Fourth Grade Journey

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

Thursday, July 18, 2019

We're Not From Here by Geoff Rodkey

How I Heard About It:  A couple of my online reading friends both recommended this middle-grade novel as a book I should look into.  I grabbed it from my TBR pile and began the reading.  


What It Is About - FIVE Things You Need to Know:  
1.  *Life on Earth has become uninhabitable and a group of humans have spent the last year on planet Mars.  

2.  *After a period of time, the humans realize their time on Mars is coming to an end and they must find somewhere else to live.  

3.  *A group of people, decide to make a journey to a new planet called Choom.

4.  Once on Choom, there are four members of a family that are allowed to enter their planet and live among the three different groups of "aliens".  

5.  The two children in the family must adjust to their new school and way of life while keeping their family safe and able to live on Choom.  


What I Thought Of It - Five Observations/Reflections:
1.  *I'm not normally a fan of science fiction, but I must say that I enjoyed this story.  

2.  *It was a fascinating concept that humans weren't able to live on Earth anymore, have lived on Mars for a portion of time, and now must relocate to a brand "new" planet.  

3.  *The theme of immigrants and being a refugee was woven throughout the story, but in a very subtle way.  

4.  *The way the children had to adjust and navigate their way in school and society was brilliantly written and showed the reader how difficult it is to live in a new world.  

5.  *To be honest, I did get a bit confused on the different aliens, their names, and characteristics.  I got to a point where I didn't worry about these details and enjoyed the story.  


Who Should Read It:    After a great conversation with fellow readers, we decided this novel would be best suited for, and understood, by readers in fifth and/or sixth grade.  There are a lot of themes that could be discussed with this age group.  The book could also be used with middle-school readers.  Happy Reading!  


Rating:   4 STARS out of 5 Stars!

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