Before the Ever After: the cost of glory in football

 Before the Ever After is a middle-grade, novel-in-verse by Jacqueline Woodson that won the Coretta Scott King Author Award.  It explores the degenerative brain condition known as CTE (chronic traumatic encephalopathy) in a professional football player from the point of view of his son.  

ZJ's Dad is a hero to everyone but to ZJ, he's his Dad, his everything.  When his Dad starts forgetting things and getting awful headaches, ZJ's whole life changes.  He tries to hold onto any memory he can of the times before his Dad got sick.  ZJ's love of music and songwriting help his Dad come back to a version of his former self as they try to get help from doctors.  When there doesn't seem to be a cure for what is happening to his Dad it seems like all hope is lost.

This touching story is about a very real problem in sports and its characters will stay in the minds and hearts of the readers after the book is concluded.  School Library Journal's blog, The Classroom Bookshelf, has a comprehensive list of ideas for how to use this book with young readers. Penguin-Random House also has a free teacher's guide for this book.  

I would have students reflect on their own lives and choose a "before" and "after" and draw or write about that significant event.  It could be a positive or negative one, but just to help readers empathize with ZJ's situation.  

The Penguin-Random House website has a sample of the audiobook for a listen.  There is also a great conversation between Woodson and LeVar Burton about this book: