For years now, my son has been begging me to read the
Skinjacker series by Neal Shusterman.
Those of you who know me (or have read this blog) are aware of my love
for Shusterman books. I have read quite
a few (the man puts out a lot of books; he’s a writing machine). However, there was something about the word skinjacker that just kept me pushing
those books to the back of my “to read” stack.
Well, I started reading those books two weeks ago and am almost finished
with the series (Spring Break and Harry Potter world in Orlando interrupted
some of that reading time). I will have
a blog about skinjackers next week. But, I felt
badly about having a blank space on my blog page for so long, so I decided to
write a blog or two about picture books while I wait to reach the Everfound finish line.
As many of you know Matt de la Peña won the 2016 Newbery for
his picture book Last Stop on Market
Street. There has been a big buzz
about the book, and there very well should be.
It’s a great picture book, and for those who are familiar with the
Newbery, you all know that it is an award that is rarely given to picture
books. I am super excited that de la Peña
won this award because not only is this book beautiful, but de la Peña is a
super awesome and fun author who truly loves teachers and students. I will never forget how he moved the Texas
Council of Teachers of English Language Arts crowd to tears at our conference
in 2013. If you don’t know his books or
follow him on Twitter, you should.
I first read Last Stop on Market Street when I purchased it at the Whole Language Umbrella conference last summer. I saw the book and saw the author’s name and knew I needed to have it without even opening it. I’m not kidding when I say that Matt de la Peña is that great! I read the picture book a few times and loved it. Then, I saved it for a very special occasion. I offered this book to my University of Houston-Downtown teacher education students as a last read aloud choice at the very end of our very last class together in December. After a book talk of this book and one other, they chose Last Stop on Market Street. Forty students were captivated by CJ and Nana as they boarded the bus and interacted with the motley group of passengers. They giggled about CJ’s non-stop questioning. They reveled in the wisdom that each passenger shared and wondered where CJ and Nana were going. In the end, they all wanted me to share the last picture by walking around the room for each to get a closer look (p. 28). They loved learning what Nana had brought CJ to do at the last stop on Market Street.
The story is sweet and beautiful. I never tire of reading it, and just like my students, I always close the book with a smile on my face. I think what we all love the most about the book is the way that de la Peña uses language to convey this important message. “The outside air smelled like freedom” (p. 2). “It sighed and sagged and the doors swung open” (p. 7). “He saw sunset colors swirling over crashing waves” (p. 18). And, so many more just as good as those…
What I loved the most about reading the book on that very special day to my students were the questions that they asked about de la Peña. Following in the steps of CJ’s inquisitiveness, they wanted to know why de la Peña wrote the book, if he himself had taken the bus or worked at a soup kitchen, and why CJ was with his Nana. So, I turned to the trusted source of wisdom, the Internet, and found a YouTube video of de la Peña talking about the book. My students loved getting most of their questions answered and were captivated by the voice of this wonderful author. What a great author, what a great book, and what a great way to end my time at UHD. And, it was with great pride that I tweeted out a message to those same students on January 12, 2016 to let them know that they had chosen wisely that day in December!
Last Stop on Market Street, 32 pages from G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers (January 8, 2015); ISBN: 9780399257742
Ideal for elementary, middle, and high school read alouds (and
for all readers who can or need to relate to life in poverty)
