Two of my goals for summer are to read more middle grade books and to write more blog posts. So, I’m going to combine the two and a feature a new middle grade book each week. This will also help keep me accountable. When I wrote my Top Ten Tuesday post this week, I included five middle grade books that I planned on reading this summer. It wasn’t until after I posted that I remembered that there was another book I had to read first. At the end of the year, one of my students gave me (and all of her other teachers) a book for our classroom libraries that she had read with her mom and enjoyed. The week before one of my friends had asked my opinion on an end of year gift for her kids’ teachers. My response was that I wished more students would give me books. Granted, it’s not easy for anyone, including close friends and family, to pick out a book for me because I have so many. But, I love the idea of students sharing books they love for the classroom. I loved this book for so many reasons, it was a great start for my middle grade posts. My Storied Year is somewhat obscure, as it only had 92 ratings on Goodreads. So, I don’t know if I would’ve found it otherwise.
Summary
Dragon (yes, that’s his real name) is a seventh-grader with dyslexia and a slew of problems at home. He spends most of his time at school trying to fly under the radar, except when he can’t control his frustration and lashes out. But, seventh grade is different. The assistant principal tries to help him find ways to cope instead of just punishing him. Then, his English teacher hooks her students as writers by having them share stories. She is such a good writer and storyteller that he can’t hide his interest for long. He slowly begins sharing more with his classmates and finds he actually likes writing.
My thoughts
One of my biggest complaints about books set in schools is that you can tell the author is writing about their own experience at school, which may have been decades ago. Proctor is a teacher, and it shows. This felt like a contemporary school. The way Mrs. Parkman talks about writing from small moments, is a lesson I’ve given myself. The staff obviously has some understanding social emotional learning and has some awareness of why Dragon acts out and how to help him. Without actually saying it, you can tell that Dragon is in classes with special education support, since the same kids are traveling together, but other kids are sometimes added. I could pick out so many of my students in these characters.
Taking away my teacher mindset, as a reader it was just a great story. This a quick read that is intended for young readers, which they will be able to relate to their own lives. However, it still deals with adult themes like the importance of connections and the effects of trauma. It touches on these themes in a way that is accessible to kids. So many times, the books we pick out for students are the books we think they should like from our adult perspective. This meets them at their level. I highly recommend it.
Rating