Booktalks Quick and Simple

	Bauer, Joan. ALMOST HOME New York : Viking, 2012 IL 5-8, RL 3.7 ISBN 0670012890 (3 booktalks)
Click on the book to read Amazon reviews	Booktalk #1 Meet 12 year old Sugar Mae Cole. She is a character you won’t soon forget. She is given a small dog who she has decided to train as a helper dog. But Sugar is the one who is going to need all the help she can get. Her grandfather dies and her father abandons Sugar and her mother who are now homeless. But Sugar keeps looking on the bright side even as her mother suffers a breakdown that leaves Sugar in foster care. All Sugar has left is her dog Shush. Is that enough to get her through all of this? Booktalk #2 Sixth grader Sugar Mae Cole struggles to keep her spirits high when life starts to unravel. Her mom can no longer cope and her gambling dad has disappeared. Once the family home has been lost, Sugar’s mom uproots her to Chicago chasing phantom jobs and sinking into depression. As life continues to spiral, Sugar clings to her cherished rescue dog, Shush as they end up in a shelter.Will the homeless duo stay together once they enter foster care? Will Sugar’s mom recover? With each step taken are they almost home? (New Hampshire Great Stone Face Book Award nominee, 2015) Booktalk #3 Sometimes you just need a fresh start. That’s what her mama tells twelve-year-old Sugar as they move to Chicago. Sugar’s grandfather has died and her gambling daddy has disappeared once again. Unfortunately, things don’t go as planned and Sugar finds herself alone in the strange city after her mother suffers a mental breakdown. Well, maybe not quite alone... she does have Shush, a rescued dog that she hides in her bag. Together Sugar and Shush face each day and learn that while you can’t control the breaks life hands you, you can control how you respond. (South Carolina Children's Book Award nominee, 2015 Prepared by: Cynthia Collins, Dewey L. Carter Elementary School, ccollins@fsd1.org)
	SUBJECTS: Homeless persons -- Fiction. Mothers and daughters -- Fiction.

Bauer, Joan.
ALMOST HOME
New York : Viking, 2012
IL 5-8, RL 3.7
ISBN 0670012890

(3 booktalks)

Click on the book to read Amazon reviews

Booktalk #1

Meet 12 year old Sugar Mae Cole. She is a character you won’t soon forget. She is given a small dog who she has decided to train as a helper dog. But Sugar is the one who is going to need all the help she can get. Her grandfather dies and her father abandons Sugar and her mother who are now homeless. But Sugar keeps looking on the bright side even as her mother suffers a breakdown that leaves Sugar in foster care. All Sugar has left is her dog Shush. Is that enough to get her through all of this?

Booktalk #2

Sixth grader Sugar Mae Cole struggles to keep her spirits high when life starts to unravel. Her mom can no longer cope and her gambling dad has disappeared. Once the family home has been lost, Sugar’s mom uproots her to Chicago chasing phantom jobs and sinking into depression. As life continues to spiral, Sugar clings to her cherished rescue dog, Shush as they end up in a shelter.Will the homeless duo stay together once they enter foster care? Will Sugar’s mom recover? With each step taken are they almost home?

(New Hampshire Great Stone Face Book Award nominee, 2015)

Booktalk #3

Sometimes you just need a fresh start. That’s what her mama tells twelve-year-old Sugar as they move to Chicago. Sugar’s grandfather has died and her gambling daddy has disappeared once again. Unfortunately, things don’t go as planned and Sugar finds herself alone in the strange city after her mother suffers a mental breakdown. Well, maybe not quite alone... she does have Shush, a rescued dog that she hides in her bag. Together Sugar and Shush face each day and learn that while you can’t control the breaks life hands you, you can control how you respond. (South Carolina Children's Book Award nominee, 2015 Prepared by: Cynthia Collins, Dewey L. Carter Elementary School, ccollins@fsd1.org)

SUBJECTS: Homeless persons -- Fiction.
Mothers and daughters -- Fiction.