  | What I came to tell you Author: Hays, Tommy | |
| Price: $6.50 | ||
Summary:
A boy finds solace in his art and community after his mother dies and his father retreats into himself.
Download a Teacher's Guide
| Accelerated Reader Information: Interest Level: MG Reading Level: 5.00 Points: 11.0 Quiz: 161354 | Reading Counts Information: Interest Level: 6-8 Reading Level: 4.70 Points: 17.0 Quiz: 62323 | |
Common Core Standards
Grade 5 → Reading → RL Literature → Texts Illustrating the Complexity, Quality, & Rang
Grade 5 → Reading → RL Literature → 5.RL Key Ideas & Details
Grade 5 → Reading → RL Literature → 5.RL Integration & Knowledge of Ideas
Grade 6 → Reading → RL Literature → 6.RL Key Ideas & Details
Grade 6 → Reading → RL Literature → 6.RL Integration of Knowledge & Ideas
Grade 6 → Reading → RL Literature → 6.RL Range of Reading & Level of Text Complexity
Reviews:
Kirkus Reviews (07/15/13)
School Library Journal (11/01/13)
Booklist (09/01/13)
The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books (+) (00/10/13)
Full Text Reviews:
Booklist - 09/01/2013 When Grover’s mom died in a terrible accident, it shattered his family. His sister, Sudie, cries all the time; his dad puts all his energy into his job as the director of the Thomas Wolfe house; and the only thing Grover wants to do is make beautiful weavings out of leaves, branches, and bamboo in the canebrake. As he spends more time there, creating bigger and bigger tapestries, his grades slip, his friends become distant, and his father understands him less and less. Luckily, when a new family—also missing a parent—moves in across the street, Grover and his father learn how to share their grief and help each other move forward. Hays’ story is filled with touching honesty and youthful wisdom, all of which help undergird Grover’s own discovery of the healing power of family, love, and art. Although the Thomas Wolfe references will likely be lost on its intended audience, the book's quiet story of a young boy experiencing a tragic loss and learning how to live life in spite of it is nonetheless moving. - Copyright 2013 Booklist.
School Library Journal - 11/01/2013 Gr 5–8—Devastated by the accidental death of his mother, 12-year-old Grover looks to his 10-year-old sister, Sudie; intriguing new neighbors; and his own artistic talents for relief from his anguish. This moving, but often heavy-handed novel describes Grover's journey through rage and pain to a peaceful state of acceptance. His father is a workaholic and his sister also struggles with her grief. Grover, at first withdrawn and sullen, soon falls for the girl next door, just as his father develops feelings for the girl's widowed mother. Set in Asheville, North Carolina, the story has a pleasing Southern flavor, and the author includes details about the city's most famous resident, novelist Thomas Wolfe. Grover's father doesn't appreciate his son's talent for creating pieces of art out of bamboo. However, when the bamboo forest is threatened, Grover's friends and family rally to save his artistic endeavors. A budding romance and an almost-fatal fire move the book along, as do other, quieter events. Grover finds out more about the accident that killed his mother and begins to stop blaming himself. The characters are sympathetic, especially Grover and Sudie, but the happily-ever-after ending stretches credibility, and the story is not especially subtle or unique in its treatment of death and loss. Nonetheless, this well-written novel will appeal to readers with artistic or literary leanings, or those with a fondness for Southern settings.—Miranda Doyle, Lake Oswego School District, OR - Copyright 2013 Publishers Weekly, Library Journal and/or School Library Journal used with permission.
