Coretta Scott King-John Steptoe New Talent Award Winner

In this beautifully written and powerfully moving novel in poems, Hope Anita Smith tells the story of a young man's struggle to accept a father who has walked out on his family.

My best friend, Preacher, is being just that. His sermon today is on fathers and I am his congregation.
Dads are light. They have no roots.
One strong wind, and they're gone.
Out of here. History.

With a click, a bang, a whisper--or no noise at all. There are so many ways that a door can close, but it's not just the closing; it's the knowing. And thirteen-year-old CJ knows too much--about losing his father, about his family's pain, and especially about what it means to hold things together when times are the toughest. Here, in CJ's words, is a portrait of hurt and healing, and finding the strength to open the door again.

The Way a Door Closes is the winner of the 2004 Coretta Scott King-John Steptoe New Talent Award and the 2004 Bank Street - Claudia Lewis Award and is a 2004 Bank Street - Best Children's Book of the Year.