Chapter Book 9

A.    Author: Pamela Porter

B.     Title: Sky

C.     Illustrator:Mary Jane Gerber

D.    Readability: 3

E.     Genre: Historical

F.      Subgenre: Faction

G.    Theme: Native Americans, Discrimination, Love

H.    Primary and secondary characters: A little Girl, Gramma, Paw Paw

I.       Award(s) date of publication:

J.       Publishing company: Groundwood Book

K.    ISBN number: 0-88899-607-1

L.     Brief summary:  A Native American girl living on the Blackfoot Reservation, birthing lambs with her Paw Paw. As winter melted into spring the stream that ran behind their house and barn, turned into a raging river. Forcing the family to barely make it out to the city’s white school. They were rushed into a small classroom, when the whites received a cot, and free food. The natives were treated as aliens, being made to pay for food, silverware, it was impossible, they lost almost everything. As the second day begun, their Uncle found them , paying him 15 dollars, the family was allowed to stay. One day she returned to where their home used to be, to find a poor little filly trapped in barbwire covered in mud and cold. They couldn’t leave her, so they brought her back to her uncles house, and nursed the tiny girl back to health. As school was about to resume, the 7 Native American’s were shuffled to the all-white school. She and her 7 friends went days being bullied, when she finally had enough when two students dropped  a cheat sheet under her desk, while taking a test. She was kicked out of school for the day, but she vowed never to return. By this time her family had bought the house that was behind the grocery store, the owner needed to sell it in order to expand and Paw Paw and Gramma needed a home. The little pony Sky had grown up and was still living at her uncles house. Her uncle and gramma built a lean to for chickens and her horse. Sky was moved home. A year later her Paw Paw died, and she was determined to train her horse, and continue school. She brought Sky over to her uncles farm to use his corral. After several tries, Sky learned she was to be ridden and waited to learn. She and Sky rode back to the house, her gramma got up and cried, saying she was the only reason her paw paw lived another year. That night she and sky went out to the field, and  reflected on her culture and how her paw paw, mother, father, and culture will be proud of her.

M.   Description of how you would use the book with students: I will use this book to relate to the native American culture. We can discuss how she was treated in the wake of disaster and how her life changed because of it. We can have a connect to writing, how did our life change after a major event.