Friday, June 5, 2015

The Not-Just-Anybody-Family by Betsy Byars*

This book is the first one in the Blossom Family series.
What an endearing, humorous family!
Junior, the youngest Blossom, is determined to fly so he has created some wings.  As he is attempting to launch himself off the barn, he sees a police car coming to their home.  When he shares the news with Vern (his older brother) and Maggie (his older sister), they dash into the woods to hide.  Junior slips off the barn . ..and ends up in the hospital with two broken legs.
In this story, Pap, the grandfather, ends up in jail.  Maggie helps Vern break into jail to be with Pap.  Mud, Pap's beloved dog, is on the loose, attempting to be reunited with Pap.  Junior meets an interesting boy, Ralphie with an artificial leg, in the hospital.    All these events are occurring while, Vicki, the mother, is traveling with the rodeo circuit.  She hears about her family's adventures via a newspaper article and promptly leaves for home.
Lots of funny escapades.
Strategy: Check for understanding (the author switches points of view among the characters often.  A character list is also a good idea), inferring (figurative language), expanding vocab.

Guided Reading Level: R (4th grade)
Grade Level Equivalency: 4.7

Points to discuss: Ralphie tells Junior that the hospital hides medicine in the food they serve so their patients sleep.  He tells Junior he is an addict-that is why he can eat the food.

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