Monday, January 15, 2018

Middle Grade Monday: The Last Fifth Grade of Emerson Elementary by Laura Shovan


The Last Fifth Grade of Emerson Elementary by Laura Shovan. 256 p. Random House Children's Books, April, 2016. 9780553521375.

Since I reviewed this for SLJ, it never appeared on my blog. I don't think that prohibits my recommending it for a Middle Grade Monday post.

Students who love verse novels or novels with multiple points-of-view will want to check out The Last Fifth Grade of Emerson Elementary by Laura Shovan. In this debut, 18 students in Ms. Hill's fifth grade class have been assigned the task of keeping a poetry journal. Their's is the last fifth grade to graduate and Ms. Hill wants to document their year. This diverse group of students bring distinct voices to their poems. They worry about a variety of things from the school's closing to one girl's mom's imminent deployment. They even ponder the possibility that their teacher may have been arrested for protesting the Vietnam war. Helpful backmatter includes an explanation of all the poetic forms used in the story.

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