"From New York Times bestselling author Mary Alice Monroe comes a beautiful story of friendship, loss, and the healing power of nature in her first book for middle grade readers.

Eleven-year-old Jake’s life has just turned upside-down. His father has been wounded in Afghanistan, and his mother is going to leave to care for him. That means Jake’s spending the summer on tiny Dewees Island with his grandmother. The island is a nature sanctuary—no cars or paved roads, no stores or restaurants. To make matters worse, Jake’s grandmother doesn’t believe in cable or the internet. Which means Jake has no cell phone, no video games…and no friends.

He’s barely on land before he meets and befriends two other kids—Macon, another “summer kid” and Lovie, who lives nearby and shows both Jake and Macon the ropes of life on the island. All three are struggling with their own family issues, and the three quickly bond, going on adventures all over Dewees Island.

But their fun stops after one misadventure on an abandoned boat leads to community service. Their punishment? Mandatory turtle duty as a part of Team Turtle, where they must do a daily dawn beach patrol checking for loggerhead sea turtle tracks and to keep an eye on the nest. And when the nest becomes endangered, the three friends must find a way to protect it.

Can they save the turtle nest from predators? And can Jake’s growing love for the island and its inhabitants (be they two-legged, four-legged, feathered, or finned) help to heal his father?" - https://maryalicemonroe.com/the-islanders/ 

Our fifth grade teachers, coaches, and instructional staff are collaborating to create standards-align, student driven instructional resources for The Islanders.  Please see the links below for thoughtful comprehension questions, writing opportunities, book club resources, book buddy opportunities, and integrated cross-disciplinary opportunities for science.

**PLEASE NOTE** - AT THIS TIME OUR DISTRICT HAS NOT YET FINALIZED APPROVAL FOR OUR MARY ALICE MONROE AUTHOR VISITS.  THE PLANS BELOW ARE TENTATIVE AND MAY BE SUBJECT TO CHANGE. 

We are very excited that our students will have the opportunity to meet Mary Alice Monroe in November through our author visits.  Please see specific details for each visit below.  We want this author visit to be interactive and engaging so we have created a Google Doc for each visit for our students to pose their questions for Mary Alice prior to her visit.  Please see the links for each school's questions below.

*Nov. 15 – 8:30-9:30 – Anderson Mill Elementary (Cafeteria)

*Nov. 15 -    10:30-11:30 – Fairforest Elementary (Auditorium)

*Nov. 16 – 9:00-10:00 –  ONLINE Arcadia, Lone Oak, Jesse Bobo, Pauline, and Woodland Heights Elementary

*Nov. 17 – 8:30 – 9:30 – West View Elementary (Cafeteria)

*Nov. 17-   1:00 - 2:00  – Roebuck Elementary (Cafeteria)

At the end of her author visits with our schools, Mary Alice Monroe shared with us that The Islanders would be a series!  She shared with us the cover of book two featuring Big Al the Alligator.  This book will be available in the summer of 2022.