My daughter read it and barely made it through due to the dog situation (tissue alert– nobody dies, but…), so that may bump it off the list. One of the hot books this year in teacher circles is Fish in a Tree by Lynda Mullaly Hunt I thought Rain Reign was better.

There are many books available right now that feature characters with a learning difference of some kind.

Other books that I would consider to be a hidden gem and are possibilities for next year are: Since I witness so many students asking for help before even attempting to start something new or unfamiliar, a character like Sarah is a great role model.

Sarah independently overcomes obstacles, and while she has supportive parents, Sarah is the one who takes action. Through her creativity and problem solving skills, she starts a bread business out of the house and solves many of her family’s problems. The story takes place during the Great Depression and centers on Sarah Puckett, a girl who won a blue ribbon at the 4-H fair for her homemade bread. I have yet to have a student who has read this book prior to entering my class, but I always have students who come back and tell me it was the best book they read in the fourth grade. The one book that will definitely stay is The Bread Winner by Arvella Whitmore (not to be confused by The Breadwinner by Deborah Ellis). This week, I have been assessing my bookshelf and determining what will stay and what will go next year. I do reteach favorite books from year to year, but I always rotate one or two out of the line up. My goal every year is to find high interest books that no student in the class has read– yet. An acceptable purchase, useful for an integrated curriculum.Even though the end of the school year is nowhere in sight, I am already considering books to teach my students next year. Despite the stilted dialogue, oversimplification, lack of development, and some unlikely events, Sarah is a strong female protagonist and the well-structured story fast paced, while Whitmore's evocation of the period allows readers to share the desperation of hard-working, decent people. With indomitable courage, she overcomes all obstacles (bullies, a thief, a skeptical landlord), and finally-returning from his fruitless trip-her father joins Sarah and her mother in their successful venture. Meanwhile, neither parent can find work Sarah's father leaves to search elsewhere and the situation is critical until Sarah discovers that she can sell her prize-winning bread.

Sarah's initial excitement about the move evaporates as reality and neighborhood toughs destroy her naive fantasies about town living. It's 1932, the depths of the Depression 12-year-old Sarah's parents have lost their midwestern farm and are living in a shack in a small nearby town.

The bread winner arvella whitmore