Some of My Favorite Books

Thank you, Mr. Falker is an autobiographical book written by Patricia Polacco.This story honors the teacher that took time to see Polacco as a child that was drowning in school and needed help. Mr. Falker was her hero and teacher that helped her overcome the bullying she was receiving from another student and he got a reading specialist to help her learn to read. Polacco says the following: "To this day, I remember the first day that words on a page had meaning to me...Mr. Falker had reached into the most lonely darkness and pulled me into the bright sunlight and sat me on a shooting star. I shall never forget him...so this book was written both to honor Mr. Falker, but also warn young people that mean words have a terrible power...and that they should do all that they can to see that teasing stops at their school."

In a rainbow-colored station wagon that smelled like a real car, the relatives came. When they arrived, they hugged and hugged from the kitchen to the front room. All summer they tended the garden and ate up all the strawberries and melons. They plucked banjos and strummed guitars. When they finally had to leave, they were sad, but not for long. They all knew they would be together next summer.

Laura's wish for a special friend is answered one night when a bright, sparkling star falls to the ground outside her bedroom window. She repairs the broken star and tells it all of her secrets as she drifts off to sleep. The next morning Laura cannot find the star anywhere. Was the wonderful little star only a dream? That night she trudges back to her bedroom, opens the door and the star was back just where she'd left it, shining like a thousand diamonds. While Laura is happy to have her friend back, she realizes she must find a way to return her new friend to the sky for the star to continue to shine brightly and listen to her secrets. Laura's simple, unselfish solution to the little star's dilemma is heartwarming and indicative of something only a true friend would do.





Twelve-year-old Matt is left on his own in the Maine wilderness while his father leaves to bring the rest of the family to their new settlement. When he befriends Attean, an Indian chief’s grandson, he is invited to join the Beaver tribe and move north. Should Matt abandon his hopes of ever seeing his family again and go on to a new life?