Showing posts with label The Boy on the Porch. Show all posts
Showing posts with label The Boy on the Porch. Show all posts

Sunday, September 1, 2013

It's Monday! What are you reading?




It's Monday! What are you reading? is a meme hosted by Sheila at Book Journeys. Jen Vincent over at Teach Mentor Texts and Kellee Moye from Unleashing Readers decided to put a children's and YA spin on it and they invite anyone with an interest to join in. You can participate by creating your post then visit one of their sites to add your site. Finally, visit at least three participant blogs and comment to spread the love.

The Past Week:
Picture Books


Crankenstein was cute. I have felt cranky many a time & have witnessed children with that affliction on many occasions. It is all too relatable. 


Carnivores is the story of carnivores of the animal persuasion who are trying to become vegetarian with hilarious results. 


My favorite picture book of the week though was Journey. It is a bit reminiscent of Harold and the Purple Crayon. Gorgeous illustrations tell the story without need for words. This will be a fabulous inspiration for creativity and celebrating imagination.


Middle Grade


I enjoyed The Boy on the Porch and I reviewed it yesterday on the blog. It was written more from the perspective of the adults who found him rather than the boy. 


Strangely enough, Better to Wish was through an adults eyes. The main character was telling about her memories so she shares stories from her childhood, teenage years, and even into adulthood. I think there are some students who will enjoy both of these.

The Coming Week:
I will probably be doing a lot of re-reads as I share some of my favorite picture books with students for the first week of school. I will try to get to E.M. Kokie's Personal Effects. It is on our high school state Battle of the Books list. With it being the first week of school, I don't have high hopes for reading. It will be a busy and tiring week so I may not get a lot of reading accomplished. What will you be reading? Have a wonderful week!





Review: The Boy on the Porch

Title: The Boy on the Porch
Author: Sharon Creech
Publisher: HarperCollins
Pages: 160 
Genre: Realistic Fiction
Review Copy: Digital ARC from Edelweiss
Release Date: September 3, 2013

Summary: One day a young couple wakes to find a boy asleep on their porch. Unable to speak, the boy cannot explain his history. What kind of person would leave their child with strangers? All they know is that they have been chosen to care for this boy. And as their connection to him grows, they embrace his exuberant spirit and talents. The three of them blossom into an unlikely family, and John and Marta and the boy begin to see the world in brand-new ways. Newbery Medal winner Sharon Creech delivers a poignant story of finding family when you least expect it.

My thoughts: With brief chapters, this sweet middle grade novel just flew by. I was completely charmed by John and Marta. They are so unsure of themselves, but dive right into caring for this boy who dropped into their lives. They are still learning how to be with each other and adding a random child into the mix flusters them, but heir interactions are adorable. 

Where the boy came from, why he doesn't speak, why someone doesn't come back for him, these are all questions that rumbled through my head. Some of them are answered, but even more questions popped up as I was reading. This book is rather short on answers though. I guess that is like life. We don't always know why things happen. This may simply be the "realistic" element of the story, but it also seemed that possibly Sharon Creech was writing this way to inspire wondering and thinking on the part of the reader. In some ways I appreciated that, but I think as readers we have expectations from the author. When there is no way to know an answer, we accept that, but in this story, the answers are possible, we just don't get them. That was a bit frustrating.

The boy in the story doesn't speak and this certainly adds to the mystery. It also makes the boy more interesting. The wondering starts. It is also intriguing to see the many ways that he does communicate without the use of his voice. He has a way to "talk" with the animals and he speaks through art and music too.

This is a beautiful story of family and making the world a better place for others. In spite of some of the hardships in the book, I felt a warm glow while reading. There aren't as many jokes, but it did remind me of Creech's earlier book Ruby Holler as we see one more way that a loving family can be made.