Birney, Betty G.
SEVEN WONDERS OF SASSAFRAS SPRINGS
New York : Atheneum Books for Young Readers, 2005.
IL 3-6, RL 5.1
ISBN 0689871368

(2 booktalks)

With his nose always in a book, Eben is always dreaming of faraway places and the wonders of the world.  But here his is.  Stuck in Sassafras Springs, Missourri in 1923.  There is surely not anything wonderful here.  Tired of hearing Eben complaining, his father challenges him to really look around him.  If he can find seven wonders in Sassafras Springs in one week, his father will buy him a train ticket to visit relatives in Colorado.  But this is Sassafras Springs!  There is no way Eben will find anything unusual here.  Or is he just not looking hard enough?

Booktalk #2

Eben McAllister can’t wait to get away from his boring town of  Sassafras Springs. As he ponders a way out, he can only dream of what lays beyond the town borders. It’s hopeless, at least that’s the way it seems, until a challenge from an unlikely source comes his way.  Eben must discover seven wonders of Sassafras Springs to earn a plane ticket out.  Is it really that simple? Will he earn that plane ride? Can he even find seven wonders?  Follow Eben’s adventures as he tries to discover if seven wonders can really exist in such a small town.  (New Hampshire Great Stone Face 2007)