Amy McCarthy McCarthy itibaren Lisna Tarnovytsya, Ivano-Frankivs'ka oblast, Ukrayna itibaren Lisna Tarnovytsya, Ivano-Frankivs'ka oblast, Ukrayna

This book was a great read aloud! The students were able to relate to how they've felt when their parents would make them clean their rooms. They also shared some of the tricks they use to get around doing it thoroughly. It was a hilarious discussion and led perfectly into a writing activity in which the children wrote about chores they have at home and what is expected from them. It was a blast!

I chose this book because it had been a lit circle book for my local library and I was not disappointed. The main character lives through a year of quarantine with the others in her village because the plague has come to visit and the populace does not want to unintentionally spread the deadly sickness. This is one of those books which shows the reader both sides of the human condition -- how good people can be as well as how evil they can turn. There is an autho's note at the end of the novel which says while visiting England, she came upon a plaque signifying a village whose inhabitants had done just this - to stay and not spread the plague. That marker haunted her until she created this fictionalized version of what she thought the people had gone through. I didn't love the ending of the book - but I also saw how the author led me there. This is a satisfying tale with a little something for everyone.