Two weekends ago, I read Before the Ever After by Jacqueline Woodson. This novel in verse is the realistic story about a boy, Zachariah Johnson, Jr. or ZJ, whose family has to learn how to cope when his professional football playing father, "Zachariah 44" Johnson, experiences memory loss and anger management issues from having too many concussions. ZJ and his friends do not worry much when ZJ's father returns home instead of playing football on a game day, but as time goes on ZJ begins to notice that his father's condition is gradually worsening with frequent migraines, moments of anger, and lapses of memory. One day, his father doesn't even remember that he likes to call ZJ "little man". Even though ZJ's mother takes Zachariah to several doctors, they do not know exactly what the problem is and none of the treatments help much. ZJ reminisces on moments in his life when they were all happy, but he really just wants his father back.
As a novel in verse, this was a quick read, but at the same time it was heartbreaking because ZJ's family had many challenges learning to live with his father having chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE). I definitely felt really bad for ZJ because I could tell that sometimes it was like living with a stranger, and it was hard to read the mental breakdowns Zachariah had. There were moments of hope, though, when Zachariah would have good days. As someone who is familiar with the hot topic of sports-related concussions, I think the book was very enlightening about CTE and how it was a medical mystery as recently as the early 2000s. The story shows that those living with family members who have CTE can never turn back time. They can only move forward and learn to live with their new normal. My favorite parts of the novel were when ZJ would share his love for music with his father and hang out with his friends, Darry, Daniel, and Ollie. Before the Ever After is an excellent choice for football fans or anyone in the mood for a well-written sad story.
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