Genre: Children's Picture Book
Source: I received a copy for review. The opinions expressed here are my own.
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I had purchased this book and then another reading teacher recommended it. She was reading it to her students and my students who are in her reading class kept telling me how wonderful it was. So, yesterday, the first day of the new year I sat and read it cover to cover. This is the story of not only a physical loss, but the loss of trust and belief in someone. When Ben, Dylan and Gerry lose their mother to a terrible car accident their father sells everything they own, buys a sailboat and tells them they will be sailing for a year. There is no discussion, no answering of questions, just the order to pack and go. Fifteen-year-old Ben is angry. He of course sees things from his skewed view as a teenager. It isn't until they have been sailing for about six months and he has decided it doesn't help to argue with his dad that things go from bad to worse. He has been a faithful crewman on his dad's boat the Chrysallis. Each of the boys have certain "jobs" they are required to handle and they must all learn to do everything. Then Ben comes up top to discover their dad missing. Add to that a storm that maroons them on an island and you have a heart-stopping book. I felt bad for the boys the way their father talked to them. However, as a parent and adult I understood the underlying cause that the boys might not understand. The three boys were well developed. You had headstrong Ben, the oldest who felt responsible for everything and had the most trouble with his father. Dylan was the studious son who had the book knowledge that would help in a lot of situations. Then there was six year old Gerry who was terrified of the water because he couldn't swim. All of these issues and what happens to all of them made for a story you had to read from cover to cover. Can't wait to talk this up this week at school. It is a must read.
With the pandemic, my reading has gone downhill. I really thought I would read more. That was not the case. This last year I took on a new subject to teach. I picked up a reading class and then was asked to teach Theatre. I had never taught theatre before. Once again with all the new things, my reading was not where I wanted it to be. So for this next year, I am going to complete two reading challenges. Both of them are A-Z challenges. I am not formally joining anyone's challenges. I am doing this on my own. I have made a list of books I own either in my classroom or on my Kindle that I haven't gotten to yet. I have a list of twenty-six books by title and an alphabetical list of books by the author. Below you will find my lists. I will not read them in order. Some of them have a review date. I am doing this for two reasons. First, I need to meet my goal for this school year set by a student, and this will help. The second reason is that I need to read these books and be knowledgeable enough to recommend them to my students. It is hard to talk up a book you have not read. I will post reviews and I will post links to those reviews. Below my challenge, you will see links to some of the other challenges I considered. I even made lists for them. I am not going to stress myself as I have done in years past trying to hit all of the reading challenges. I will however introduce them to my students as I think it would be interesting to see if any of them might like a challenge. I have attached links to where you can find the official challenges. I reserve the right to change books I have listed. The idea is to have fun and that means changing up books as I see fit.
A-Z Titles
Alone - D.J. Brazier
Bats and Bones - Jeffrey Hickey
Diamond Willow by Helen Frost
Easy Target by Tim Shoemaker
March Keywords: End, Fall, Loud, Queen, Woods, Nine, Beautiful, Crown
The Boy on the Wooden Box - Leon Leyson
April Keywords: Race, Now, Chose, While, Stop Burn, Red, One
One Last Word: Wisdom from the Harlem Renaissance - Nikki Grimes
May Keywords: Thorn, Catch, Black, Under, City, Cloud, Sing, Legacy
Dragged from Under: The Bull Shark - Joseph Monninger
June Keywords: Sea, You, Hate, Perfect, Shade, Until, Beach, Little
Four Perfect Pebbles - Lila Perl & Marion Blumenthal Lazan
July Keywords: Star, Next, Infinity, Iron Word, People, Rise, Clear
Words With Wings - Nikki Grimes
August Keywords: Breath, Case, Hundred, Day, Happy, Language, Stay, Lie
Rhyming Poetry to Change Your Day - Philip Lister
September Keywords: Bright, Here, Out, Life, Strange, Rule, Story Salt
From the Inside Out - Erik O. Ronningen
October Keywords: House, Bone, Haunt, Body, Blood, Witch, Murder, Mystery
Keesha's House - Helen Frost
November Keywords: Many, Boy, River, Fever, Down, Gold, Jade, Hill
Long Way Down - Jason Reynolds
December Keywords: Still, Cabin, Night, Lake, By, Holiday, Fire
Terror At Wolf Lake - Max Elliot Anderson