Emma and the Silk Train (Julie Lawson)

A great little piece of Canadian historical fiction! It was a great way to introduce this genre to my students. There is some great vocabulary in here as well.

My students were totally captivated by the story. They had a lot of questions after. I didn't know about silk trains at all so this was a learning curve for myself too!

Goodreads summary:

A young girl's longing for a piece of silk almost leads to disaster when she risks her life to recover a length of fabric from the churning waters of a river.

Leave Me Alone (Vera Brosgol)

Oh my gosh. I love this book! My book club is reading Quiet by Susan Cain this month and this book fits perfectly with it.

We had a lot of good chuckles as we read this in class. When the grandmother went to the moon to be alone one of the students shot up his hand and said that that was impossible. Someone else replied, "The point is, she sure wants to have some alone time!"

They got it. We had a great discussion about how important alone time is and that some people need more than others...and that's ok. I loved how this book ended...she came back and didn't say a word about anything.

That is just what many of us need.

Goodreads summary:

An epic tale about one grandmother, a giant sack of yarn, and her ultimate quest to finish her knitting.

One day, a grandmother shouts, "LEAVE ME ALONE!" and leaves her tiny home and her very big family to journey to the moon and beyond to find peace and quiet to finish her knitting. Along the way, she encounters ravenous bears, obnoxious goats, and even hordes of aliens! But nothing stops grandma from accomplishing her goal--knitting sweaters for her many grandchildren to keep them warm and toasty for the coming winter.