If there is a thread that runs through the Dart, Arrow, and Boomerang issues this month, it is moving and the change that comes with it! Whether a penguin, a fox, or a young girl, a change of scenery often means adjusting to a new way of life.
As we explore the grammar, punctuation, spelling, and literary devices that make stories move, we’ll experience adjusting to a new environment right alongside our protagonists.
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Mr. Popper’s Penguins, Richard Atwater
Mr. Popper’s Penguins was first published in 1938. Author Richard Atwater, a newspaper columnist and one-time classics instructor, began writing the novel until serious illness forced him to stop. His wife, Florence, finished the story. Together they have created a whimsical tale that has a serious, conservationist ending, as Mr. Popper realizes the penguins must be returned to their natural habitat. Award-winning illustrator Robert Lawson provides the elegant, pen-and-ink illustrations.…
A classic of American humor, the adventures of a house painter and his brood of high-stepping penguins have delighted children for generations. ~Scholastic
Get the Dart.
Purchase the novel here.
Pax, Sara Pennypacker
From bestselling and award-winning author Sara Pennypacker comes a beautifully wrought, utterly compelling novel about the powerful relationship between a boy and his fox. Pax is destined to become a classic, beloved for generations to come.
Pax and Peter have been inseparable ever since Peter rescued him as a kit. But one day, the unimaginable happens: Peter’s dad enlists in the military and makes him return the fox to the wild.
At his grandfather’s house, three hundred miles away from home, Peter knows he isn’t where he should be—with Pax. He strikes out on his own despite the encroaching war, spurred by love, loyalty, and grief, to be reunited with his fox.
Meanwhile Pax, steadfastly waiting for his boy, embarks on adventures and discoveries of his own… ~Amazon
Get the Arrow.
Purchase the novel here.
Other Words for Home, Jasmine Warga
Jude never thought she’d be leaving her beloved older brother and father behind, all the way across the ocean in Syria. But when things in her hometown start becoming volatile, Jude and her mother are sent to live in Cincinnati with relatives.
At first, everything in America seems too fast and too loud. The American movies that Jude has always loved haven’t quite prepared her for starting school in the US—and her new label of “Middle Eastern,” an identity she’s never known before.
But this life also brings unexpected surprises—there are new friends, a whole new family, and a school musical that Jude might just try out for. Maybe America, too, is a place where Jude can be seen as she really is.
This lyrical, life-affirming story is about losing and finding home and, most importantly, finding yourself. ~Amazon
Get the Boomerang.
Purchase the novel here.
