When the Ground is Hard for me!

 So I don't know how to blog BUT I do know how to read!  Being pushed through each book was great this year.  Some books I really was reading just because they were handed to me for each round.  A few stand out as books that I  would read again or pass on to others.  Memorable.

"Fighting Words" was a book I simply had to get through.  Not that I didn't find myself caring about the main characters; I did.  The problem I have with it, is that it is far too similar to the exact life of a student of mine. I pictured HER reading it....and rather than finding comfort in it, thought of her being triggered and reminded and catapulted back through some very tough experiences.  That was enough for me to NOT select it. 

"Clap When you Land" (after taking a few chapters to figure out that it was two girls speaking), was an interesting story.  I don't mind reading the story in verse form.  It caught my attention towards the end.  I found I was hoping the sisters would be able to begin a life somehow and offer support for one another going forward.  However, when I was done it, I though "ok good book" but not one I would put on the top of a pile of good books.  I could have it ON my shelf but it wouldn't be the one I'd keep passing around.

The winner for me of the books left standing is "When the Ground is Hard".  I love the relevance to so many issues and struggles today in our culture, American culture...and yet it was set in neither of those places.  Kind of reframes the pain of issues we face here as one that people face around the world...not just in North America.  I was cheering for Adele the whole way through as she battled gender, race, economic, religious, age, etc etc issues.  I love that she had deep stories, deep roots, deep connections to where she came from and that she was brave enough to make her own future.  THIS is a book I would pass on to students or even just friends looking for something different to read.  Piles of good quotes throughout the book too!  I need my own copy to reread so I can dogear the pages and underline quotes that I loved!

Melanie from Sweet Grass