Language: G (0 swears 0 'f'); Mature Content: G; Violence: PG.
BUYING ADVISORY: EL, MS - ADVISABLE
AUDIENCE APPEAL: AVERAGE
11yo Gina has a hard time focusing at school. She's distracted by a lot - what's going on outside the window, the stories she hears from her grandmother in Italy, the fact that she has a hard time making friends. Antonio, the boy who just moved in next door is in her class - and he's popular, happy and nice, everyone wants to be his friend. Gina's homeroom teacher, Ms. Lightstone is innovative. With creative lessons, an inspiration board and a love for writing, she inspires the students to become writers themselves - and to learn about themselves and their classmates in the process.
While not plot driven, I enjoyed this internal study of Gina enjoying the process of becoming a writer. I really loved Ms. Lightstone's ideas (and wish I were still teaching ELA). The students shared their favorite book openers - source list included at the end, and also introduced each other to new words they could use to describe things they didn't even know there was a word for. A great read for the budding writers in your middle school.
11yo Gina has a hard time focusing at school. She's distracted by a lot - what's going on outside the window, the stories she hears from her grandmother in Italy, the fact that she has a hard time making friends. Antonio, the boy who just moved in next door is in her class - and he's popular, happy and nice, everyone wants to be his friend. Gina's homeroom teacher, Ms. Lightstone is innovative. With creative lessons, an inspiration board and a love for writing, she inspires the students to become writers themselves - and to learn about themselves and their classmates in the process.
While not plot driven, I enjoyed this internal study of Gina enjoying the process of becoming a writer. I really loved Ms. Lightstone's ideas (and wish I were still teaching ELA). The students shared their favorite book openers - source list included at the end, and also introduced each other to new words they could use to describe things they didn't even know there was a word for. A great read for the budding writers in your middle school.
Lisa Librarian
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