Latest reads

Hi,
I have some new titles to share with you. I wonder if you have already read them as sometimes I am a bit behind some of you and then again some of you are behind me. Funny, how reading books works out that way. The Letter Writer by Ann Rinaldi was very engaging. It put a human face on the Nat Turner uprising. Told from the perspective of a young lady who was living on a plantation with her dad's ex-wife ( not her mother) she befriends Nat Turner and unwittingly gives him critical information. Rinaldi is an excellent writer and I think this book shows off her talents very well. I also finished Return to Sender. This book also brings a human face to the story, but this story is current realistic fiction. Return to Sender is about illegal migrant workers from Mexico. Several different sides to this story are presented through the eyes of the youngsters who are living this story. Using alternate chapters, the author uses a young farm boy and a young Mexican girl whose family is working his family's farm. His father has suffered a heart attack and is in danger of losing the farm without workers wiling to work the fields. Numerous events occur in this book which strength the relationships between the white family and the migrant workers. This is such a hot topic in the news right now so this book could spark some excellent pro/con discussions. Both these books are from my readings for my multicultural grant work. Both will be part of our workshop at ODU next month. I hope some of you will come over and check out our extensive book collection. ODU is the Southeastern Regional Examination Center so publishers send wonderful books to the Learning Resource Center. I have been very busy reading as many as I can. Next I will share some of the picture book titles with you.