Goodbye Stranger

I was so very thrilled to be able to read an advanced copy of Goodbye Stranger by Rebecca Stead. She is one of my favorite authors to book talk to my sixth graders. Both When You Reach Me and Liar and Spy  are among my favorite titles. This book did not disappoint!



This novel contains two seperate stories. The reader is led back and forth between these two tales. I enjoyed how the narration was completely different from each. The first one, told over most of a school year, is of three best friends trying to make their way through seventh grade while keeping their friendship intact. They face new friends, new interests that are different from one another, gossip, boys, teachers, and issues with technology and privacy. The other story occurs on a single day of a high school girl's life. It is a flashback of events and interactions she has had with friends as she tries to avoid being discovered for skipping school on Valentine's Day. The two stories come to a surprising connection at the end.

This story addresses the very real issue teens face right now about technology and how to communicate correctly with friends and classmates. One wrong choice can be shared with hundreds now with a quick click. It also addresses the idea of "fri-enemies" and subtle bullying that can occur in middle school. Stead handles these topics with sensitivity and age appropriateness that I applaud.

I love Rebecca Stead's surprise story twists she uses for her endings and this story was no different. I knew, from my life as a reader, that these two stories would collide at the end but I could not for the life of me figure out who the high school girl was and how she would be connected to the story of the three middle school girls. Once again, as she did with both of her other two novels, I was surprised and delighted to see the way this story unfolded. Stead is a true master of story telling!

I look forward to sharing this story with students in the future! My only regret is I was only able to secure a digital early copy and therefore will struggle with how to share it with my students before it's release. The novel is set for release on August 4th of this year.   I recommend this story for all middle school readers.

Themes of family, friendship/bullying, choices teens make, and forgiveness would pair this story well with Flipped, Twerp, Because of Mr. Terupt, or Smile

Death By Toilet Paper

Check out this cover!



Who doesn't see the humor in toilet paper? Death by toilet paper? Funny, right? Wrong...
Quickly readers realize that Benjamin has had some loss in his life. Ben and his mom are left struggling emotionally and financially after the death of his father. Ben feels the weight of their financial struggles and vows to do whatever he can to help them keep their apartment, the last place they shared memories with his dad.
I loved this read. I wanted to find Benjamin and hug him at the end of each chapter. Maybe not from death, but there are LOTS of students who need this book...need to see that there are other families and kids struggling financially. I was instantly in love with and rooting for Benjamin to succeed with his plans to make money for the family.
**Similiar books, for themes, might be: Circa Now, Hold Fast, and Counting By 7's.