I have tried to post this but I don't think I succeeded.
I received an overwhelming number of responses to my question about the
appropriateness of this book for elementary school. So I am going to
summarize most of them. Most of the people who wrote me had read the
book and thought it was great, but not appropriate for elementary (and
some felt that it was not appropriate to middle school either... one
person had to restrict it at the high school level.)
Some people who wrote thought the book might be okay for fifth graders,
or that the content might go over the heads of younger readers. A few
people loved it and felt it was appropriate, based on the community
they were serving.
And one person had the following response:
Kids absolutely need fiction vehicles to begin to
understand the affects of abuse in its many forms - without being
graphic. It is around all of us and shows up in very strange ways. Any
one of them could have a friend suffering and they have no way to
understand the strange behavior - and I speak from personal experience.
My HS son and I had to report a stepdad - talk about traumatic. When we
were younger, no one knew about these things - they weren't talked
about. Sadly, we need to talk about them to minimize their frequency.
Sorry for the soapbox. Kids do love the book - which seems warped. But
it holds strong story and emotion, and is fiction so they can handle it.
It is not graphic.
Thank you everyone for your input. It will help me in making this
decision.
--
Kirsten Kowalewski
Media Specialist, Waldron Elementary School
Waldron, IN
kkowalewski@shelbyeastern.org
"Outside of a dog, a book is man's best friend. Inside of a dog, it's
too dark to read."
-Groucho Marx
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