I'm so excited that Dayna is old enough to read some great books. At the end of the year, we bought the "getting ready for 5th grade" set of books from her Scholastic book order. Looking over the titles, I thought she would enjoy these books more than the 4th grade books. There were a few that were unfamiliar to me, but we've had a lot of fun plowing through these books in different ways.
Island of the Blue Dolphins
We listened to this as an audiobook in the car while Dayna read along in the backseat. I thought I had read this as a child, but don't remember it at all. We both enjoyed the book. I'd say we liked it, but didn't love it.
One Crazy Summer
This book was unfamiliar to me. It was about three sisters who travel to visit their absent mom in Oakland, California. The year is 1968, and racial tensions were flying. This gave a matter-of-fact representation of the Black Panthers - really neither pro nor con. It didn't address riots, but spoke of other things the Panthers did during those days (like feeding breakfast to kids, offering summer programs, etc.) What was nice about the book was opening dialogue with Dayna about what life was like then. We've encouraged her to ask her grandparents a lot of questions. I read this one aloud to Dayna while she listened. We really liked this book.
Rules
Dayna read (inhaled, actually) this one on her own. I plan to read it soon. She LOVED this book. Dayna has developed a new compassion for kids who process the world differently, and this book was right up her alley. From the reviews I've read, it is somewhat similar to the book "Summer of the Swans" which I read at her age.
Tuck Everlasting
I'm reading this one aloud to Dayna. She seems to be enjoying it. We're about 2/3 of the way through right now. I'm looking forward to going through the book club questions with her at the end of the book.
Holes
Hands down favorite book of the summer! We listened to this one as an audiobook while Dayna read along. Dan insisted that we not listen to it without him. We sailed through this book in just a few days and celebrated with a family movie night last Friday. This has always been one of my favorites, and it was so exciting to see Dayna's reaction as the story unfolded.
Still to come:
We plan to get through the rest of the books on vacation, either by reading along with an audiobook, as a readaloud, or by reading simultaneously and discussing.
Bridge to Terabithia
I plan to spend a lot of time discussing this one with Dayna, especially after losing a friend this spring.
My Side of the Mountain
Esperanza Rising
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