I appreciate what Diane Stanley is trying to accomplish with this book: What if the War on Terror escalates and our world is drastically changed? Rationing, attacks, fear, panic, etc. grip the nation and our leaders make some ugly choices. They treat people of Arab decent the same way people of Japanese decent were treated after Pearl Harbor. What would you do if they were going to take your friend away just because of where his parents were born? Would you be brave?

Now let me be cynical: An idealized hippie-agrarian family (the kids are named Mouse and Sky, they live off the grid without TV or computers, they practice some kind of humanist/pagan spiritualism that involves a lot of blessing of stuff) does what any saintly family would do during a crisis and rescues a young boy of Arab descent from racist, Arab-fearing government officials. Sky writes an essay about how messed up the country has become.

I like/don't like this book because it's message is so clear. It would be absolutely terrible to live in a country that openly punished people of a certain ethnicity. It takes a lot of courage to stand up for what's right when everyone is scared and the country is being attacked. The United States is not a perfect nation. Bad things could happen here. Have happened here.

This book is saved from being unbearably preachy by good writing and a fast-moving plot. I enjoyed reading it, even though I rolled my eyes more than once (it was mostly the perfection of Sky's parents that brought on the eye rolls). It would be a good choice for a book club this year or next, but I don't think it will have staying power. It's kind of a modern, speculative version of [b:Number the Stars|47281|Number the Stars|Lois Lowry|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1170346710s/47281.jpg|2677305]. The ending is totally open-ended, which is how a book taking on such a big topic manages to be so short. Often, I wished the author would do more showing and less telling. ( )

Imagine a future America: a nation at war and subjected to frequent acts of terrorism. Imagine a family already living “off the grid” on sixty acres outside a small town in New Mexico. Sky Brightman is just thirteen but she has courage and the example of her family. So when a fellow student is in danger, she and her family act quickly to help him, regardless of his background. This book is rated ages 10 and up. I found it a little preachy, but it’s a good message.
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Young Reader Reaction: Saving Sky offers an interesting premise, with moral questions definitely that are very relevant today. Sky is a good character, but sometimes her positive thinking and hope are a little overdone. The family's spirituality establishes Sky as a different student from the norm, which in turn justifies her reaction towards the incidents happening around her. I also liked Kareem, whose plight was very believable, as was the dilemma of being in a safe place but a world different than his own.

The message of help and kindness is very valuable. It shows how even a 7th grader can have a voice to speak against injustice. That said, the book tries to adapt a very complex subject to a teen audience. To me, the novel is about Sky's kindness, which could have come through without the charged background.

To read our full review, go to The Reading Tub®.

As an aspiring elementary teacher, I am always on the lookout for new books for the younger crowd. While this was an awesome read, I wouldn't recommend it for elementary. I think it hit a little too close to home seeing as how in some parts of the country there are such stereotypes with Middle Easterners. Since children are so impressionable, I wouldn't want any of them to read this book and have a bad view of people from that part of the world.

That being said, I would say that this is a good book for pre-teens. It held my attention and I found myself wanting to find out what happened after every single page. Sky was such a great character and her way of trying to do right was a great example for readers!

I picked this up from the "staff recommends" shelf while I was waiting for my Read-Aloud backpacks and read it during my docent shift: no investment of expectation or care. So whatever.

However. How do two young hippies own 60 acres near a national forest and Santa Fe on the income of a nurse and a farrier? If a mob stands by while innocent people are harassed in a store, why, six months later when the situation is worse, would an audience listen quietly to a child read something about those innocent people?

Spoiler about what-should-have-been:

The agents would have shot the dog to stop it running around with their keys in its mouth instead of chasing it like Keystone Kops.

A smaller question is why in children's books set now, or after now, are professional women addressed as "Mrs."?