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Book Review: Dreamland (YA edition)
by Sam Quinones
Publication Date: July 16, 2019
read courtesy of netgalley.com
You know how there are One School, One Book or One City, One Book campaigns? Well, Dreamland (YA edition) by Sam Quinones should be a candidate for One Country, One Book. It's that good and that meaningful. I'm going to try to find a way to get as many people as I can at my high school to read this.
Quinones does an amazing job of clearly explaining a vast amount of research, of pulling all of the information together in a hugely accessible manner. Quinones has reinforced my already-existing tendency to question everything - which under some circumstances can be quite annoying, but in this instance is well justified. From a worldwide organization to the smallest home towns, Quinones pieced together the story of an epidemic.
Quinones addresses the metamorphosis of communities, societies, people, families, borders, industries, professions, and policies all under the influence of opioids. The author smoothly discusses the human effects as well as the business prowess associated with OxyContin and heroin. The confluence of events that created the perfect storm of addiction and death is astonishing, and Quinones provided a way for everyone to understand how it happened... and unfortunately is still happening.
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED as an independent read or as a curriculum connection in a psychology, sociology, economics, marketing, biology, or health class.
by Sam Quinones
Publication Date: July 16, 2019
read courtesy of netgalley.com
You know how there are One School, One Book or One City, One Book campaigns? Well, Dreamland (YA edition) by Sam Quinones should be a candidate for One Country, One Book. It's that good and that meaningful. I'm going to try to find a way to get as many people as I can at my high school to read this.
Quinones does an amazing job of clearly explaining a vast amount of research, of pulling all of the information together in a hugely accessible manner. Quinones has reinforced my already-existing tendency to question everything - which under some circumstances can be quite annoying, but in this instance is well justified. From a worldwide organization to the smallest home towns, Quinones pieced together the story of an epidemic.
Quinones addresses the metamorphosis of communities, societies, people, families, borders, industries, professions, and policies all under the influence of opioids. The author smoothly discusses the human effects as well as the business prowess associated with OxyContin and heroin. The confluence of events that created the perfect storm of addiction and death is astonishing, and Quinones provided a way for everyone to understand how it happened... and unfortunately is still happening.
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED as an independent read or as a curriculum connection in a psychology, sociology, economics, marketing, biology, or health class.
Chasing Tail Lights by Patrick JonesMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
Patrick Jones has such a way with his characters in this book! Christy is now sixteen but she alternates the chapters with dates in her life. Christy has many issues and low self-esteem. She lives in Flint, Michigan in a rundown school, poverty stricken town, and a shattered household. Christy is best friends with Anne but Anne knows nothing of her life, because Christy is afraid if she knew, she wouldn't be her friend. Christy doesn't want any attention so being friends with out loud Anne is great for Christy. Christy loves her truck driver dad but he dies very early on in the story and she is left with her brother Mitchell (she loves him), little cousin Bree (she is Robert's daughter and Christy loves her). Christy really has three brothers: Robert is in jail, Mitchell and Ryan. Robert and Ryan are her half brothers, different fathers from each other, and from Christy and Mitchell. There is no evidence of Christy's dad but her alcoholic mother's room is loaded with pictures of Ryan's dad, who didn't stick around. Christy's mom favors Ryan and as a result Ryan terrorizes Christy and Mitchell and makes everything their fault. Christy doesn't feel like anyone cares about her and it is Jones' characterization of Christy as lonely, shy, and who feels like a loser who slowly, achingly overcomes a life of neglect to take control, think of adults as counselors who will help her, and confide some of her "secrets" that really spoke to me as I read this book. I haven't even mentioned Tyrell, but you need to read this book to find out about this character who sticks by Christy and offers her a ray of hope. Reluctant readers will love this book, as well as Harris' other books. His honesty about teen life is compelling and not soon forgotten.
View all my reviews
Girl on the Run
by Abigail Johnson
Pub Date: 06 Oct 2020
Read courtesy of netgalley.com
LOVED IT! Is there such a thing as a 6 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐review?
Fast paced and tight, I read this book in an afternoon. I was engaged by the characters and the plot. I enjoyed being able to anticipate where things were going or where they had come from. I sometimes get frustrated trying to follow a thriller's flow of information, and I sometimes think the authors do it on purpose for some kind of gotcha. Abigail Johnson didn't confuse me, purposefully or not. She allowed the readers to explore both with the characters and to make suppositions on their own without making the readers feel duped or slow-witted.
Recommend this book to readers who like Amazon's Hanna.
As an aside, it did help that I grew up and worked near the story's setting; although, the geography itself could have been anywhere with regards to the story. It was just fun for me to read of places I know: Bridgeton, Cheltenham, Perkasie, Elkins Park, etc.
I can't wait to put this in to my high school readers' hands.
Book Review: Nowhere on Earth by Nick Lake
Pub Date: 26 May 2020
Read courtesy of http://netgalley.com
One word: derivative.
First, though, this book didn't know what it wanted to be. It felt easy to read, but right off the bat (chapter 1, paragraph 1) the author threw in "big words," which could easily turn off the reluctant reader who might have otherwise found this a highly accessible book.
Second, I honestly do not know if my high schoolers like reading stories where the teenage protagonist (Emily) is smarter than the adults, but I personally dislike that as a plot method. Yes, teenagers mostly do think they are smarter than their parents, but to make that the premise of a book, as if the teen is a superhero and the parents are clueless, gets old.
OK, back to "derivative." Quite early in the story I felt like I was reading E.T., the Extra-terrestrial. This feeling resurfaced often. Then the Men in Black reference was repeated (and repeated) throughout the book. Then the plane crash was like Hatchet. I even got a hint of Star Wars with a line that sounded like, "These are not the droids you are looking for." Then a little bit of Star Trek was thrown in with their "prime directive"; Aidan couldn't interfere with the Earth's history. I hit my limit when Aidan's departure mimicked E.T.'s "I'll be right here" and I pictured the author thinking, "Queue E.T.s glowing finger." That wasn't the last unoriginal reference, though; the goodbye scene with Emily and Aidan turned into the intro from The Big Bang Theory.
I found the author's descriptions of Emily's father to be inconsistent in that his personality didn't match his character in the end. Throughout she describe him as "all military precision and attention," "Emily's dad had many useful things in his backpack - that was his style...," "...her dad, sticking to the logic of the story," "She was still averting her eyes. Her dad would see her lies in an instant, if he looked into them," "...her dad said needlessly, and Emily realized something else: this was how he dealt with stress. By trying to understand, to analyze," and "That was Emily's dad: no need to discuss what kind of message, or how, or anything irrelevant like that. Pure focus on the plan." Then at the end,
There was an awkward silence, and then they laughed. They tried not to talk too much about the time after the plane crash - he parents told themselves a story abut it, that they'd been in a rush to get to civilization, but Emily could tell they only partially believed it, and that the best way for them to reconcile the events with the kind of people they understood themselves to be was to not think about it.
To be fair, there were some positives. The author obviously took a great deal of thought into making Aidan's character's abilities consistent and plausible. That's a real plus, since the story wouldn't have worked at all without this being tight and dependable. I was also pleasantly surprised at how clever the author had Emily be at the end with the man in the gray suit, playing like she knew as much as her parents did about the events that occurred.
However, I think the author did more thinking about how he could mix ET with Agent J or Spock than he did about making an original and absorbing story. <2 stars>
Untold Mayhem (audiobook version)
by Mark Tullius
Pub Date: 27 May 2020
I LoveLOVED this shory story collection by Mark Tullius. I listened to it as a recorded book, and the narrators were all appropriate for the stories they read. Very talented group! It's is difficult to end a short story, and the author didn't miss a beat; every story was solid. I'm not sure how appropriate it all is for my 9th and 10 graders, but the 11th and 12th graders will devour it. (And if the youngers want to read it, then let them; it's quality storytelling.)
I think because it isn't my usual fare, I really enjoyed the twists, turns, surprises, and unnerving gore.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
School Library Information and Technology Programs for 21st Century Learning
Mission: To ensure that students are effective users and producers of information and ideas
Three essential functions of Teacher-Librarians:
- Information and Technology Literacy Instruction
- Reading Advocacy
- Information Management and Services
The scope and mix of these functions will depend on the program priorities and goals of each local school district and school building.
- Information and technology literacy instruction
- Leads information literacy instruction including evaluation and analysis of the credibility, relevance and currency of information
- Coaches instructional staff in support of curriculum, information technology and information management
- Teaches students to be critical consumers and producers of information
- Teaches students and staff to use emerging learning technologies for school and lifelong learning
- Teaches students to be safe, ethical and responsible digital citizens
- Reading advocacy
- Establishes and models a powerful, fashionable and ubiquitous culture of reading in the school community
- Motivates and guides students to read for enjoyment and understanding
- Develops a relevant collection of fiction and non-fiction in a variety of formats, ensuring quality reading choices for all students
- Manages resources in support of established curriculum and student passions
- Information management and services
- Provides open and equitable access to resources, technology and information services for the entire school community
- Develops and administers inviting and effective physical and digital library environments
- Manages resources to support teaching and learning
- Administers information management systems to support student learning and school and district programs
Program framework development group (January, 2010):
Secondary Level
- Marianne Hunter, NTCB (North Thurston S.D.)
- Stephen Coker (Rainier S.D.)
- Sarah Applegate, NTCB (North Thurston S.D.)
- Mark Ray (Vancouver S.D.)
- Roz Thompson (Tumwater S.D.)
Middle Level
- Linda Collins (University Place S.D.)
- Linda King (Yakima S.D.)
- Leigh Lohrasbi (Yakima S.D.)
- Nancy Mowat, NBCT (Bellevue S.D.)
Elementary Level
- Dave Sonnen (Edmonds S.D.)
- Wayne Osborn, NBCT (Clover Park S.D.)
- Laura Berry, NBCT (Issaquah S.D.)
- Steve Goodwin (Edmonds S.D.)
Higher Education
- Mike Eisenberg (University of Washington)
- John Marino (University of Washington)
- Betty Marcoux (University of Washington)
- Lorraine Bruce (University of Washington)
- Christie Kaaland (Antioch University)
With additional contributions from Lisa Layera Brunkan, Washington Coalition for School Libraries and Information Technology and Colet Bartow, Montana Office of Public Instruction.
Leap of Faith by Anne Schraff
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
This is the first book I have read in the Urban Underground series. For reluctant readers, this book revolves around Ernesto who is a junior at Cesar Chavez High School and wants to run for Senior Class President. Ernesto is a good kid who goes out of his way to help others. He has been shown this example by his father who goes into the barrio and talks dropouts into returning to school. One day there is a robbery and Ernesto sees a hooded, tatooed guy he knows as Cruz Lopez who hangs around Paul Gonzales. He mentions to Paul his suspicions and Paul makes Ernesto promise to keep it to himself about what he saw because Paul is convinced Cruz would never do something like this. While Ernesto is trying to run his campaign, he still worries Cruz could have been involved in the robbery, as well as stopping rumors that Clay started to hurt his election. Ernesto has a great girlfriend in Naomi, and good friends and a supportive family. Students will enjoy the characters in this slim novel and Ernesto's quest to represent his class.
View all my reviews
Smashwords - School Libraries: What's Now, What's Next, What's Yet to Come - A book by Kristin Fontichiaro via kwout
Dear Colleagues,
On behalf of the over 50 authors who contributed to School Libraries: What’s Now, What’s Next, What’s Yet to Come, we are delighted to announce that our crowdsourced eBook is now available for free download!
http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/96705
We hope you will enjoy downloading and reading these diverse perspectives on where school libraries are and what school librarians are doing to redefine, stretch, and expand traditional services.
Please feel free to share this link with your colleagues, administrators, professional and union organizations, Board of Education members, and more. Help us spread the word and build the conversation about the possibilities of school libraries!
We have it available for free download in three formats:
- PDF for those who want to read it on a desktop/laptop
- .mobi for those who want to read it on Kindle software or a Kindle device
- .epub for those who would like to read it on Adobe Digital Editions software, iBooks, Sony Reader, the Bluefire Reader app, Nook, and most other eReaders
While you can find the eBook on Smashwords now; in about 2-6 weeks, Smashwords will send it out to the major eBookstores (including Apple’s iBookstore, Barnes and Noble, Sony Bookstore, and others, although Amazon is in negotations) for free distribution.
With deep thanks,
The Authors of School Libraries: What’s Now, What’s Next, What Comes After
Editors:
Kristin Fontichiaro, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI
Buffy Hamilton, Creekview High School, Canton, GA
Foreword:
R. David Lankes, Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY
Photographs:
Diane Cordell, Retired Teacher Librarian, Queensbury, NY
Contributors:
Kelly Ahlfeld, Mettawee Community School, West Pawlet, VT
Diane Erica Aretz-Kernahan, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI
Emilia Askari, Living Textbook Project, McCollough Unis School, Dearborn, MI
Kathleen Atkin, Louis Riel School Division, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
Robert Baigent, National Library of New Zealand, Auckland, New Zealand
Susan D. Ballard, Consultant and Simmons College, Boston, MA
Angela Washington-Blair, Emmett J. Conrad High School, Dallas, TX
Dan Bowen, ICT Learning and Teaching Consultant, Surrey, England, UK
Holli Buchter, St. Vrain Valley School District, Longmont, CO
Jennifer Branch, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
Len Bryan, Cedar Ridge High School, Round Rock, TX
Jennifer Colby, School of Information, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI
Diane Cordell, Retired Teacher Librarian, Queensbury, NY
William Cross, Copyright and Digital Scholarship Center, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC
Meg Donhauser, Hunterdon Central Regional High School, Flemington, NJ
Joanne de Groot, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
Stacy Dillon, LREI - Little Red School House and Elisabeth Irwin High School, New York, NY
Andrea Dolloff, Ethical Cultural Fieldston School, New York, NY
Meg Donhauser, Hunterdon Central Regional High School, Flemington, NJ
Laura Fleming, Cherry Hill School, River Edge, NJ
Lorna Flynn, American International School in Cyprus, Nicosia, Cyprus
Elizabeth Friese, University of Georgia,Athens, GA
Rachel Goldberg, East Middle School, Plymouth, MI
Beth Gourley, Western Academy of Beijing, Beijing, China
Dorcas Hand, Annunciation Orthodox School, Houston, TX
Alida Hanson, School Library Teacher Program, Simmons College GSLIS, Boston, MA
Violet H. Harada, University of Hawaii, Honolulu, HI
Heather Hersey, Lakeside School, Seattle, WA
Valerie Hill, Ethridge Elementary School, The Colony, TX, and Texas Woman’s University School of Library and Information Studies, Denton, TX
Kimberly Hirsh, Butner-Stem Middle School, Butner, NC, and G. C. Hawley Middle School, Creedmoor, NC
Shannon Hyman, Byrd Middle School, Henrico, VA
Pamela Jackson, East Wake High School, Wendell, NC
Melissa P. Johnston, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY
Jesse Karp, LREI - Little Red School House and Elisabeth Irwin High School, New York, NY
Sara Kelley-Mudie, The Forman School, Litchfield, CT
Tricia Kuon, Sam Houston State University, Huntsville, TX
Neil Krasnoff, New Tech High School at A. Maceo Smith, Dallas, TX
Jennifer LaGarde, New Hanover County Schools, Wilmington, NC
Teri S. Lesesne, Sam Houston State University, Huntsville, TX
Margaret Lincoln, Lakeview School District, Battle Creek, MI
Kate MacMillan, Napa Valley USD, Napa Valley, CA (see also Chap. 9)
Adrienne Matteson, White River Elementary, Noblesville, IN
Kathleen McBroom, Dearborn Public Schools, Dearborn, MI
Walter McKenzie, ASCD, Alexandria, VA
David Meyer, TMC Furniture, Ann Arbor, MI
Ben Mondloch, Cherry Lake Publishing, Ann Arbor, MI
Leslie L. Morgan, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN
Cathy Jo Nelson, Dorman High School, Spartanburg District 6 Schools, Roebuck, SC
Beverley Rannow, Otsego Public Schools, Otsego, MI
Howard Rheingold, UC Berkeley, Stanford University, San Francisco Bay Area, CA
Nikki D. Robertson, Auburn High School, Auburn, AL
Daniella Smith, University of North Texas, Denton, Texas
Evan St. Lifer, Scholastic Library Publishing, Danbury, CT
Jennifer Stanbro, South Portland School Department, South Portland, ME
Caitlin Stansell, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI
Jeff Stanzler, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI
Carolyn Jo Starkey, Buckhorn High School, New Market, AL
Wendy Steadman Stephens, Buckhorn High School, New Market, AL
Michael Stephens, San Jose State University, San Jose, CA
Linda Straube, New Trier High School, Winnetka, IL
Cathy Stutzman, Hunterdon Central Regional High School, Flemington, NJ
Mega Subramaniam, University of Maryland, College Park, MD
Margaret Sullivan, Smith Systems, Plano, TX (see also Chap. 6)
Joyce Kasman Valenza, Springfield Township High School, Erdenheim, PA
Karen Villegas, Grosse Pointe North High School, Grosse Pointe, MI
Jeanna Walker, Portage Public Schools, Portage, MI
Donna Watt, Invercargill City Libraries, Invercargill, New Zealand
Holly Weimar, Sam Houston State University, Huntsville, TX
Senga White, James Hargest College, Invercargill, New Zealand
Erin Drankwalter Wyatt, Highland Middle School, Libertyville, IL
Amanda Yaklin, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI
Alice Yucht, Retired/rewired Teacher-Librarian, NJ
Marci Zane, Hunterdon Central Regional High School, Flemington, NJ
PS - Want to create a Smashwords book of your own? We recommend the Smashwords Style Guide (http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/52).
It ain't easy being green....
Finding Kermit was the inspiration for one of the first Internet Search Challenges created by Dr. Carl Heine. The task is to track down a picture of Kermit ready for graduation in the least amount of time.Many teachers use this as a whole class lab activity. Put up a search challenge and then it's off the races! This game is live, just click Google to start the timer.Book Review: Moonrise by Sarah Crossan
courtesy of www.netgalley.com
publish date: May 8, 2018
Sarah Crossan brought me into a world I don't think I'll ever encounter in my own life, but she brought me into it nonetheless. Great job helping me to be a part of someone else's life, especially when I'd have no understanding otherwise.
What it is like having your older brother on death row, having a family that can barely take care of itself, having the seesaw conviction of unconditional love with others telling you to forget about your brother... mix in a great [unexpected] plot twist... creates a story full of sympathy, doubt, and life.
I really enjoyed Crossan's writing style; it helped with the rhythm of the story and with the personalities of the characters. Not quite prose paragraphs and not quite verse novel, the format added motion and emotion to the narrative.
I read this right before I read, The Hate U Give, and Moonrise is it's own unique tale, not derivative or redundant, and it provides a great addition to the repertoire of life stories I never would encounter without the aide of Angie Thomas or Sarah Crossan.
I can see this book working for a YA book club, especially because of the moral issues tackled: death sentence, race, poverty, family, and addiction.
I'm looking forward to having this book in my high school library.
Tuesday, June 30, 2009 12:30pm–3:30pm
Gateway to hundreds of free online resources focused on 21st Century Information Fluency.
- Digital Information Fluency (DIF) is the ability to find, evaluate and use digital information effectively, efficiently and ethically.
Internet Search Challenges - Evaluation Games
6 online learning games that teach evaluation skills. Multiple levels. NETS alignment!
Information Fluency Evaluation Kit. Online resources for evaluating author, publisher, bias, links, date, evidence, and accuracy.
- Evaluating Digital Information
Part Five of the series Five Things Today's Digital Generation Cannot do (and what you can do to help) discusses how searchers have to invent their own evaluation standards because schools are not teaching them.
- Teacher's Guide: Personalized Evaluation Searches
How to use Rollyo, Swiki and Google Co-op to create personalized search engines for safe Web page evaluation practice at all grade levels.
- Teacher's Guide to Action Zone Evaluation Games
Recommended uses for the Bad Apple and Use It! or Lose It! online evaluation games in this Kit, including tips and answers.
- IMSA Evaluation Wizard
How to use our Evaluation Wizard to assess how students evaluate what they find online. (The Evaluation wizard is a 10 step online guide to investigating websites.)
Evaluating Digital Information: Introduction, Research, Resources
In depth article on evaluation of digital resources by Dr. Carl Heine.
- Every school administrator wants to maintain a safe distance between objectionable material and impressionable students. Blocking students from potential contact with sexual predators and other mal-information is absolutely well-intended. However, blocking sites does not help students think critically about the quality of the information they retrieve or prepare them for the real world of information they encounter outside of school.
- Teachers may contribute to the problem by introducing filters of their own into learning experiences. In practice, it works like this: a teacher wants her class to access digital information, so she conducts a search ahead of time and selects web pages she finds credible and appropriate. Students then engage in a Web quest using pages or sites that have approved content. Aside from the intended benefits of the exercise, the students have missed an opportunity to learn skills in searching and evaluating that they need in the 21st century.
- Our research suggests that students who search for digital information are better able to judge its credibility than students who are handed information. In a pilot study, over 100 middle school students were given a question and three relevant web pages for answering it. Two of these pages were credible. The success rate for answering the question using relevant information was 73% when the task involved reading the three pre-selected pages.
Workshop Resources: Assessing Information Fluency
Guided tours of 21CIF resources perfect for workshop presentations. This is a series of webslide style sets of pages that detail 'Speculative Searching" and "Investigative Searching".
MicroModule: Checking the accuracy of information found on a webpage.
A one page overview of how to check the accuracy of information. Includes a link to an online learning game to help learn essential concepts.
Try this interactive micromodule companion for a hands on experience in determining the accuracy of web-based information. Test your skills at:
- finding embedded evidence
- checking evidence for accuracy
- triangulation of data
Information Fluency Newsletter
Low volume, high content free newsletter to keep you posted about new resources and developments from 21cif.
- Subscribe to our free email newsletter and receive periodic updates about 21CIF including professional development opportunities and new resources.
Just wanted to share our very easy end-of-year display case idea. Our seniors look forward to this all year.
We put out boxes of index cards and art supplies. Each senior decorates a card with his or her plans for next year. They go crazy competing to create the very best index cards--school colors, mascots, all sorts of images. We cluster them. (For instance, all the Penn State cards go together. All the military cards go together.) This year we photocopied their 9th grade pics from the yearbook and put them next to the cards. Put a couple of seniors in charge and the board goes up in no time!
Folks start gathering around the board as soon as the first cards go up.
Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie PerkinsMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
I loved this book! A great romance, coming of age in a foreign country, and the theme of belonging resonated with me and I think teen girls will enjoy the Anna, Etienne St. Claire, Toph, Bridget, Josh and Rashmi, and Meredith dynamics. Both Anna and Etienne have problems with their dads; Anna's dad decides to send her to a Paris boarding school when she would really rather stay in Atlanta with her best friend, Bridget. and her blossoming romance with Toph. After taking 3 years of Spanish, Anna really feels like an outsider. Meredith makes her feel a part of their crowd from day one and Anna begins to feel "at home" thanks to her friendship with Meredith, Josh and Rashmi, but it Etienne she is drawn to and he seems to always sit next to her, make her laugh and get her out to see Paris, the movies, and the eateries ---even though he does have a serious girl friend, Ellie. It is when Etienne finds out his mom has cancer, when Anna and Etienne are the only ones spending Thanksgiving at the boarding school that Anna really begins to believe they have a chance at romance. I really enjoyed Anna's love of movies (it was great knowing all the great old movies) and she reviews them on her blog. Perkins has a way of creating so much harmony between Etienne and Anna, but then she does an even better job of creating lots of tension. I couldn't stop reading, I wanted to find out if they were ever going to have that KISS!
View all my reviews
All the Broken Pieces by Ann E. BurgMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
Another great first novel! This slim novel in verse uses spare words with such force. Little Matt Pin left Vietnam, been adopted by a loving family but he has nightmares and secrets he hides from everyone. He left behind a birth mother in Vietnam, an American soldier father he never knew and a little brother. In America, he continues to learn about his heritage, but he does not see the beauty and bright colors of Vietnam, only "choking dust, smoke and death"--and aching for his mother and brother left behind. He lives in a big home with parents and a little brother he loves very much, but he is still unsure if they will want to keep him once they know his secrets. His father has practiced throwing pitches with him and Matt wins one of the coveted spots on the team. Some of his team mates resent him because of his heritage. He is bullied and threatened, but he tells no one. Matt also likes to play the piano and his teacher, Jeff, is a friend of Matt's dad. It is Jeff and Matt's dad who bring him to Vietnam veterans meetings and Matt begins to realize many things he did not understand ad the soldiers tell their stories; that his mother loved him and that is why she saved him, that the soldiers made a difference by saving and transporting Vietnamese children to the United States. Once Matt tells his family about his fears, Matt comes to terms with his culture, himself and begins to look forward enjoying his new life, knowing he will one day look for his birth mother and brother with his family. A sad, hopeful novel that teaches us about the Vietname war and how it affected the soldiers, their families, and those left behind in Vietnam.
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