On the eve of her daughter's wedding June suddenly loses all her family. She is left completely numb and a shell of her former self. Without any thought she heads out of town on a road trip to an unknown destination. On her travels she contemplates her relationships with all those she has lost. Although, June has lost the most, there are others that have lost as well and are grieving. Everyone in town is talking and spreading rumors. What caused the tragedy? Who caused the tragedy? Other than the town gossips no one seems to have the emotional strength to question how it happened.
Did You Ever Have a Family by Bill Clegg is a beautiful story of love, loss, grief and healing. It's also about the decisions you make in life and then living with the consequences.
Cameron and his mom have been on the run. Moving houses, cities, new schools, unlisted phone numbers. Just as things settle, Cameron's mom has a feeling that his dad has found them and they are on the move again. It's been so long since Cameron has seen his dad he can't remember if his memories are real or just stories his mom has told him.
Cameron moves into an old farm house and starts hearing stories about the place. Soon he's talking to ghosts and digging up old murder stories. Is Cameron losing his mind or is he on to something? Most importantly, is Cameron just like his dad?
The Dogs by Allan Stratton is a Red Maple nominee in the 2016 Forest of Reading.
Every year I like to read one or two Red Maple books to my grade 7 and 8 classes. This year I've really struggled to pick one of the ten that I could read out loud to a class. The nominees this year seem to be a bit more mature than other years. I thought I would pre-read The Truth Commission to see if it might be a good read aloud. Definitely not!
The Truth Commission is about three friends that attend a special art high school. Normandy Pale is writing a story for a school assignment and The Truth Commission is that story. Norm has two best friends Neil and Dusk. The trio decide to seek out the truth among their fellow students. Eventually the truths begin to unravel within the group. Norm has some major family issues that no one talks about, including her parents. When Norm's sister moves back home from college though it may just be too much to handle.
I found The Truth Commission to be very mature for a grade 7 and 8 level. I thought some of the truths were way too mature. One guideline that I try to use when picking books for that level is making sure that the characters are at the most 14 years old. Norm and friends are 17 years old. Because this book is a Red Maple book I will purchase it for my school library but I will probably let borrowers know that it's pretty mature before they start reading.
