Visit Kellee and Ricki at UnleashingReaders and Jen at Teach Mentor Texts to see what they've been reading, along with everyone else who post their favorites. I'm back from the beach, read so many wonderful books before I left and added a few Sunday.
Wishing you all a great holiday week!
I read this beautiful verse novel, a first for Jasmine Warga, all in one day before my trip, a story that would not let go. Young Jude, a seventh grader, has moved from her wonderful home in Syria with her mother to live with an uncle in America. Things are becoming more and more dangerous in their country and her parents believe this is a "best" decision. Baba, the father, stays behind because he doesn't want to leave his store. Issa, the older brother has become increasingly involved with the rebels, wanting the country to become safe as it used to be. It's hard to miss home, her father, and soon not even know if her brother is safe when contact is lost between them. He is near the worst of the fighting. In the goodbyes, he tells Jude to 'be brave', the underlying part of her growing up, facing challenges like a new school and learning English.
The writing is lovely, allowing Jude's words to share both the warm and sweet experiences along with the tough ones. She is honest and thoughtful, trying hard to find "home". Early in her home country before the move, bombings are happening near; people are fearful. Jude wants to tell them: "You don't have to worry about me./I am just a girl who likes movies." In her new American house when looking out the window, Jude makes a connection: "I wonder if it is exhausting/to be a tree./To lose something,/year after year,/only to trust that it will/someday grow back." And in what she calls her "mangled fractured English", she is trying to describe some favorite things she remembers about her brother, "hoping that he is safe". She continues on: "Hoping,/I'm starting to think,/might be the bravest thing a person can do."
Jude, through Jasmine Warga's words, shares a few Arabic proverbs now and then. Here is one I want to remember when Jude was thinking of her ESL teacher, Mrs. Ravenswood: "She makes you feel/like a loaf of freshly baked bread." Food plays some nice parts of the story, especially bread, often telling of Jude's mother toasting pita over the open flame of the stove. Thoughts and feelings coming from someone that many think of as 'different', those from another culture, will make good connections for young readers.
Be sure to find this some time to see if Jerry Spinelli has included one of your favorite traditions on Independence Day. There are many. This young boy has things to do from morning till evening, then the long wait, wait, for the fireworks! They celebrate with all kinds of people at their park, taking a wagon full of food, running the races, dancing to the band at the bandstand, and sing The Star Spangled Banner, all to celebrate. Larry Day shows this day filled with color and excitement, a nostalgic look at a holiday on which I hope everyone has a favorite memory, of activities, of food, of play!
According to the jacket flap, this is the first book in a "Being In The Wild" series. At the beach with her parents, a young girl wanders into a nearby meadow following a butterfly. The implication is while she describes some beautiful encounters--listening to leaves rustling, a grasshopper jumps onto her arm, she seems a bit scared and lost. No worries, her mother finds her and they walk back to the beach. Sakai's illustrations feel like a dream, haze-filled with only the girl, the meadow, and the wind! It's lovely.
