Day 14 of Summer 2019 #Bookaday Challenge: A Drop of Hope

Vlog Transcript Below

Slide 1: Hi! My name is Kate Narita. This is day fourteen of my summer 2019 #bookaday challenge. Today I will be talking about A Drop of Hope by Keith Calabrese.

Slide 2: A Drop of Hope is a fantastic novel. It celebrates kindness, hope (as one would think from the title, it debunks the myth of us and them, and it’s a fun mystery.

Slide 3: Another book that celebrates kindness is Ms. Bixby’s Last Day. It pairs nicely with A Drop of Hope.

Slide 4: Another book that focuses on the power of hope is A Tangle of Knots by Lisa Graff. It also pairs nicely with A Drop of Hope.

Slide 5: I mentioned that A Drop of Hope is a mystery, and so is When You Reach Me. I also mentioned that A Drop of Hope debunks the myth of us and them. I would argue that When You Reach Me does the same.

Slide 6: Another aspect that I want to talk about is that A Drop of Hope features a character who is abused by his father. This made me think of Okay for Now by Gary D. Schmidt. Unlike Okay for Now, the abuse in A Drop of Hope is not central to the novel like it is in Gary Schmidt’s novel. But it’s still touched upon, and this is very important because students from all situations need to see themselves reflected in novels.

Slide 7: I always like to include a picture book or two in my text sets. A Sick Day for Amos McGee is a book that celebrates kindness.

Slide 8: I would argue that Last Stop on Market Street is a picture book that debunks the myth of us and them. I especially love that the author debunks the myth of us and them not only between groups of people but between people and nature as well.