Before the Ever After

The first half of the book (Part 1: 1999) functions as a recollection of what life was like before ZJ’s father got sick and started to decline. All of the poems in this book have ZJ as the speaker. Woodson puts all dialogue in italics instead of quotation marks.

The first 11 poems of this novel-in-verse serve as the exposition. “Memory Like a Movie” introduces the main characters, sets the tone, and presents some of the themes for the book. When ZJ’s father, Zachariah Sr., appears unexpectedly, the boys all gather around to “half hug, half tackle” Zachariah 44, a larger-than-life man who shakes the boys off “like we’re feathers, not boys” (1). This poem shows the close relationship between ZJ, his friends, and ZJ’s father. It also introduces the suburban setting and football as context for the story. 

The memory provides the slightest hint of things to come when Daddy explains that he’s home instead of at the game because he needs to rest. Like in a movie, “He looks at each of [the boys] for a long time. / A strange look. Like he’s just now seeing [them]” (2). This strange look suggests that Zachariah 44 probably already knows something is wrong, but perhaps he can’t articulate it. Instead, he throws the ball “into the abyss” (2). The action appears normal because ZJ simply goes to get another ball, but it foreshadows future events when both ZJ and his father will give up football forever. 

If the first poem introduces who and what the story is about, the second poem tells who and what the story is not about. In “Everybody’s Looking for a Hero,” Woodson puts readers on notice that this story isn’t about heroes. When he was “a little kid” (3), ZJ remembers a reporter asking him whether his dad was his hero. ZJ responds, “No, [...] My dad’s just my dad” (3). In the present, he clarifies, “And all these years later, just like that day, I know / he’s not my hero, / he’s my dad, which means / he’s my every single thing” (4). This distinction between who Zachariah Sr. is to the world and who he is to his family will resurface throughout the novel.

The deep bond between father and son is evident in these words and throughout the poems in this first half. Many of ZJ’s earliest and formative memories feature his father. In “Rap Song,” the two express their mutual admiration and respect for one another. When ZJ raps, “Can’t go no higher / than Zachariah” (20), he’s talking about both himself and his father. When his dad compliments ZJ’s skills, he adds, “I think I got ‘em from you / because you’re Zachariah too!” (20). This scene exhibits both how much the two admire each other and how comfortable and safe ZJ feels when his father is home. Woodson’s use of these happy moments will later contrast with ZJ’s present reality, where his father is sick and no one knows why or how he will ever get better. The contrast helps to create the emotional tension between ZJ’s past and present. 

ZJ and his friends also share a close bond and emotional openness with one another that mirrors what ZJ shares with his father. For ZJ, the genuineness of his friendships is what makes them special. In the poem, “ZJ,” he explains that when people meet him for the first time, “It’s like they know [his father], not me. To them, / I’m Zachariah’s son. [...] except to my boys / who see me walking into the classroom and say / What’s up, ZJ? / Your mom throw any cookies in your lunch?” (11). 

Woodson uses both “Everybody’s Looking for a Hero,” and “ZJ” to draw a line between ZJ’s insulated world of family and friends and the outside world of fans and reporters. ZJ’s character eschews celebrity and the attention that comes with being a child of someone famous; it shows that ZJ’s parents, family, and friends provide him with a sense of grounding, truth, and authenticity, which will be important for coping with the hard times ahead.