Archive for Loss

The Last Fifth Grade of Emerson Elementary

Written by Laura Shovan

The accolades just keep coming for Shovan’s debut novel, and it’s easy to see why. She combines a compelling story with the novel-in-verse form skillfully and with a lot of feeling. Each of the eighteen classmates tells a view of the impending school closing and what the school means to them. They do this through assigned poems written during the fictional school year. From the boy suffering with the looming loss of his beloved grandfather to the girl who prefers to write in Spanish, each kid has a personal story to tell. Katie likes green toenails. Norah likes her blue hijab. But not all of the kids want the school to stay open. And all express themselves eloquently in their poems.

As an educator, Shovan outlines all the poetic forms used by the students and gives a brief look at how to use poetry. She also gives lots of advice on how to write your own poetry. A valuable resource for exploring the forms, this book should have an honored place in classrooms. While this is certainly not the first novel-in-verse, it does a lot to promote the form and show its flexibility. Kids will want to see how the story plays out and whether they can save the school. 

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  • fifth-gradeTitle: The Last Fifth Grade of Emerson Elementary  
  • Author: Laura Shovan
  • Published: Wendy Lamb Books, 2016
  • Reviewer: Sue Poduska
  • Format: Hardcover, 256 pages
  • Grade Level: 3 to 7
  • Genre: Middle grade, Fiction, Poetry
  • ISBN: 978-0-553-52137-5
  • Extras: A Closer Look at the Poems in this Book, From the Fifth Grade Prompt Jar, Glossary

Nest

Written by Esther Ehrlich

This is a great addition to recent literature for fourth graders and up. Chirp is a happy fifth grader who loves her dancer mother and is trying to figure out her psychiatrist father. Her home is shattered when her mother is diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. Mom doesn’t react well. Chirp tries to keep a positive attitude, but Mom goes into a deep depression and needs to be hospitalized. All is seemingly better when, three months later, Mom returns home. Mom can’t handle all the changes and commits suicide. Chirp and her neighbor, Joey, who is suffering abuse at the hands of his father, take off from Cape Cod to Boston. Chirp has known happier times in Boston, riding the swan boats with Mom.

Though Nest is set in 1972, it deals with a lot of issues that may be confronting kids these days. The author does a great job of dealing with the issues from the viewpoint of an eleven-year-old without losing the fact that those around her also have feelings. An added bonus is Chirp’s ornithological knowledge. She often identifies birds by their song or by the way they build their nests. When her mother dies, she builds her own little nest in her bedroom. Through much of the book, the reader can’t help but be drawn in by Chirp’s optimistic outlook.

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  • NestTitle: Nest
  • Author: Esther Ehrlich
  • Publisher: Random House Children’s Books, 2014
  • Reviewer: Sue Poduska
  • Format: Hardcover, 336 pages
  • Genre: Historical istorical Fiction, Loss, Social issues
  • ISBN: 978-0-385-38608-8
  • Grade level: 4 to 6