OMS Book Club
February Challenge: Book Illustration
- Take a picture of a drawing of your favorite scene from Pax.
- Post your photo on Instagram with the #omsbookclub @otwell_media
- In the caption, post the quote your drawing is supposed to be representing.
*If you don’t have Instagram, show or email your drawing to Mrs. Tumaliuan- ltumaliuan@forsyth.k12.ga.us*
Connect to other readers in the blog below.
Pax by Sara Pennypacker
The novel Pax follows a boy and his pet fox’s journey to find each other again.
Peter is trying to make up for his mistakes after he leaves his pet fox Pax on the side of the road.
Pax believes he’ll just sit where he was left until Peter comes back for him, however, he may be getting into more trouble than he bargained for.
Both face many challenges along the way, however, together they proved that distance can break no bonds and that love will triumph over all.
If you love books that rip your heart out, Pax is perfect for you!
Overall, this book could be taken in many different ways. We saw it as eye-opening to the effect war can have on animals, however, we also saw it as a book about finding yourself. How you take it all depends on you.
You would like this book if you like reading...
- Animal Fiction
- Some short intense scenes
- Books about finding yourself
- Alternating Narrators (Pax and Peter)
- Medium-length chapters
Refugee by Alan Gratz
Refugee: a person who has been forced to leave their country in order to escape war, persecution, or natural disaster: (Oxford Dictionary)
The novel Refugee by Alan Gratz is a fascinating novel that follows three young adults as they flee their homes with their families in search of freedom and hope.
Josef is a Jewish boy escaping Nazi Germany with his family. They board a ship headed for Cuba to run away from the terrifying threat of the German concentration camps.
Isabel is a young girl from Cuba that boards a small raft with her family and neighbors to escape the violence and starvation in her country. They are hoping to land in Florida and start a new home in America, but the ocean can be a deadly and unforgiving beast.
Mahmoud is a refugee from Syria in 2015. Mahmoud with his mother, father, brother, and baby sister escape Syria and the terrorists that are destroying his home. On their journey to safety, Mahmoud and his family endure many hardships and achingly painful events.
At the end, the author (Gratz) wraps these three stories together in a plot twist that will leave you speechless! The end of the book will blow you away!
Overall, I found this book to be an eye-opening read. We see images and videos of refugees all over the world on the news, but sitting on our comfy sofas in front of our big television screens it is easy to keep ourselves at an emotional distance. This book truly gives a voice to refugees all over the world (past and present), and it challenges the reader to adopt a new perspective and develop empathy for these people and their journey. This was a book that challenged me as a reader to expand my mind and open my eyes to the world around me... and those are my favorite kind of books!
You would really enjoy this book if you love:
- Historical fiction
- Suspense
- Heroic characters
- Short chapters
- Alternating narrators
-Mrs. Tumaliuan
