Marvelous Middle Grade Monday
The Last Fifth Grade of Emerson Elementary (Wendy Lamb Books, 2016) by Laura Shovan is a different take on a novel in verse. In this book 18 kids are writing poems for a time capsule. Their school is scheduled to be torn down at the end of the year, and many of these fifth graders are not happy about that. The book covers the whole school year–what they try to save the school, friendships, and more.
I enjoyed the different way the kids approached their poems and learning about each kid’s personality from “their” writings. 18 kids is a lot to juggle, but soon I was recognizing who was who by what they said and their poetry style. I’m wondering if the variety of poems might inspire some readers to write their own poetry.
On the author’s blog Laura shares Poetry Friday entries. She tells the style of poem and what was behind writing it. Fun!