Teachers as Readers

2011 State Conference

Teachers as Readers Session

Book Selections: When You Reach Me and Mockingbird

    Take some time to read these two books before coming to the NCRA conference and join in on our Teachers as Readers discussion session there. The authors of our 2010-2011 Teachers as Readers selections both worked as lawyers before turning to writing as a profession.  Another similarity is that When You Reach Me and Mockingbird each feature a classic favorite book around which the plot revolves. Friendship is also a central theme in both books. However, the plots of these two fiction titles are delightfully different. 

    Rebecca Stead’s Newbery winner, When You Reach Me, is a unique story set in 1970s New York City. Miranda’s mom has been selected as a contestant on the TV game show, $20,000 Pyramid.  Miranda helps coach her mom through chapters with titles that are categories from the show.

    Science fiction standard, A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle, is the main character’s favorite book. Miranda grows as she faces challenges in her relationships with others in and out of sixth grade.

    Mockingbird by Kathryn Erskine is a National Book Award winner. References to Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird stem from Caitlin’s dead brother, the victim of a tragic school shooting.

    Erskine takes the reader into the mind of Caitlin, a talented fifth grader with Asperger’s syndrome. She must learn to deal with her grief and navigate the school social scene to make friends there.

    Reading When You Reach Me and Mockingbird may lead to rereading A Wrinkle in Time and To Kill a Mocking bird. Put these two classics on your reading list, too!

How to Organize a Teachers As Readers Group