Book Recommendation

I read the most lovely book yesterday. It's called I Am A Pencil by Sam Swope, and it's about a writer who spends three years volunteering to help a group of gifted kids improve their writing. He begins when they are in the third grade and works with the same group until they finish fifth grade.

What's especially fascinating about the kids is that they are all either immigrants or the children of immigrants living in Queens, New York City. There are so many nationalities, languages, and religions, and one of the themes of the novel is the children's and their parents' struggle to maintain their cultural identity amid the chaotic mix.

The author, Swope, uses his interactions with the children and parents to create a rich narrative about each child's life and situation, and he colors and augments these narratives with excerpts from the children's (often surprisingly good and mature) writing.

I gave the book four and a half stars. It fell short of being a five-star book because I thought the writing could have been a bit tighter, but that's just me being nitpicky. This was a great book, and I definitely recommend it!

I picked it up randomly when I was in the public library the other day. I was browsing the educational/test-prep section looking for a book that would help Yosuke with taking standardized tests in English. I didn't find anything, although I did pick up several books about teaching. The one I'm reading now is called Genius Denied. I might post about it when I finish.