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    After Tupac & D Foster
    After Tupac & D Foster
    After Tupac & D Foster
    Audiobook3 hours

    After Tupac & D Foster

    Written by Jacqueline Woodson

    Narrated by Susan Rosson Spain

    4/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    When D Foster walks into Neeka and her best friend’s lives, their world opens up. D doesn’t have a “real” mom constantly telling her what to do, and the girls envy her independence. But D wants nothing more than to feel connected, and the three girls form a tight bond—and a passion for the music of Tupac Shakur. D’s the one who understands Tupac’s songs best, and through her, his lyrics become more personal for all of them.

    After Tupac is shot the first time, the girls are awed by how he comes back stronger than ever. And seeing how Tupac keeps on keeping on helps when Neeka’s brother is wrongly sent to jail and D’s absent mom keeps disappointing. But by the time Tupac is shot again, the girls have turned thirteen and everything’s changed, except their belief in finding their Big Purpose.

    Newbery Honor winner Jacqueline Woodson’s compelling and inspiring story shows us how music touches our lives, how much life can be lived in a short time, and how all—too—brief connections can touch us to the core and remain a part of us forever.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherBrilliance Audio
    Release dateJul 20, 2009
    ISBN9781423398080
    After Tupac & D Foster
    Author

    Jacqueline Woodson

    Jacqueline Woodson, winner of the Margaret A. Edwards Award for lifetime achievement in writing for young adults, is the author of Feathers, Newbery Honor winner Show Way, Miracle’s Boys (recipient of a Coretta Scott King Award and a Los Angeles Times Book Prize), Locomotion and Hush (both National Book Award finalists), among many others. She lives in Brooklyn, New York.

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    Reviews for After Tupac & D Foster

    4/5

    193 ratings22 reviews

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    • 4/5
      D Foster is a foster child. She walks into the neighborhood and becomes friends two girls who have lived there all their lives. For two years, they do everything together, sharing their lives and their love for Tupac Shakur's music. They make it through troubles in their families, and then Tupac is fatally shot, and D's mother reappears.
    • 5/5
      Easy language, easy story to get wrapped into, I deliberately read it slowly to prolong the story and avoid the ending as long as possible. The author's descriptions of everyday things and her command of imagery and emotion rival Toni Morrison.
    • 5/5
      I read this in one afternoon. Few writers can craft words and story this beautifully and thoughtfully and leave you still feeling the story lingering in your head and heart when you finish.
    • 4/5
      After reading this, I went and listened to Tupac music for the rest of the day. I really got it, the connection these characters feel with that music, and I got it in a way that I never did from years of music education classes. From a teacher perspective, this is a brilliant argument for hip hop in the schools.

      From a reading perspective, I loved the close female friendship as the core of the novel, the connection that D had with the narrator that was always acknowledged but unspoken, and the pacing. I also was deeply affected by the prison scene.

      Woodson writes just so well. She deserves the acclaim she's gotten, and I'm looking forward to reading more of her works.
    • 5/5
      Jacqueline Woodson captures the essence of being 12 going on 13, confined to your block in Queens, protected by mothers who know how quickly life can go wrong. And then a new girl arrives and everything seems to change. Woodson weaves the story around the larger story of the shooting of Tupac Shakur as well as his prison sentence.
    • 4/5
      1994 was a huge year for me. I was fifteen and, looking back, I feel like that was the year I broke free from my cocoon of childhood. Music played a large part. I had two older brothers. We watched a lot of MTV. I distinctly remember the moments that stirred my emotions on several occasions that year: seeing for the first time Nas's “The World Is Yours,” Ahmad's “Back in the Day,” and Wu-Tang Clan's “C.R.E.A.M.” '94 was also the year I began to take notice of 2Pac. 2Pac's music hadn't hit me hard all of a sudden like the others; however, by the following year, no other rapper compared.I expected to find some of the nostalgia of those years in Jacqueline Woodson's After Tupac and D Foster. Here's a novel set during that period, a young adult novel that uses Tupac Shakur as a central image. I expected something from this novel—something very poetic and edgy, something contemporary, something like the feeling of emergence, something familiar—but what I got instead was something else entirely.If this novel reminded me of anything, it was of that time prior to emergence. It reminded me of playing with friends on the school playground, running around the neighborhood, and of my elementary school library. It reminded me of Judy Blue. Not the nostalgia of Yo! MTV Raps, Fresh, or even Skee-Lo. No—Judy-freakin-Blume. Now on the surface, this may seem like a poor comparison. Any time Blume is mentioned, my first thought has always gone to the hilarious Fudge. But Blume wasn't always so humorous. Ignore that hilarity from Blume for a moment and what do you have? Socially conscious fiction. Subjects considered taboo for children. And at its core, a tale of friendship. All things you find in After Tupac and D Foster.Now, I haven't read a lot of Blume. And this is the first work I've read from Woodson. So I wondered if the comparison was way off. I turned to Google: Woodson cites Blume as a major influence; Blume and Woodson were both born on February 12 (astrology everyone!); Blume is actually Woodson's mother (okay, I made that one up). Maybe not enough to convince the masses, but I'm sticking by it.So with the Blume comparison in mind, I’m a little shook by this Young Adult label. With its largely simple plot, its focus on friendship and skipping rope, this novel brings to mind the books a ten or eleven year old would read. But I guess this label probably has to do more with content. After Tupac... may be a little too edgy for your average school librarian. Still, despite my opinion that this book is rather juvenile, it does have a little bit of depth to it and is certainly not an entirely light read.As a fan of Shakur, I turned to this book hoping to find something I'd left in my teenage years. It's not in here. Frankly, I feel the Shakur connection to the novel is weak. It adds a few parallels for the story of D Foster, but largely I think it detracts from the novel. The characters try to convince me that they are passionate about Shakur and his life, but their dialogue around him feels more like a Wikipedia entry, not someone closely following his status. Then it hit me: Woodson, born in 1963, an author from a generation before Tupac, is writing to a generation that came after. Perhaps the stilted references to Shakur were a lack of generational understanding on the author’s part (though I don’t think this is entirely true of Woodson), or they could’ve been an attempt to speak to a generation that wouldn’t relate to the passion. For someone who was especially shaped by those years, such as myself, the sentiment is misplaced.Still, I liked this book and I think it has so much to do with that earlier nostalgia, that of reading Judy Blume for the first time. It's refreshing to see that a new author has been handed the torch and is carrying on the legacy. Who would I recommend this book to? That’s a tricky one. The content, the maturity, the scope, the literary merit—they’re all over the place and point to different audiences. Looking at everything, I think After Tupac and D Foster can appeal to readers in several groups, but would probably be most appreciated by those very mature readers in upper elementary or middle school. And if Judy Blume herself hasn't read this book yet, I think she should.
    • 4/5
      Three friends grow into their teen years learning about each other and how to navigate life as a person of color in a country in which Tupac is shot and tried and shot again.As always, Woodson has delivered an important story packaged in wonderful writing. Recommended.
    • 3/5
      A good story that lots of teens will relate too, but I was a little disappointed it wasn't longer or had a larger plot. It's a pretty simplistic story about how two young black girl's lives are changed when a girl named D. Foster walks onto their block. They immediately become best friends and the girls try to probe for details about D's mysterious life. All they know is that she has a foster mom and is obsessed with Tupac. Over the next two years they slowly learn more about her troubled past and that only makes them more committed to being her friend. They learn how to deal with boys, racism, broken homes, gays, developing bodies, and more. A good coming of age novel, I just wish there were a little more to it.
    • 5/5
      Such an amazingly powerful read. The way the author uses Tupac's music to to bring to life a girl, D, who embodies the words that flow out of his songs is magical.The bond that forms between the narrator and D is one of magic. By the end of the story they are on the same level both mind and body.All in all it is a great story about a girl who was able to find a home when she hadn't had a semblance of it for most of her life.
    • 4/5
      After Tupac and D Foster by Jacqueline Woodson was an interesting read about three girls who form a friendship between the fall of 1994 and the winter of 1996. Tupac is a topic throughout the book because he happened to be at the center of the news during this time period. Neeka and the main character have been friends since they were born, but one day they notice a girl across the street just staring at them. She soon becomes a very close friend and the three of them refer to themselves as Three the hard way. D Foster, whose name is really Desiree Johnson, is a foster child who lives with a single lady that she calls Flo (Foster Lady Orderly). D doesn’t share much about her life due to not wanting to be too vulnerable with others. But that doesn’t stop the three girls from becoming nearly inseparable. Woodson does an amazing job packing this book with many topics that are typically not seen in youth fiction. Racism, prison, and homophobia are just a few of the topics that are touched upon in this book. I think this book could be utilized in a 5th grade classroom but I think more likely read by 6-8th graders.This is a contemporary fiction
    • 4/5
      After Tupac and D Foster by Jacqueline Woodson is an Newbery Award Winner. This book addresses many issues but the main theme is friendship. Two girls who have been best friends their whole lives meet a girl named "D". D is a child who lives in a foster home. They don't know much about D but they do know that they love her like a sister and that they all have a common interest in the artist, Tupac. The girls can relate to the lyrics of Tupac's songs and are devastated when they hear that he has been shot. As the girls relationship grows they endure many hardships. They see a brother go to jail, a mother who continually disappoints her child that is in a foster home, and the unfortunate events that TuPac has been dealt.This would be a great book to use in a sixth-eighth grade classroom. The main theme is friendship but it also addresses other issues such as: foster care, jail, and racism. Children at this age may have dealt with some of these scenarios but aren't willing to share. Books are a great way to introduce and speak about these issues.
    • 4/5
      A beautiful friendship story set against circumstances that will expand students' view of the world outside of their comfort zone. I'm reading Feathers now and love how Jacqueline Woodson can take two such varied artists-- Tupac Shakur and Emily Dickenson-- and create engaging characters who are shaped by these artistic influences.
    • 3/5
      In a working class neighborhood in Queens, two young girls make friends with D Foster, a girl who happens to get off the bus on their block. This is the story of “Three girls. Three the hard Way.” They bond over the music of Tupac Shakur, and during the time of their friendship, from 1994-1996, “I felt like we’d grown up and grown old and lived a hundred lives in those few years that we knew her. But we hadn’t really. We’d just gone from being eleven to being thirteen.” After Tupac and D Foster is a Newbery Honor Book about a foster child and the various ties of friendship and community, tenuous or strong.
    • 3/5
      This was an interesting slice of life in the inner-city. I enjoyed immersing myself in another culture and learning a different perspective on life.
    • 5/5
      “Three the hard way” are three best friends, two of which are neighbors who grew up together, and the third is the mysterious D. The timeframe of this novel is told through the lens of Tupac’s last two years alive, placing what happens in the story within the frame of events like the release of a new single or Tupac being sent to jail. Readers know immediately that both Tupac is killed and D leaves, events tied together in the protagonist’s mind. This powerful story celebrates the music of Tupac and how it touched a generation. Woodson’s lyrical prose about growing up in a world of racism, oppression, and homophobia is deeply convincing and touching. References to 1990s musical technology (e.g. Walkmans) and an artist dead for over a decade date Woodson’s setting but not her message. The power of friendship is a universal tale, masterfully relayed. Details bring this candid narrative to life, with characters who simultaneously judge D’s shoes while accepting her without any knowledge of her background or past. Winner of a Newbery Honor, this book is very highly recommended for children ages ten to thirteen.
    • 3/5
      This 2009 Newbery winner is deserving of accolades and praise. No stranger to awards, Woodson is a recipient of a Caldecott Honor, the ALA Best Book Award, a National Award Finalist, and the Coretta Scott King Award.While this isn't one of my favorite books by Woodson, it is a gem and I recommend it.Few can take so many difficult situations and seamlessly pull them together, weaving an incredible tapestry.When two 11 year old childhood friends meet a stranger who happens to wander into their neighborhood simply because she likes the trees, they embrace the spirit of D Foster. A throw away child from many foster homes, a mother who abandoned her and a roamer, she is unlike them, but also like them in many ways as they long to find their place in the world.As the three young girls bond, they embrace the music of Tupac. When he is killed, they lament all he had to offer.When D's mother once again surfaces, she hopes for a new life, a better one, a more stable existence.The words of Tupac seem to resonate:"Everyone's got a purpose and it's just that they gotta figure out what it is and then go have it."Unlike Toni Morrison, Woodson has a marvelous way in which she portrays the black culture as one of bonding, strength, love, spirituality, hope and resilience. And because of this, I am drawn to her many books.In Woodson's books the grandmothers are the traditional stability. Hard working mother's do their best to inspire and reinforce a set of strong values.The characters are strong and gentle. They are hard, yet malleable. They are loving, kind, supportive as they struggle with the difficulties life presents.Recommended.
    • 5/5
      Woodson does such a great job portraying the profound change that other girls can have on a young woman's life in a short period of time, and the ways in which young people identify emotionally with celebrities. Reading it made me go listen to Tupac, that's how affected I was by it. The book would be a great way to start a unit on music in African-American culture.
    • 4/5
      D Foster is a foster child. She walks into the neighborhood and becomes friends two girls who have lived there all their lives. For two years, they do everything together, sharing their lives and their love for Tupac Shakur's music. They make it through troubles in their families, and then Tupac is fatally shot, and D's mother reappears.
    • 5/5
      The characters in this book are convincing individuals, thoughtful and strong. A piece of wisdom from the book -- just because you love someone and they change your life doesn't mean you can box them up and keep them with you forever.
    • 4/5
      As a teacher I really appreciated this book, but the audience with whom I read it (reluctant/struggling female readers) did not give it very high ratings, probably because the book is based on themes of relationships, friendships, seeking a greater purpose in life, and courage rather than on action. The author writes beautifully and will answer students' emails. She has a web site.
    • 4/5
      I am not a Tupac fan but enjoyed seeing how others viewed him and his music. I thought the book was beautifully written. How do three girls deal with growing up, friendship, and their families -one in foster care, and one in a big family with two sets of twins, a basketball hopeful and a homosexual brother, and one as an only child in a single parent family? How do they feel the year Tupac is shot and one friend's mother comes and takes her away?
    • 5/5
      In 1996 three girls forge a friendship amidst the events leading up to the death of Tupac Shakur. The unnamed protagonist and her best friend, Neeka, let foster child D Foster into their circle and learn about life beyond their close-knit Queens neighborhood in this poignant coming-of-age tale from Newbery honor author Jacqueline Woodson.