| After the 2011 Joplin tornado, letters were welcomed, and often read through tears. This little note from Texas was with some others, but we found it to be especially endearing and encouraging. We were humbled by the help we received in the form of correspondence or finances or personal sweat. |
This letter in particular reminded me of the letters we received in Oklahoma City after the 1995 bombing of the Murrah building. I used a couple of those letters in Crumbling Spirit, my story about the bombing.
When Aaron is knocked down for the last time - when he has been beaten down by his stepfather, and swept away in a violent snowstorm - he would be down forever if it weren't for Mumsket. This mysterious character is a healer, a nurturer, and a savior. She is the one character who can teach Aaron that he must stop using his horrible home life as an excuse for throwing away his future.
When Buddy enters Aaron's life, Aaron is already beaten. For years, Aaron's mother has fallen in "love" with the wrong men. Buddy would love to toughen up his stepson, but he does not know how to do it with love. Relying on bullying tactics, Buddy is, quite simply, a drunken rat. If only Aaron had someone in his life who could teach him how to love.
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AuthorD. Ed. Hoggatt is an award-winning fourth grade teacher. Click Titles to Order Now
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July 2017
RECOMMENDED READING
Al Capone Does My Shirts by Gennifer Choldenko
Because of Mr. Terupt by Rob Buyea Charlotte's Web by E. B. White Chippin Cleats by D. Ed. Hoggatt Crumbling Spirit by D. Ed. Hoggatt Echo by Pam Muñoz Ryan Hatchet by Gary Paulsen Holes by Louis Sachar Loser by Jerry Spinelli Mumsket by D. Ed. Hoggatt Out of the Dust by Karen Hesse Out of the Wind by D. Ed. Hoggatt Petey by Ben Mikaelsen Ramona the Pest by Beverly Cleary Stone Fox by John Reynolds Gardiner There's a Boy in the Girls' Bathroom by Louis Sachar Touching Spirit Bear by Ben Mikaelsen Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls Yankee Girl by Mary Ann Rodman |