This was required reading in all three of the girls' classrooms this year. They talked so much about this book at home I feel like I've read it myself. Sometimes required reading at school can be a bit dry but this book was quite the opposite.
Emily picked this one up last week at the bookstore. It's by the same author as Bud, Not Buddy and the main character here was introduced in that book.
Allie was introduced to this book at school and loved it so much, she bought a copy at the bookstore to read at home. I have not read it but she's told me quite a bit about it and I feel like anything dealing with the Holocaust is a mature subject matter. Obviously, this was written for her age group (10-12 years old) though.
Emily and Allie are in switch-off classrooms. This means that Allie's teacher instructs math for both Emily and Allie (at separate times) while Emily's teacher is responsible for ELA. Emily and a friend, who is also a strong reader, in her class both ordered this book through one of the Scholastic book orders. Their teacher asked them about it and then decided to set up a reading group in each class for this specific book. Emily devoured this. Allie is still reading it with her group and is really into it as well. Again, mature subject matter including death but, in a way, it's good to have them reading these types of books. They are learning about the world and history. I believe in a healthy mix of genres.
A book from the Whatever After series is always floating around the house.
Emily picked this one up at the bookstore and it's currently in her "to be read" pile.
Anna purchased this one at the school book fair this week. By the way, my kids LOVE when there's a book fair at school. Rules is about a 12 year old girl who has a brother with autism. She wants a "normal" life but her family revolves around her brother's needs and she feels like she constantly teaching him rules so as not to be what she considers embarrassing. She makes some new friends and starts to question her definition of normal.
Speaking of the book fair, Emily and Allie have not yet made their purchases. Their classes are scheduled to go later this week. I was at the school yesterday taking yearbook photos so I popped in to check out the book selection. I thought the following books looked like interesting reads for my girls.
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6 comments:
I remember reading Number the Stars for the first time in elementary school (don't remember what grade, but probably 4th or 5th)...I think that was my first exposure to the Holocaust, and I remember the weird blend of feelings my new knowledge about that event brought. Like...shock that it happened, shock that I'd never really HEARD about it before, horror, obviously, and just this deep desire to learn more...something that has never really gone away, I suppose, since I'm 35 and probably half of my reading is still about WWII! I remember sitting around the lunch table with a few of my friends and discussing Number the Stars...one of those girls I am still friends with and we STILL swap WWII book recs regularly! Thanks for this bit of nostalgia! And I recommend reading that one! :)
Number the Stars had a profound effect on me. I can't recall if I was in 4th or 5th grade, but definitely in elementary school and I read it on my own.
I also strongly recommend The Giver series by Lois Lowry. I read The Giver either just before or just after Number the Stars because I wanted to read more from the author. I didn't read the other books in the series until adulthood because they were published long after The Giver (2000, 2004, 2012).
Harry Potter gets his letter for Hogwarts when he turns 11... have any of the girls started that series yet?
I'm so old we read Diary of Anne Frank and Night when I was in school. I still remember those books so well because it all seemed so unreal to me.
The girls tried reading Harry Potter and they were not interested at all. They don't seem to be fans of fantasy.
I am almost 33 and number the stars has stuck with me ever since I read it in 3rd grade. I always recommend it to people to read.
Have they read any books by Kit Pearson? Those are great for that age group.
The other author to check out is Jean Little. Specifically a book called mine for keeps.
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