The Lost Language
by Claudia Mills
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Description
Juvenile Fiction. Juvenile Literature. Poetry. The quest to save the words of a dying language-and to find the words to save what may be a dying friendship-lies at the heart of this exquisite verse novel. Sixth grader Betsy is the one who informs her best friend, Lizard, that thousands of the world's languages are currently threatened by extinction; Betsy's mother is a linguistics professor working frantically to study dying languages before they are lost forever. But it is Lizard who, show more gripped by the magnitude of this loss, challenges Betsy, "What if, instead of WRITING about dying languages, like your mom, you and I SAVED one instead?" As the girls embark on their quest to learn as much as possible of the near-extinct language of Guernesiais (spoken on the Isle of Guernsey, off the coast of France), their friendship faces unexpected strains. With Lizard increasingly obsessed with the language project, Betsy begins to seek greater independence from her controlling and charismatic friend, as well as from her controlling and charismatic mother. Then tragedy threatens Betsy's life beyond what any words can express, and Lizard does something unthinkable. Maybe lost friendships, like lost languages, can never be completely saved. show lessTags
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Member Reviews
This book is full of wonderfully imperfect characters. Lizard and Bumble's friendship will, at times, frustrate readers, but also likely resonate. Reading this book as an adult, I want to get a copy for my 9th graders. While the characters are younger, the story itself is transferrable and my high schoolers could certainly draw parallels to their own relationships and goals. Highly recommend!
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1,080 works; 4 members
Author Information
70 Works 4,470 Members
Claudia Mills is an American author of children's books. She is also an associate professor of philosophy at the University of Colorado Boulder. She has written several children's series including: Mason Dixon Series, Gus and Granpa Series, West Creek Middle School Seres, and Dinah Series. (Bowker Author Biography)
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Classifications
- Genres
- Poetry, Fiction and Literature, Tween, Kids, Children's Books
- DDC/MDS
- 813.00 — Literature & rhetoric American literature in English American fiction in English By type
- LCC
- PZ7 .M63963 .L — Language and Literature Fiction and juvenile belles lettres Fiction and juvenile belles lettres Juvenile belles lettres
- BISAC
Statistics
- Members
- 28
- Popularity
- 980,426
- Reviews
- 1
- Rating
- (4.13)
- Languages
- English
- Media
- Paper, Audiobook, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 4
- ASINs
- 1
