Both Elisha (Ellie) and Jeremiah (Miah) attend Percy Academy, a private school where neither quite fits in. Ellie is wrestling with family demons, and Miah is one of the few African American students. The two of them find each other, and fall in love—but they are hesitant to share their newfound happiness with their friends and families, who will not understand. At the end, life makes the brutal choice for them.

After fifteen-year-old Jeremiah is mistakenly shot by police, the people who love him struggle to cope with their loss as they recall his life and death, unaware that 'Miah is watching over them. An ALA Best Book for Young Adults. Reprint.

Jacqueline Woodson is the 2018-2019 National Ambassador for Children's Literature The acclaimed New York Times bestselling and National Book Award–winning author of Brown Girl Dreaming writes a wonderfully moving love story evocative of Romeo and Juliet . In this bindup of If You Come Softly and Behind You, Jacqueline Woodson has created two heartbreaking, interconnected tales that beautifully capture the undying power of first love . Sometimes, love outlives us. Miah is black and Ellie is white. But that doesn't matter to them. All they want is to be together. But then, on a tragic evening, Ellie and Miah are separated forever. Now each is trying to figure out how to move on—without the other.