Take a photo of a barcode or cover
4.23 AVERAGE
4.23 AVERAGE
adventurous
emotional
funny
reflective
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
My first free verse novel. I think it was an interesting/good way to express Kek's story. I may have a greater appreciation for cows now.
I loved this novel in verse! Would pair well with A Long Walk to Water, as the main character is also a refugee from Sudan. Good coming-of-age in a new country themes for students.
Classroom library notes: completely clean, some extremely light mentions of violence in Sudan
Classroom library notes: completely clean, some extremely light mentions of violence in Sudan
I really loved reading this book for so many reasons. It is written in poetry verse and the main character shares his journey of living in two different worlds, being a Sudanese refugee that comes to Minnesota in the middle of the winter. The difficulty and beauty of knowing and loving two worlds, languages, and families is so wonderfully portrayed. At times I found the story almost too emotional to read through. I had to take a lot of breaks to process and let me heart heal a bit. I see so many of my students within these pages, and I can't wait to share with them the story in hopes that they find a connection and some words to put with their own story.
Page 29: "His voice was deep, like a storm coming, but gentle, like the rain ending."
Page 35: "It's a strange pain to be with those you belong to and feel you don't belong."
Page 39: "But the more home returns to me, the more I remember all I've lost."
Page 44: "This is a good land, he says. There's great freedom here. But even when you travel far, the ghosts don't stay behind. They follow you. You come here to make a new life, but the old life is still haunting you."
Page 73: "In my class, my long-name class called English-as-a-Second-Language, we are sixteen. Sixteen people with twelve ways of talking. When we talk at once we sound like the music class I can hear down the hall, hoots and squeaks and thuds, but no songs you can sing. I look at our faces and see all the colors of the earth - brown and pink and yellow and white and black - and yet we are all sitting at the same desks, wanting to learn the same things."
Page 148: "Of all the things I didn't know about America, this is the most amazing: I didn't know there would be so many tribes from all over the world. How could I have imagined the way they walk through the world side by side without fear, all free to gaze at the same sky with the same hopes?"
Page 185: "Like so many immigrants before you, I know you'll help make this country a better, stronger place."
Page 251: "Someday, you will find yourself adrift in a place where you feel you don't belong, with people who don't understand who you are. You'll feel alone and lost. And you'll be absolutely certain that you will never, ever belong to the world again. You don't have to be a refugee to feel lost. It happens because we are human, and because life has a way of changing the rules when we're not looking. But if your're lucky, someone will reach out a hand when you're most alone and say, 'I've been lost too. Let me help you find your way home.'"
Page 253: "I suspect we've become so accustomed to the America-as-melting-pot narrative that we've begun to forget its great power. We conduct acrimonious debates on who gets to come here, and who gets to stay. We've reduced a grand idea to quotas and legalisms. In the process, we forget about the real meaning of the grand statue in New York Harbor. We forget what it means to lose your home to war, to lose your family, your very identity. Can you think of anything more terrifying and courageous than redefining yourself from scratch? Today, tomorrow, sooner or later, you will meet someone who is lost, just as you yourself have been lost, and as you will be lost again someday. And when that happens, it is your duty to say, "I've been lost, too. Let me help you find your way home." Your duty yes, but your honor, too. And as you walk together, perhaps you can share a story or two. You'll be surprised at how different your tales are. But you will be even more surprised at how much they are the same. Fiction, it's been said, makes immigrants of us all. But it's just as true that fiction helps us find our place in the world."
Page 29: "His voice was deep, like a storm coming, but gentle, like the rain ending."
Page 35: "It's a strange pain to be with those you belong to and feel you don't belong."
Page 39: "But the more home returns to me, the more I remember all I've lost."
Page 44: "This is a good land, he says. There's great freedom here. But even when you travel far, the ghosts don't stay behind. They follow you. You come here to make a new life, but the old life is still haunting you."
Page 73: "In my class, my long-name class called English-as-a-Second-Language, we are sixteen. Sixteen people with twelve ways of talking. When we talk at once we sound like the music class I can hear down the hall, hoots and squeaks and thuds, but no songs you can sing. I look at our faces and see all the colors of the earth - brown and pink and yellow and white and black - and yet we are all sitting at the same desks, wanting to learn the same things."
Page 148: "Of all the things I didn't know about America, this is the most amazing: I didn't know there would be so many tribes from all over the world. How could I have imagined the way they walk through the world side by side without fear, all free to gaze at the same sky with the same hopes?"
Page 185: "Like so many immigrants before you, I know you'll help make this country a better, stronger place."
Page 251: "Someday, you will find yourself adrift in a place where you feel you don't belong, with people who don't understand who you are. You'll feel alone and lost. And you'll be absolutely certain that you will never, ever belong to the world again. You don't have to be a refugee to feel lost. It happens because we are human, and because life has a way of changing the rules when we're not looking. But if your're lucky, someone will reach out a hand when you're most alone and say, 'I've been lost too. Let me help you find your way home.'"
Page 253: "I suspect we've become so accustomed to the America-as-melting-pot narrative that we've begun to forget its great power. We conduct acrimonious debates on who gets to come here, and who gets to stay. We've reduced a grand idea to quotas and legalisms. In the process, we forget about the real meaning of the grand statue in New York Harbor. We forget what it means to lose your home to war, to lose your family, your very identity. Can you think of anything more terrifying and courageous than redefining yourself from scratch? Today, tomorrow, sooner or later, you will meet someone who is lost, just as you yourself have been lost, and as you will be lost again someday. And when that happens, it is your duty to say, "I've been lost, too. Let me help you find your way home." Your duty yes, but your honor, too. And as you walk together, perhaps you can share a story or two. You'll be surprised at how different your tales are. But you will be even more surprised at how much they are the same. Fiction, it's been said, makes immigrants of us all. But it's just as true that fiction helps us find our place in the world."
Following conflict in Sudan which killed his dad and brother, Kek comes to Minnesota. He slowly adjusts to life in the United States as he awaits news of his mother's fate.
I can't believe I waited so long to read this book. It's beautiful and wonderful and still incredibly relevant 10 years later. I'm so glad we decided to include this as a lit discussion option for 5th graders!
Great book with a very strong, yet gentle main character. As a refuge from Sudan, a young boy adjusts to living in the United States. This is told in free verse so it flows along at a fast clip. The story is compelling and tugged at my heart.
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Sweet story that I hope my students read again after A Long Walk to Water.
I loved the innocent child's eye view of life as an immigrant. Kek is so hopeful and resourceful that you can't help but love him and Applegate's writing is the perfect mix of eloquent and awkward that lets the reader into the unique and often confusing process of coming to a new country and making it home.
I liked the choice to write the story as a first-person epic free verse poem. It gives Applegate freedom as she tries on Kek's voice. You'll fall in love with the youngest characters and ask plenty of questions about why our world is the way it is now. I am reading it with my 5th grade students. They are loving hearing it aloud so far....