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Booktalk
#1
Bailey and Rosie are best friends.
They live next door to each other and were born just a week apart.
They've always been as close as sister and brother -- maybe closer because
they chose each other. When Rosie found out that Bailey was legally
blind, she started looking out for him even more. Now they are both
twelve-years-old and are still best friends. When they have a fight,
they find comfort and wisdom while helping out Granny Torrelli in the kitchen.
Join them as they enjoy pasta and family stories while Granny Torrelli
Makes Soup.
Booktalk #2
Tutto Va Bene, or "all is well," at least when you can talk through things
in Granny Torrelli's kitchen. I'm 12 years old, my name is Rosie and my
blind best friend, Bailey and I don't always get along. In fact,
like most best friends, we support each other but we also get on each other's
nerves!
Just when I think I can't take it anymore, I visit Granny Torrelli.
(It helps to talk things out at sometimes.) I help Granny cook some
great Italian dishes while Granny "cooks up" stories from her past that
sometimes seem pretty similar to what I'm going through.
I've told Granny everything. Like one time when Bailey walked out
of the house and got lost. Everyone in town was worried sick, walking
the streets trying to find him. Finally, Bailey turned up again.
I couldn't be mad at him though because I was so happy that he was home.
Then another time, I thought Bailey and I wouldn't be friends anymore because
we were growing apart: Bailey went to a special school and read special
books. I decided to surprise Bailey by learning how to read Braille.
It took me a year of hard work, but do you think Bailey was happy?
NO! He sure was not; but Granny Torrelli cooked up another story
while we made soup that helped me understand why Bailey was upset.
It's true that Granny Torrelli's stories about her own life have helped
me understand my relationship with Bailey. But I don't know if she'll
have any stories that can help out with this… a new "too friendly" girl
just moved onto our street. "That Janine girl, she is making my mind
swirl," smiling all over the place with cool frizzy black hair, flipping
her head this way and that, flashing her sparkly white smile with no braces
or anything! Now Bailey is going over to HER house to teach HER Braille.
I don't know if helping Granny Tortelli make cavatelli, meatballs, or even
zuppa will help me make sense out of this mess!
To find out if Granny Tortelli's stories help Roise and Bailey's friendship
check out Granny Totelli Makes Soup by Sharon Creech. (Andi Figart, AFIGART@DaytonMetroLibrary.Org)
Booktalk #3
Twelve-year-old Rosie has grown up with her best friend, next-door neighbor
Bailey. But he's not her best friend today. Today she surprised
him with the news that she could read Braille. She'd worked in secret
for over a year to learn how, and she thought he'd be pleased, but he just
said, “Rosie, get over yourself!” and slammed the door in her face.
Now she's so mad at him she can't see straight.
Granny Torelli arrives to take care of her that night, and as they make
soup together, Granny helps her deal with her feelings. Granny tells
tales of her own best friend from her youth, and slowly Rosie begins to
see the situation through Bailey’s eyes.
Will her friendship with Bailey stand up to this latest test? And
what about that new girl Janine who fawns all over Bailey? Will they
survive this new threat? Does Granny have a story for this new problem?
Find out what happens in Granny Torelli Makes Soup. (Mary Lou Wallace,
marylwal@bellsouth.net,
East Aiken Elementary School, Aiken, SC)
Booktalk #4
"That Bailey! That Bailey,
my friend, my buddy, my pal for my whole life ... I am so mad at him right
now. I hate him today." Rosie and Bailey grew up side by side
as neighbors their whole lives, and up until now, they had been inseparable.
Handsome Bailey is visually impaired, a fact that Rosie had always accepted
as a matter of course. But now at the age of 12, Rosie is having
pangs of jealousy ... now that the pretty new girl in the neighborhood
is showing an interest in "her" Bailey. "That Bailey," Granny Torrelli
mimics her. Did I ever tell you about Pardo? Thus her wise
old Italian grandmother launches a tale from her childhood in the old country.
In Granny's kitchen, over an aromatic pot of soup, Granny uses her inscrutable
wisdom and humor to set things right between two young friend. Everyone
should have a Granny Torrelli! (New
Hampshire Great Stone Face Committee, 2004-05)
Booktalk #5
Did you ever get angry with
your best friend? That's what happened between Rosie and Bailey.
Twelve-year-old Rosie has been best friends with Bailey since as long ago
as she can remember. It may have something to do with them being
born a week apart, or being next door neighbors; or that they have always
done most things together. All Rosie knows is that Bailey has always
been better than a brother: It has never mattered to her that he
cannot see very well, cannot read her books or see her wave goodbye.
But now Bailey, her neighbor, her buddy, her pal, is angry with Rosie.
And why? All she tried to do was something so very special and just
for him. And what's the thanks she gets? “Rosie, get over yourself!”
Bailey said, and he slammed the door in her face.
Angry and miserable, Rosie
gets a visit from her Granny Torrelli who decides she wants to make soup.
Rosie helps chop ingredients while Granny offers up memories of her own
childhood best friend in Italy long ago. Granny seems to understand
the need to be with a best friend most of the time, and how misunderstandings
can threaten even “pal for my whole life” friendships like the one Rosie
has with Bailey. Maybe somewhere between the stirring and serving
up of the good smelling soup is a way to make things right again.
Find out by reading Granny Torrelli Makes Soup by Sharon Creech. (Gail
King, grking@bellsouth.net,
USC - CLIS)
Booktalk #6
“Zuppa!” Granny Torrelli
says. “That’s what we need tonight-soup!” So Granny and 12
yr . old Rosie take celery, carrots, onion, mushrooms and chicken and chop,
chop, chop until a delicious smell fills the kitchen. That’s when
Granny says, “OK, Rosie, what’s going on with you?” And that’s when
Rosie finds herself telling Granny about how her best friend Bailey yelled
at her-“Rosie, get over yourself!” when Rosie had spent an entire year
learning Braille just so she could read like Bailey. Bailey was supposed
to be proud of her, he was supposed to be happy she could read Braille.
Instead, he yelled at her and slammed the door in her face. When
you’ve been best friends with someone since you were babies, since you’ve
always tried to help Bailey because he’s been going blind, since a good
looking girl has moved into the neighborhood that thinks Bailey is pretty
cute-well, things can get complicated. But when Granny Torrelli cooks,
no problem can stand the heat in the kitchen. (Alyse Goldman, AGOLDMAN@loudoun.gov,
Sterling Middle School, Sterling, VA)
Booktalk #7
Dear Diary,
That Bailey!That
Bailey, my friend, my buddy, my pal for my whole life…I am so mad at him
right now!I hate him today.
Why I liked
Bailey in the first place:Bailey was alwaysthere,
born next door to me, one week after me, the two of us just two babies
growing up side by side, our mothers together, and me and Bailey together
on the lawn, on the porch, on the floor, playing with pots and pans and
mud and worms and snow and rain and puddles.
Today I went
to Bailey’s house to surprise him.I have spent all
year being sneaky so I could learn to read Braille like Bailey does.I
just knew he would be surprised.Then he could write
me secret notes that no one else could read.But,
do you know what happened when I got over there to tell him?He
told me to get over myself and slammed the door.He
wasn’t happy at all.I was so mad I ran home, flung
myself on my bed, and cried.
Dear
Diary,
Tonight
Granny Torrelli was in charge of me.She wanted soup
only she calls it zuppa.That’s Italian for
soup.She found a big pot and put in water to boil.We
chopped l, chopped chopped onions, celery, and carrots.She
defrosted chicken to put in the zuppa.I stirred
and added salt and pepper and pasta.While it cooked,
she asked me what was wrong because she could tell I was low.I
told her about that Bailey and how he got mad at me for learning Braille.She
listened like she always does and then told me a story about her and her
best pal named Pardo.When she was finished I was
feeling so lonely for that Bailey that we decided to take zuppa
over to his house for him and his mom.When his mom
answered the door she told me Bailey was up in his room so I ran up there
as fast as I could.He must have known I was coming
because when I opened the door he was standing up facing me.I
started to say I was sorry and tell him that I wouldn’t read Braille anymore,
but he handed me a piece of paper before I could finish.He
had typed me a Braille message!It said I’m sorry.I
hugged that Bailey so tight I don’t think he could breathe.Then
we went downstairs happy as two puppies and enjoyed warm zuppa.
Dear
Diary,
A
new girl moved up the street.When I think of that
Janine girl, that new girl up the street, that too-friendly new girl, my
heart turns to ice.I become ice girl, ice queen.Bailey
likes her and thinks she’s nice.She is a pretty girl,
I give her that. With her cool frizzy black hair,she
is so confident that Janine, flipping her hair this way and that, flashing
her sparkly white smile, no braces at all.But what
makes me really hot is that Bailey thinks she’s neat.She
is so curious he says.I asked him about what.Do
you know what that Bailey said to her?What did that
Bailey, my friend, my buddy, my Bailey say?He said
that she wanted to learn to read Braille.He said
that he was going to teach, pal for my whole life, teach her Braille
when he got so mad at me for learning all by myself?
To
see if Rosie and Bailey’s friendship can survive the new girl up the street
and what other great recipes Granny Torrelli cooks up read Granny Torrelli
Makes Soup by Sharon Creech. Oklahoma
Sequoyah Children’s Book Award nominee, 2005-2006 |
