This story starts with a wish and ends in a crime.
The wish isn’t granted, and the crime is never punished.
Life is like that sometimes.
But that isn’t always a bad thing…
-Keith Calabrese
A Drop of Hope is a book that my sixth graders describe as “a very different kind of mystery,” with three separate storylines, and characters that all meet at the same destination. Each character enters the story with a “drop of hope,” and when their stories intersect it makes their town a kinder place.
6th Grade Book Club Members think:
.Teachers should use this book to teach writers the craft of allowing a reader to know more about a situation than the character does.
At times, we were frustrated because we wanted to let some of our favorite characters know details about their lives that we learned from other characters in the book. This craft move kept us interested in the story, and we were anticipating the moment that the characters would discover what we already knew. We can’t wait to try this out in our own writing! – Owen & Andrew
.Teachers should use this book because it teaches students to always look at situations from more than one perspective.
The three main characters have very different attitudes about wishes, and it teaches the reader that there is no “wrong or right”… just different.
“Ernest Willmette believes a good deed can make magic happen. Ryan Hardy thinks they should just mind their own business. Lizzy MacComber believes in facts, not fairy tales”.
In the end, they are all right. We love the ending of this book! -Natalie
