Booktalks Quick and Simple

	Weeks, Sarah. SAVE ME A SEAT New York : Scholastic Press, 2016 IL 3-6, RL 4.8 ISBN 0545846609 (5 booktalks)
Click on the book to read Amazon reviews	Booktalk #1 Ravi Suryanarayanan, a top student and athlete, who just moved to New Jersey from India, is eager to impress his new 5th grade classmates with his superior skills. However, led by popular class heart throb Dillon Samreen, both Ravi and socially awkward classmate/friend Joe receive the brunt of nasty pranks from their classmates instead. Do Ravi and Joe have the guts to pull off a risky comeuppance, when they discover Dillon is manipulating the entire class successfully? This exciting school story demonstrates the power of friendship, when “quitting is not an option.” (Pennsylvania Young Reader’s Choice Award 2017-2018) Booktalk #2 Ravi Suryanarayanan is a rock star among elementary students… or, at least he was back home in India. He excels at math, English, and sports- especially cricket. He knows the proper way to address teachers, and brings a shiny tiffin box full of savory homemade curry for lunch every day. But now that he’s at school in New Jersey, nothing he does seems to be working out right. His teacher can’t pronounce his FIRST name right, never mind his last, he gets laughed at for standing to answer questions, and nobody seems to be able to understand his English, even though he’s been speaking it since he was small. His lone bright spot at school is the only other Indian boy, Dillon Samreen, who is also the most popular boy in class. Ravi is certain they will be best friends. Joe knows better. Joe has been at Albert Einstein Elementary School his whole life, and he knows that Dillon Samreen is trouble. Up until this year, Joe had two best friends, but they’ve moved away, and now Joe is alone to deal with Dillon’s bullying. His bright spot is getting time out of class with Miss Frost, who helps him with his lessons. Now, Joe shares his time with Miss Frost with Ravi, who does not seem to appreciate it, or to be picking up what a bully Dillon is. As Joe watches, Ravi is soon taking his place as Dillon’s favorite target. Is there anything Joe can do to help him, or himself? Both Joe and Ravi will need to look at things differently to make things better, together. (New Hampshire Great Stone Face Award nominee, 2018) Booktalk #3 Two fifth grade boys discover friendship can come in unexpected ways. Ravi, an excellent student, moves from India to New Jersey, only to find out that his skills aren’t viewed in the same light at his new school, Albert Einstein Elementary School. Joe has always lived in New Jersey, and attended that same school. However, due to his Auditory Processing Disorder (APD) and how he handles situations, he doesn’t feel very good about school. Through several events, the boys find out that life isn’t always as it first appears. (Sunshine State Young Readers Award Books 2017-2018) Booktalk #4 Ravi, a recent immigrant, starts his first day at Albert Einstein Elementary and quickly discovers school in the United States is very different from school in India. Joe, a boy from New Jersey with an Auditory Processing Disorder, is hopeful this new kid will attract the school bullies’ attention away from him. The cafeteria, a common enemy, and time with Miss Frost bring these two fifth graders together and they find they have much more in common than they ever imagined. This humorous and touching story told through the alternating perspectives of Ravi and Joe during the first week of school, reveal how assumptions, school bullies and doting moms are the perfect recipe for the most unexpected friendship. (Vermont Dorothy Canfield Fisher Book Award, 2018) Booktalk #5 Ravi has only just moved to America from India. Joe has been here his whole life. They are two outcasts who don’t agree on anything, until they’re shoved together by the universe (and their teacher), and continue to... not get along. Will they ever overcome their differences? (Connecticut Nutmeg Award https://www.nutmegaward.org/)
	SUBJECTS: Bullies -- Fiction. East Indians -- Fiction. Friendship -- Fiction. Learning disabilities -- Fiction. Schools -- Fiction.

Weeks, Sarah.
SAVE ME A SEAT
New York : Scholastic Press, 2016
IL 3-6, RL 4.8
ISBN 0545846609

(5 booktalks)

Click on the book to read Amazon reviews

Booktalk #1

Ravi Suryanarayanan, a top student and athlete, who just moved to New Jersey from India, is eager to impress his new 5th grade classmates with his superior skills. However, led by popular class heart throb Dillon Samreen, both Ravi and socially awkward classmate/friend Joe receive the brunt of nasty pranks from their classmates instead. Do Ravi and Joe have the guts to pull off a risky comeuppance, when they discover Dillon is manipulating the entire class successfully? This exciting school story demonstrates the power of friendship, when “quitting is not an option.” (Pennsylvania Young Reader’s Choice Award 2017-2018)

Booktalk #2

Ravi Suryanarayanan is a rock star among elementary students… or, at least he was back home in India. He excels at math, English, and sports- especially cricket. He knows the proper way to address teachers, and brings a shiny tiffin box full of savory homemade curry for lunch every day. But now that he’s at school in New Jersey, nothing he does seems to be working out right. His teacher can’t pronounce his FIRST name right, never mind his last, he gets laughed at for standing to answer questions, and nobody seems to be able to understand his English, even though he’s been speaking it since he was small. His lone bright spot at school is the only other Indian boy, Dillon Samreen, who is also the most popular boy in class. Ravi is certain they will be best friends. Joe knows better. Joe has been at Albert Einstein Elementary School his whole life, and he knows that Dillon Samreen is trouble. Up until this year, Joe had two best friends, but they’ve moved away, and now Joe is alone to deal with Dillon’s bullying. His bright spot is getting time out of class with Miss Frost, who helps him with his lessons. Now, Joe shares his time with Miss Frost with Ravi, who does not seem to appreciate it, or to be picking up what a bully Dillon is. As Joe watches, Ravi is soon taking his place as Dillon’s favorite target. Is there anything Joe can do to help him, or himself? Both Joe and Ravi will need to look at things differently to make things better, together. (New Hampshire Great Stone Face Award nominee, 2018)

Booktalk #3

Two fifth grade boys discover friendship can come in unexpected ways. Ravi, an excellent student, moves from India to New Jersey, only to find out that his skills aren’t viewed in the same light at his new school, Albert Einstein Elementary School. Joe has always lived in New Jersey, and attended that same school. However, due to his Auditory Processing Disorder (APD) and how he handles situations, he doesn’t feel very good about school. Through several events, the boys find out that life isn’t always as it first appears. (Sunshine State Young Readers Award Books 2017-2018)

Booktalk #4

Ravi, a recent immigrant, starts his first day at Albert Einstein Elementary and quickly discovers school in the United States is very different from school in India. Joe, a boy from New Jersey with an Auditory Processing Disorder, is hopeful this new kid will attract the school bullies’ attention away from him. The cafeteria, a common enemy, and time with Miss Frost bring these two fifth graders together and they find they have much more in common than they ever imagined. This humorous and touching story told through the alternating perspectives of Ravi and Joe during the first week of school, reveal how assumptions, school bullies and doting moms are the perfect recipe for the most unexpected friendship. (Vermont Dorothy Canfield Fisher Book Award, 2018)

Booktalk #5

Ravi has only just moved to America from India. Joe has been here his whole life. They are two outcasts who don’t agree on anything, until they’re shoved together by the universe (and their teacher), and continue to... not get along. Will they ever overcome their differences? (Connecticut Nutmeg Award https://www.nutmegaward.org/)

SUBJECTS:    Bullies -- Fiction.
                        East Indians -- Fiction.
                        Friendship -- Fiction.
                        Learning disabilities -- Fiction.
                        Schools -- Fiction.