Walk Two Moons

LEXILE 770

I remember my daughter trying to explain the plot of Walk Two Moons by Sharon Creech to me when she read it in fourth or fifth grade. She struggled to convey the story-within-a-story aspect of it, but ultimately admitted that she didn't really like the book. I've always been curious, so this was my next selection to occupy my mind during the mind-numbing process of MCAS proctering. I just finished reading it last week.

It was a good book to go to bed with at night. I wasn't compelled to read it quickly, but I looked forward to rejoining the main character, 13-year-old Salamanca Tree Hill, on her journey with her grandparents from Ohio to Idaho in search of her mother. As they travel, Sal shares with her grandparents the story of her friend Phoebe Winterbottom. This is the story-within.

Both stories explore the themes of family bonds, abandonment, and independence. I could relate to many elements in this book. For one, I love Sal's depiction of Worry as she ponders the contents of Pandora's box.

"I wondered why someone would put a good thing such as Hope in a box with sickness and kidnapping and murder." She decides there must be another box with all good things in it, "like sunshine and love and trees and all that." She continues, "Who had the good fortune to open that one, and was there one bad thing down there in the bottom of the good box? Maybe it was Worry. Even when everything seems fine and good, I worry that something will go wrong and change everything." Yup, I can relate.

Also, Sal's reflection on happiness  on page 38 echoes my own journey of self-discovery.

"Oh!" I thought. "I am happy at this moment in time." I was surprised that I knew this all by myself, without my mother there. And that night in bed, I did not cry. I said to myself, "Salamanca Tree Hiddle, you can be happy without her." It seemed a mean thought and I was sorry for it, but it felt true.

Another poignant reference to growing up occurs when Sal recalls her mother explaining the behavior of their dog Moody Blue who began ignoring her six-month-old puppies.

I told my mother that Moody Blue was being terrible. "She hates her puppies."

"It's not terrible," my mother said. "It's normal. She's weaning them from her."

"Does she have to do that? Why can't they stay with her?"

"It isn't good for her or for them. They have to become independent. What if something happened to Moody Blue? They wouldn't know how to survive without her." (page 258)

So simple, so true. The hardest job for a parent is letting go.

Poppy (1)

LEXILE 670/650

Given my recent owl obsession, it's a bummer that the great horned owl Mr. Ocax is the villain in Poppy by Avi. But alas, our heroine Poppy is a deer mouse who avenges the death of her fiance while defending her family from the dangers lurking in Dimwood Forest. During her journey, she meets some interesting characters and learns a lot about herself along the way. The story truly embodies the classic elements of a hero’s journey, only with endearing forest animals playing the roles.

Our last read aloud of fifth grade ties in with our science theme of biodiversity and the food chain. It also incorporates letter writing practice, further exploration of character traits, vocabulary development, and a review of figurative language such as the alliteration found in the speech patterns of Ereth the porcupine.

There are six books in the Poppy series, and it lends itself well to a variety of

elementary lessons. A teaching guide is located on the prolific author's website. The fast-paced dialogue and witty repartee between the animals as well as descriptive action scenes full of suspense make this book a favorite in the classroom. It’s fun to let students take turns doing dramatic readings of the character’s lines.

In the book Poppy's Return, I enjoyed the themes dealing with family dynamics: Poppy's reluctance to return to her childhood home, her strained relationships with her teenage son and her sister, the skunk Mephitis's feelings about his lack of family. But the story became clunky for me when the animals take control of an old bulldozer and destroy the derelict New House.

Tennyson

LEXILE 760 ages 9-12

"Brilliant, unusual writing." —Chicago Tribune.

Attracted by that accolade on the book's front cover, I started reading Tennyson by Lesley M. M. Blume while administering the MCAS Math tests this month. It was a book purchased for our classroom library at a recent school book fair. The setting and plot also appealed to me: a once grand Louisiana plantation now covered in vines, two sisters coming to terms with their family's dark history. While I wasn't disappointed by the distinctive writing style and the haunting historical elements, I couldn't agree more with the sentiments expressed in the reviews below.

Blume has an impressive command of the English language, but the story is too contrived . . . It's unfortunate that the author's considerable writing talent lacks a stronger plot.

—School Library Journal

The Fontaine history is complex, evoking horror and sympathy; by contrast, a subplot involving Tennyson’s haughty New York editor feels jarringly cartoonish. Still, many readers will respond to this novel’s Southern gothic sensibility, especially Blume’s beautiful, poetic writing about how the past resonates through the generations.

—Booklist

Visit Lesley M.M. Blume's website for some interesting links to antebellum plantation houses. Also, Belle Grove is said to have been one of the author's inspirations for Aigredoux.

Wesley The Owl

I "met" Stacey O'Brien in the chat room of The Owl Box on Ustream, watching Molly & McGee, the beloved barn owls of San Marcos, CA. After hearing the story of how she rescued a four-day-old baby barn owl and lived with him for 19 years, I had to go out and buy her book.

I'm reading Wesley The Owl s-l-o-w-l-y because I don't want it to end.

I'm writing about it now because I know my eyes will be flooded with tears and I'll be unable to form coherent sentences when I finish reading it.

Update: As my April school vacation came to a close, I finished reading Wesley The Owl. As predicted, I was weeping uncontrollably—sobbing, sniveling and gasping for breath, mascara streaking my face. I'm not sure why observing barn owls has had such an emotional impact on me. They certainly are beautiful creatures, but I think there's more—something about their expressiveness and intelligence that touches my soul.

Hate That Cat/Love That Dog

LEXILE rating for Love That Dog is 1010. Hate That Cat was given the NP (Non-Prose) code.

A few years ago I read Love That Dog By Sharon Creech. Loved it!

This year we read aloud Hate That Cat during our fifth grade poetry unit. Loved it, too.

These books make poetry accessible to elementary students who couldn't be any further removed from the work of the poets that they are forced to read and analyze on standardized state tests. It makes sense to help them to connect with poetry in a way that they can relate to.