Something Like Home by Andrea Beatriz Arango

Something Like Home by Andrea Beatriz Arango is a touching story about a 12 year old girl who has been separated from her parents by child services. It is also a Rhode Island Children's Book Nominee. As Laura tries to get used to living with her Aunt, we read along in simple verse structure about how lonely and sad she feels. 

Fortunately she makes a few friends that help her. She finds a puppy and brings him home with her. Will her aunt let her keep him? It's obvious that he needs love and Laura might be the perfect person to care for him. Sometimes caring for an animal helps us deal with our own overwhelming feelings.

By Mrs. Castro

The Eyes & the Impossible by Dave Eggers

The 2024 Newbery winner is The Eyes & the Impossible by Dave Eggers. I just finished reading it and it made me laugh out loud several times. If you like books about animals who converse like humans, you might enjoy reading this out loud to your class.

It's about an art loving dog and a bunch of his animal friends who live in a park. They have all kinds of adventures, but the main theme is that they need each other to work together and solve their problems. One scene has a group of raccoons trying to create a diversion as part of their plan. They attack one of the park ranger's vehicles and are jumping up and down on it to set the alarm off, and then urinating on it while standing on the roof. All while the humans are running around the car saying, "Oh my God!, Oh My God!, OH MY GOD! The raccoons have gone nuts!"

Also as a little perk, all "the illustrations are classical paintings by artists long departed".

By Mrs. Castro