War! Fantasy! Special Needs! Chills & Thrills!

Funded Jan 30, 2022

My students were so excited to see the boxes of books arrive in my classroom! We unpacked them, numbered them and stacked them on our bookshelf. Since we already had our novels mapped out for the year, I read one of the new ones, "Rules" to the kids aloud. It is about a girl with a little brother that is autistic and how much time he takes from her parents. She struggles a bit in the book sharing her parents, worrying how he is going to cause problems with her friends, etc. In the end, she makes friends with another disabled boy her age at the Occupational Therapy clinic her brother goes to. It was really neat to see how her perspective changed after meeting him and introducing him to her friends.

My students were fully attentive while I read. I was worried they may not like it because it is a bit intense with feelings, etc. They all cheered aloud when I finished! They loved the book, and we were able to have a really nice conversation about being accepting of others no matter how they look or act and that it is really important to just say "Hi" to everyone you meet even if they do not have the ability to respond back.

I have read "The City of Ember", "Guest" and "The War that Saved my Life" before. I am really excited to introduce my new group of kids to these novels in the fall. Reading these books as a class will help to instill in them a desire to read more great books! Thank you so much for this donation to my room!”

With gratitude,

Mrs. Olson