This beautiful story is about sisters, Viji and Rukku, who run away from a turbulent home and become homeless. They meet two friends along the way who become family. They have to develop and use their instincts to survive – finding food, fending off enemies, making money in creative ways – all things children should never have to worry about.
The major conflict in this story is questioning who to trust. After running from their parents, the girls struggle to trust adults – even when they are in serious need of help.
This story broke my heart and then mended it right up.
One of my favorite books of all time is Out of My Mind by Sharon Draper. I LOVE the main character, I love how Sharon Draper creatively weaves in so many applicable life lessons, and I love how when I put the book down I really felt like I had become friends with the characters in the book – I was completely hooked.
One of my students INSISTED that I pick up this book and read it aloud to my class. I have to say, I am SO thankful to her! This is a story about a Pakastani girl who is forced into indentured servitude.
I picked up this book, like many of the previous books I’ve read, because my students couldn’t stop talking about it! They were arguing over books #2 and 3 in the series and raving about how they couldn’t put them down. In addition, it’s on the Iowa Children’s Choice List for 2018-2019 and I’m trying to check some of those off my list.
This book made me laugh and cry. I LOVE the author, Dan Gemeinhart, SO much. This one might be my favorite of his, which is saying quite a lot.
This was a curious combination of fantasy (talking fish who grant wishes), fun realistic elements (ice fishing & Irish dancing), along with very real reality (heroin addiction). As I write that, it seems even more strange than I first thought.
This book came HIGHLY recommended by many of my students – starting with some of them from last spring! So this book has been on my To-Read list for quite some time. I don’t know what took me so long to pick it up – I LOVED IT. The main character, Molly, was absolutely incredible.
The second novel I read in January was The Benefits of Being an Octopus by Ann Braden. This book is about a young girl who has to face some struggles in life that many students would never even think of. This novel pulled at my heart strings in SO many ways. As a parent, it made me sad that children have to worry about adult problems. As a teacher, it re-affirmed my desire to ensure each student sitting in my room knows I am here for them – for whatever they need.