Greg Howard (2)

diverse children's middlegrade fiction (magical realism, 10/11-year old boy who likes boys in South Carolina #ownvoices). The trauma of the death of his mother (cancer) leads Riley to believe she is still out there, and that the Whispers (will-o-the-wisps) can help him find her and bring her back.
He makes friends along the way with Dylan, an older boy whose abusive father has caused him to run away, and a grizzly outcast that lives in the woods away from the townsfolk (who believe him responsible for a small boy's disappearance many years ago), and also comes to terms with his own self (when he suddenly remembers that his mom didn't die because he is queer, that she told him she loved him unconditionally).

nice vocab sprinkled throughout--the 'word of the day' calendar was something he used to do with his mom.… (mehr)

Riley, the main character of the story believes in this fairy tale known as whispers from these magical fairies, in the story we found out that they also grant wishes if you give them tributes. Riley makes wishes in the story to stop being bullied, wishes his crush liked him, and wishes he would stop wetting the bed, and for his mom to come home who disappeared. As riley starts to want to investigate further what is going on and where his mother is he takes matters into his own hands and embarks on a journey to figure this out. In doing this his life changes forever. This book is a good book to implement into an ELAR classroom because one it is a chapter book that it is a good read, but it also is very relatable for the students. Students go through bullying, wanting their crush to like them, and wish weird things like wetting the bed won’t happen to them. This is a fun read and would be very relatable for any 4-8 student.… (mehr)