The Way to Bea by Kat Yeh

Quotable Quotes

"But then I guess you never really know what happens next.  You can only do the best you can while you're in the moment."

"...the more you walk down a path, the more you start to feel that you can probably handle whatever it is you find at the end."

"...don't think being scared should stop you from something--big and important."

"...it's not worth it to be with people who make you feel like you can't say what you want to say.  Or be the way you want to be."

"You can't wait for someone who isn't going to be there for you."

"...every path is as new as the day you walk it."

"I'm the only one who gets to walk my path..."

Recommended for anyone who has ever felt left behind or different or unseen or human

When Bea finds herself losing her friend group, she retreats and questions everything about herself.  As the new poetry director of the school newspaper, she meets new people and discovers that maybe, just maybe, she is enough, just by being her true self.

This story...these characters...I know these characters...they walk through the doorway of my classroom every single day.  The Beas who suddenly find themselves on the outskirts of friendships they've had "forever", trying to figure out what happened, what went wrong, and how to repair it.  The Briggs filled with positivity and light and energy--willing to help and stand up and be themselves.  The Wills never quite fitting in, staying in their own world, sensitive to everything and everyone around them.  The S's feeling pulled between two worlds and not really being sure where they belong, trying to circumnavigate many different roles, losing themselves.

The Way to Bea by Kat Yeh is a true mirror to children--no, not just children--humans everywhere.  I see so much of myself in Bea.  In elementary school, I went to a different school EVERY year--with each move, I had to decide who and how I was going to be--sometimes I could just be my quirky, strange self; other times I became someone whom I didn't recognize.  How many of us as adults still struggle with this???

Thank you, Kat Yeh, for your honesty and beautiful words.  I can't wait to put this into the hands of the Beas, Briggs, Wills, and S's of the world.

Now, if you will excuse me, I need to go download a few songs from Bea's playlist. Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes...

A Whisper of Horses by Zillah Bethell

Before I begin raving about this book, I must first share a little information about how I came to know about it.  I will start off my saying that Dan Gemeinhart has somehow become my fourth grade classes' "spirit animal" this year.  After reading Some Kind of Courage aloud to my students, they have become somewhat obsessed with him.  At least once a week someone asks me if I have heard whether or not Some Kind of Courage is going to be made into a movie or have a sequel AND when he will write more books (I have since added both The Honest Truth and Scar Island to my classroom library, AND we are not so patiently awaiting Good Dog).  With every writing minilesson I present, students refer to Dan Gemeinhart's writing as "perfect examples" of the concept--no matter what the concept seems to be.  With all this being said, when I saw a Twitter recommendation for this book by him, I knew I had to add it to my collection.  To say I was not disappointed is an understatement.

Recommended for those who enjoy stories of dystopia, adventure, and friendship

A Whisper of Horses by Zillah Bethell is a dystopian novel written for middle grades.  Serendipity lives in a walled city where people have been separated into very unequal classes.  When Seren's mom dies, she finds herself in possession of a map that she believes shows the last place on earth where horses still exist.  Her journey to find this place is an adventure that introduces Seren to new places, new people, and may just help her find her place in the world.

The cast of characters in this book are so well developed that they lingered with me even when the book was closed, and I continued to wonder about them after the final page.  Ms. Bethell has accomplished something truly amazing in that even though the main character is a girl, both boys and girls will want to read this book (I can testify to this based on what is going on in my classroom).

It is quite difficult for me to believe that this is Ms. Bethell's first children's book.  What a fresh voice for children's literature!

P.S.  I have already purchased her next book, The Extraordinary Colors of Auden Dare.