.

All that you have is your soul.

This powerful novel traces the life of a young girl, Toswiah, whose father testifies in court against fellow police officers so she and her family must enter into a witness protection program. The four of them are stripped of their home, their possessions, their beloved family and friends, and their names. Toswiah says, "all that you have is your soul" because she sees now that everything else in life can be taken away from you. As the youngest in the family, Toswiah not only struggles with her own loss of identity but has to watch her sister and both parents become people she does not recognize once their present and futures are taken away from them. Her life is a daily struggle, dealing with her devastated family and coping on her own in a new city and new school. Her sense of sadness, loss of confidence, and loneliness are wonderfully portrayed by the author. Through Toswiah's observations we see how much our lives in the present are inextricably linked to our past and our plans for the future and how important the identity we create is essential to our sense of self. Woodson's thought provoking novel teaches us through Toswiah and her family teach us what it would be like to have our identities, our pasts, and our futures all taken away forever. This is a great novel geared towards young adults but adults will enjoy it as well.

HUSH

The main character's name is Toswiah. She lives in Denver, Colorado with her sister, mom, and dad. Toswiah loves Denver. She is close to her Grandma, and close to the mountains there. She has a lot of friends. Her dad is a police officer.One day while her father was on the job, he witnessed a murder. There was a young black kid who got murdered by two white cops. They claimed to have fired on him because he was pulling out a gun, but Toswiah's dad was there, and he knew that was not true. He told the police chief, but everyone he told did not listen. At home he would get calls saying, "You're doing the right thing," but the callers never told their names. At school, Toswiah would be alone, and all the people that she thought were her friends stayed away from her. Toswiah kept wondering who the two cops were that shot the black boy. Finally, her dad told her, and she found out that they were two adults that she was very close to. One of them would always give her a ride to school. They felt it was not a safe place to live anymore, so they moved to the middle of nowhere. Toswiah and the rest of the family changed their names. Toswiah's new name was Eivie.I liked this book a lot because it kept me interested. I would rate it 5 stars. This is one of my favorite books that I have ever read. Something was always happening. I was never bored. It was also a fast read, and if you like diaries or multicultural books, then this is definitely the book for you! It puts you in the place of Evie's (Toswiah's) shoes. When I was reading this book I almost felt like I was there, and it was really easy for me to relate to the things that were happening to her.The author wasn't ever going on and on about one thing for too long. The book had a good lesson in it too. By reading it I think that I learned something. It is a multicultural book, so it made me think of things that could be going on now. This book didn't drag on about boring stuff. Instead, it got the point across, and then went on to the next event that happened.

ed210 review

Toswiah Green's life is perfect until her father, a Denver police man, witnesses a murder. Toswiah and her family are then forced to leave Denver and take on new identities. Toswiah is struggling to remember who she was and learn who she is becoming. This is a great novel about having strength, courage, and hope when your whole world seems to be falling apart.