Somebody Somewhere Knows My Name (First Person)

By Linda Lowery

Grace describes what happens when she and her little brother are abandoned by their mother and stay at an emergency shelter for children. This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Library Binding
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0876149468
• Release Date: January 1995
• Publisher: Carolrhoda Books
• Length: 40 Pages
• Weight: 0.70 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.3" x 0.5" x 7.3"

Customer Reviews

What a Springboard for a Writing Assignment and Empathy

I read the book to my middle school classes and then had them fill in an "I AM" writing assignment I picked up at a writing conference. There are 18 2-word sentence starters. The kids were to choose to be one of the four characters in the story and write from that point of view. The papers are some of the best I have ever gotten out any English class. Boys wrote with the most emotion that I have ever seen. The book also lends itself to the dicussion of abandonment and foster care, of which I am a foster mother myself. It was great to see these kids feel the character they chose, and express thoughts "beyond the print", a Six Traits of Writing Program phrase for an advanced skill in reading. I teach remedial kids all day long, and this book captured them. I never showed them the pictures so they could see the characters in their own minds. They understood how the tail lights of the car looked liked mean red eyes as it sped away.Asking the kids if they could fit all of their possessions in a shopping bag gave many a real cause for pause. It was a real story for kids to relate to. The next day, we made a Valentine gift for their moms. I had the best week of this year because I took a chance and jused this book. It is a must for caseworkers and foster parents.