Summerlost

Summerlost by Ally Condie is targeted for ages 12 and up. It shows how even after a family tragedy, we can all find acceptance and understanding of what happened. In addition, we can heal the hurt through time. Another strength for me was that the main character and narrator, Cedar Lee, had another brother named Ben. Ben was autistic. As an individual who was diagnosed with ausperger's syndrome, I could see myself in his shoes. The only problem with that was Ben and the father died in a car accident before the events in the story. A weakness I guess was that Cedar was sooo busy with what she was doing with Leo and the Summer festival, she never really paid attention to what was going on with her other brother, Miles (who is still alive) and her Mom. They were both still clearly hurting. This could be a great teaching tool to instruct kids about empathy and compassion. (There were bullying). To me more specific, Cedar once told a story about how Ben was eating the cafeteria and the kids were throwing food at him. Ben would just yell "Don't!" My heart broke. Cedar, (who was running an errand for her teacher), came and helped Ben go the office. The teacher could ask the class what they would have done (or could have done) to help him. this would be great for grades 6-8.

Contemporary Realistic Fiction - Wonder

Title: Wonder

Author: R.J. Palacio

The intended audience for the novel Wonder by R.J. Palacio is grades 5-8 and that is the age this novel would appeal to as well as adults. The novels strengths lie in the characters who exhibit self-acceptance, respect, family support, friendship, empathy and this is all bound together with humor. A weakness to consider would be that the main character does not seem to take his very serious health issues serious enough in an attempt to fit in. This would be a strong read for teaching empathy within your curriculum or to address the issue of bullying. As a bonus there is a 2017 film that could be used as a tie-in. This would be a strong addition to elementary and middle school libraries for its positive strengths and opportunities to support curriculum of grades 5-8.