Fourth Grade Journey

A Fourth Grade Teacher's Journey Through the World of Books

Friday, December 26, 2014

One Came Home by Amy Timberlake...

How I Heard About It:  While attending the Nonfiction workshop presented by Donalyn Miller here in the Twin Cities, she mentioned this book when talking about pairing a nonfiction text with a fiction novel.  I of course wrote down the title.  After the workshop I went to the Scholastic Warehouse sale and saw this book on the shelf.  It was meant to be!

What It Is About:  The year is 1871 and the setting is Palcid, Wisconsin.  Georgie is thirteen years old and her family received news that her older sister has been found dead.  Georgie isn't so sure that this news is correct, and decides to take matters into her own hands and find out the real truth.  With the help, and sometimes no help at all, of Billy (her sister's former boyfriend) they set off on a journey across Wisconsin to find out what really happened to her sister.  During the journey, Georgie finds out many things about her sister's life before she left town with both Billy and another older gentleman.  She wants to find her sister, the truth, and make sure that both she and Billy make it back home safe and sound.    

What I Thought Of It:  I was quite excited to read this novel both because Donalyn recommended it and I had seen the title mentioned once or twice on Twitter.  I enjoyed the novel.  The start up of the story was a bit slow for my taste, but picked up once Georgie began her journey.  She was a strong character and I was glad that story was told from her point of view.  I don't normally read historical fiction, but found this story to be quite interesting to enjoyable to read.  

Who Should Read It:  Even though this novel was written for readers in grades five and above, I'm not sure fifth or sixth graders would gravitate toward this story.  If you have a reader that is interested in historical events and/or historical fiction, then they may enjoy this book.  I think it is more geared toward middle-school readers, high school readers, or even adult readers.  Not only is the story great, but the historical events about "passenger pigeons" was fascinating to read about.  Happy Reading...

Rating:  4 STARS out of 5 Stars




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