I’ve never read a Kate DiCamillo book that I didn’t love, and this one was no exception.
The characters are quirky, the setting snaps to life on the first page, and the plot is bittersweet and unforgettable. I think I might have been missing my own far-flung loved ones when I picked up this book because I cheered for Beverly as she struck out on her own and then created a unique and loving found family.
Revisiting the world of Raymie Nightingale and Louisiana's Way Home, twice winner of the Newbery Medal Kate DiCamillo turns her focus to the tough-talking, inescapably tenderhearted Beverly Tapinski.
Beverly Tapinski has run away from home plenty of times, but that was when she was just a kid. By now, she figures, it's not running away ... it's leaving. Determined to make it on her own, Beverly finds a job and a place to live and tries to forget about her dog, Buddy, now buried underneath the orange trees back home; her friend Raymie, whom she left without a word; and…
Sunny Lancaster is an athlete and a dancer, moving through the world to the sounds of hip hop and his own thudding feet as he runs track.
Sunny has talent, but he’s running more to honor his mother’s legacy than to pursue his own dreams. I connected with this book as a teacher and a parent because it speaks so eloquently about letting young people find themselves and honoring their vision for the future.
Sunny tries to shine despite his troubled past in this third novel in the critically acclaimed Track series from National Book Award finalist Jason Reynolds.
Ghost. Patina. Sunny. Lu. Four kids from wildly different backgrounds, with personalities that are explosive when they clash. But they are also four kids chosen for an elite middle school track team—a team that could take them to the state championships. They all have a lot to lose, but they all have a lot to prove, not only to each other, but to themselves. Sunny is the main character in this novel, the third of…
Edie is a girl in search of answers. When she and her friends find a trunk in the attic, Edie begins a journey to discover who her namesake was and what their shared native American identity means.
As a Seattle resident, it was fun to see local settings in fiction, and I admired how Day’s coming-of-age story explores the history of native adoptions in a way that is bittersweet and enlightening rather than didactic.
In her debut middle grade novel-inspired by her family's history-Christine Day tells the story of a girl who uncovers her family's secrets-and finds her own Native American identity.
All her life, Edie has known that her mom was adopted by a white couple. So, no matter how curious she might be about her Native American heritage, Edie is sure her family doesn't have any answers.
Until the day when she and her friends discover a box hidden in the attic-a box full of letters signed "Love, Edith," and photos of a woman who looks just like her.
Imagine two twin sisters, Arabella and Henrietta--nearly identical yet with nothing in common. They're the best of friends... until one day they aren't. Plain and quiet Henrietta has a secret plan to settle the score, and she does something outrageous and she can't take it back.
When the deed is discovered, Henrietta is sent to live with her eccentric great-aunt! Suddenly life with pretty, popular Arabella doesn't seem so awful.
And, though she's been grievously wronged, Arabella longs for her sister, too. So she hatches a plan of her own and embarks on an unexpected journey to reunite with her other half.
