Applegate, Katherine.  
HOME OF THE BRAVE
New York : Feiwel & Friends, 2007
IL 5-8, RL 4.3
ISBN 0312367651

Read opening verse:
When the flying boat
returns to earth at last,
I open my eyes
and gazed out the round window.
What is all the white? I whisper.
Where is all the world?

Discuss: what a flying boat might be and why the world has disappeared.

Say: Kek must quickly learn how to survive in this foreign environment.

Ask: Imagine if you had never seen snow. How might it feel to be surrounded by unfamiliar sights, including the snow that covers all of the earth? (This will help the children see America through unfamiliar eyes)

Describe: What do you think happens when Kek wants to help out his aunt by washing the dishes piling up in the sink? Well…Kek heard his cousin mention that the machine for washing was down in the basement. (This will introduce a funny, in a nails on a chalkboard sort of way, part of the story.)

Close: When you read this book, you will experience an immigrant’s view of America. You may feel like laughing or crying all while reading the same page. You may experience a new understanding of how it feels to be alone in a foreign world and then the joy of discovering a new life among the strangeness.   (Rhode Island Teen Book Awards, 2008-09)