Kristine L. Franklin (1958–2023)

Bobbie Lynn's father is serving in Vietnam, and her mentally ill mother gets so anxious and depressed that she is completely incapable of being a parent. Bobbie Lynn and her brother believe they must hide the truth from the world - caring for their mother and themselves, so they won't be taken away. The burden is slightly eased for Bobbie Lynn by making a new, and somewhat eccentric, friend at school, who has a severely mentally handicapped sister. Wendy and her family are just what the show more struggling girl needs. But inevitably, the burden becomes too much for the two children, and the truth comes out.
Good book about trying to carry a burden that is too great to bear, and the need of allowing others to help you when you are in need. show less

Age Appropriateness: Intermediate and Middle School
Genre: Poetry
Media: Photographs
Review:
This story is a collection of little poetical compositions by children in poverty in Guatemala, who write about their homes and all that goes on in their daily lives. This makes the story a wonderful window into Guatemala and the injustice, and tragedies that occur. A photographer once went to Guatemala to document poverty, and he ended up getting attached to the children so he set up a program where the show more students could take pictures, sell them, and make enough profit to attend school.
The poetry is not as sound as that of a famous poet, but one cannot expect perfection from children who have had little schooling. These children have taken pictures and were able to put their thoughts,ideas and feelings to paper. They were expressing themselves: both their triumphs and struggles.

Point of View:
The point of view is first person because the children are writing stories about their lives in Guatemala. This allows the development of feelings to fester for the children, and the reader can feel the emotions flowing as well. show less

Living up in the north woods, Perry Dubois and his dad don't see other people much. Perry's dad likes it that way, and Perry is getting used to it, too. So when Willow Pestalozzi and her large family move in nearby, Perry is not all that happy about it. For starters, Willow and her sisters ask too many nosy questions. Like, why doesn't Perry go to school? And where's his mom? And how does it feel to be an only child? But even though the Pestalozzis remind Perry of everything he wants to show more forget, he can't help being drawn to the generous warmth of their family. Kristine L. Franklin sends a bolt to your heart in an extraordinary novel that reveals how learning to laugh again also means being able, at last, to cry. show less

Some SPOILERS: Set in Roslyn, WA. Slava Petrovich is a 7th grader in a Croatian family. His older brothers Matt and Joey work in the mines to support their widowed mother. Mine work is the money-maker for much of the town. One night Slava witnesses Matt and Joey confronting the man that was courting their sister Mary. The man dies when he falls and hits his head against a wall. Turns out the man has bootlegger connections and Matt and Joey could be in real trouble. One day Matt and Joey are show more gone, to pursue work in logging further west. Slava, his mother and younger brother Phillip struggle to keep the home afloat. Slava loves school but realizes he may have to leave it to work and support the family. When Phillip becomes seriously ill and loses his hearing, Slava realizes the burden on him to support the family especially now that Matt and Joey have married. He decides to jump the grape train to California with his friends as Matt and Joey did and find better-paying work. But jumping the train isn't a decision that Slava is comfortable with and he jumps off to return to Roslyn. All ends up well when Father Duval announces that Slava has earned a full scholarship to St. Martin's Academy. show less