Back again...

Not having internet connection is in my list of things that drive me c-r-a-z-y!! The timing of this couldn't have been worse! the 48 Hour Reading Challenge was going on and I started my last class at OSU! I needed internet really badly for both things! Anyways...things happen. Moving on. 

On a brighter note, let me tell you about this book that I absolutely enjoyed! Let me introduce you to Home of the Brave by Katherine Applegate. Meet Kek a young boy from Sudan arriving to the United States to join his aunt's family in Minnesota.  Told in free verse style , this is his story of survival since he saw his brother and dad getting killed. But the story is so much more than that: his feelings of lost, despair, guilt, excitement...a mixed of feelings between the world he left behind in the Refugee camp and his new life in the United States. In his ESL class, Kek found a community, and a support system while he is learning English. 

Kek tells his story and it is impossible not to care for this boy. He feels real. He feels like so many of my students. The author, Katherine Applegate, did an amazing job capturing Kek's impressions of life in the United States. I highly recommend this book to everyone working with English language learners and students who are refugees in the USA.  Be prepare to laugh and cry. Trust me.