Booktalks Quick and Simple

	Braden, Ann. THE BENEFITS OF BEING AN OCTOPUS New York : Sky Pony, 2018 IL 5-8 ISBN: 978-1510737488 (3 booktalks)
Click on the book to read Amazon reviews	Booktalk #1 Seventh-grader Zoey has her hands full as she takes care of her much younger siblings after school every day while her mom works her shift at the pizza parlor. Not that her mom seems to appreciate it. At least there's Lenny, her mom's boyfriend—they all get to live in his nice, clean trailer. At school, Zoey tries to stay under the radar. Her only friend Fuchsia has her own issues, and since they're in an entirely different world than the rich kids, it's best if no one notices them. Unfortunately, she's not totally invisible, and one of her teachers forces her to join the debate club. Even though Zoey resists participating, debate ultimately leads her to see things in a new way: her mom’s relationship with Lenny, Fuchsia's situation, and her own place in this town of people who think they're better than she. Can Zoey find the courage to speak up, even if it means risking the most stable home she's ever had? (Dorothy Canfield Fisher Book Award 2019 - 2020) Booktalk #2 How could you worry about homework if you don’t have electricity at home? Who has time to join an after-school club when you have to take care of your younger siblings? What (if anything) will be for dinner tonight? These thoughts plague seventh grade Zoey’s everyday existence. Zoey’s mom works several jobs to keep them afloat, and puts up with emotional abuse from her boyfriend and father of Zoey’s youngest brother, Hector. Zoey knows her life would be so much easier if she had eight arms and other abilities that her favorite animal, the octopus, has. When Zoey’s teacher convinces her to join the debate club, she begins to discover a confidence to be more than a product of her environment, but is it enough to help get her and her family out of a potentially dangerous situation? A story filled with heart and hope, The Benefits of Being an Octopus will tug at your heartstrings, and leave you wanting more. (Oklahoma Sequoyah Book Awards, 2020) Booktalk #3 When seventh grader Zoey goes to school each day, she tries to stay under the radar of the rich kids at her school. Her life is not like theirs. She spends her afternoons taking care of her younger siblings while her mom works at the pizza parlor they can’t even afford to eat at. They live with her mom’s boyfriend in his trailer while many of the other school kids live in nice homes. When her teacher forces her to join the debate team, Zoey begins to see things differently in her life. Will her new understanding of the relationships and people around her give her the courage to speak up even though it could come at a heavy cost? (Prepared by: Michelle Spires, Gray Court-Owings School, mspires@laurens55.org) (South Carolina Book Awards, 2020-2021)
	SUBJECTS: Brothers and sisters -- Fiction. Debates and debating -- Fiction. Middle schools -- Fiction. Schools -- Fiction. Social classes -- Fiction. Family problems -- Fiction.

Braden, Ann.
THE BENEFITS OF BEING AN OCTOPUS
New York : Sky Pony, 2018
IL 5-8
ISBN: 978-1510737488

(3 booktalks)

Click on the book to read Amazon reviews

Booktalk #1

Seventh-grader Zoey has her hands full as she takes care of her much younger siblings after school every day while her mom works her shift at the pizza parlor. Not that her mom seems to appreciate it. At least there's Lenny, her mom's boyfriend—they all get to live in his nice, clean trailer. At school, Zoey tries to stay under the radar. Her only friend Fuchsia has her own issues, and since they're in an entirely different world than the rich kids, it's best if no one notices them. Unfortunately, she's not totally invisible, and one of her teachers forces her to join the debate club. Even though Zoey resists participating, debate ultimately leads her to see things in a new way: her mom’s relationship with Lenny, Fuchsia's situation, and her own place in this town of people who think they're better than she. Can Zoey find the courage to speak up, even if it means risking the most stable home she's ever had? (Dorothy Canfield Fisher Book Award 2019 - 2020)

Booktalk #2

How could you worry about homework if you don’t have electricity at home? Who has time to join an after-school club when you have to take care of your younger siblings? What (if anything) will be for dinner tonight? These thoughts plague seventh grade Zoey’s everyday existence. Zoey’s mom works several jobs to keep them afloat, and puts up with emotional abuse from her boyfriend and father of Zoey’s youngest brother, Hector. Zoey knows her life would be so much easier if she had eight arms and other abilities that her favorite animal, the octopus, has. When Zoey’s teacher convinces her to join the debate club, she begins to discover a confidence to be more than a product of her environment, but is it enough to help get her and her family out of a potentially dangerous situation?

A story filled with heart and hope, The Benefits of Being an Octopus will tug at your heartstrings, and leave you wanting more. (Oklahoma Sequoyah Book Awards, 2020)

Booktalk #3

When seventh grader Zoey goes to school each day, she tries to stay under the radar of the rich kids at her school. Her life is not like theirs. She spends her afternoons taking care of her younger siblings while her mom works at the pizza parlor they can’t even afford to eat at. They live with her mom’s boyfriend in his trailer while many of the other school kids live in nice homes. When her teacher forces her to join the debate team, Zoey begins to see things differently in her life. Will her new understanding of the relationships and people around her give her the courage to speak up even though it could come at a heavy cost? (Prepared by: Michelle Spires, Gray Court-Owings School, mspires@laurens55.org) (South Carolina Book Awards, 2020-2021)

SUBJECTS:   Brothers and sisters -- Fiction.
                        Debates and debating -- Fiction.
                        Middle schools -- Fiction.
                        Schools -- Fiction.
                        Social classes -- Fiction.
                        Family problems -- Fiction.