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More copies of this ISBN:This title in other formats:Home of the Braveby Katherine Applegate
Synopses & ReviewsPublisher Comments:Kek comes from Africa. In America, he sees the snow for the first time, and feels its sting. Hes never walked on ice, and he falls. He wonders if the people in this new place will be like the wintercold and unkind. In Africa, Kek lived with his mother, father, and brother. But only he and his mother have survived, and now shes missing. Kek is on his own. Slowly, he makes friends: a girl who is in foster care, and old woman who owns a rundown farm, and a cow whose name means “family” in his native language. As Kek awaits word of his mothers fate, he weathers the tough Minnesota winter by finding warmth in his few friendships, strength in his memories, and belief in his new country. Bestselling author Katherine Applegate presents a beautifully wrought novel about an immigrants journey from hardship to hope.
Katherine Applegate is the author of several bestselling series, including Animorphs, as well as The Buffalo Storm, a picture book. Home of the Brave is Katherine Applegates first stand-alone novel. “In Keks story, I hope readers will see the neighbor child with a strange accent, the new kid in class from some faraway land, the child in odd clothes who doesnt belong,” she says. “I hope they see themselves.” Ms. Applegate lives with her family in North Carolina. Review:"In her first stand-alone book, Applegate (the Animorphs series) effectively uses free verse to capture a Sudanese refugee's impressions of America and his slow adjustment. After witnessing the murders of his father and brother, then getting separated from his mother in an African camp, Kek alone believes that his mother has somehow survived. The boy has traveled by 'flying boat' to Minnesota in winter to live with relatives who fled earlier. An onslaught of new sensations greets Kek ('This cold is like claws on my skin,' he laments), and ordinary sights unexpectedly fill him with longing (a lone cow in a field reminds him of his father's herd; when he looks in his aunt's face, 'I see my mother's eyes/ looking back at me'). Prefaced by an African proverb, each section of the book marks a stage in the narrator's assimilation, eloquently conveying how his initial confusion fades as survival skills improve and friendships take root. Kek endures a mixture of failures (he uses the clothes washer to clean dishes) and victories (he lands his first paying job), but one thing remains constant: his ardent desire to learn his mother's fate. Precise, highly accessible language evokes a wide range of emotions and simultaneously tells an initiation story. A memorable inside view of an outsider. Ages 10-14. (Sept.)" Publishers Weekly (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.) Review:“American culture, the Minnesota climate, and personal identity are examined in this moving first-person novel written in free verse . . . Kek is both a representative of all immigrants and a character in his own right . . . Kek will be instantly recognizable to immigrants, but he is also well worth meeting by readers living in homogeneous communities.”School Library Journal, starred review “In her first stand-alone book, Applegate (the Animorphs series) effectively uses free verse to capture a Sudanese refugee's impressions of America and his slow adjustment . . . Prefaced by an African proverb, each section of the book marks a stage in the narrator's assimilation, eloquently conveying how his initial confusion fades as survival skills improve and friendships take root . . . Precise, highly accessible language evokes a wide range of emotions and simultaneously tells an initiation story. A memorable inside view of an outsider.”Publishers Weekly “This beautiful story of hope and resilience . . . is an almost lyrical story . . . Keks voice is particularly strong as he models the difficulties experienced by a new immigrant . . . The book highlights the importance of attitude to success, a life lesson worth repeating as well.”VOYA “The boys first-person narrative is immediately accessible. Like Hanna Jansens Over a Thousand Hills I Walk with You, the focus on one child gets behind those news images of streaming refugees far away.”Booklist “. . . [Kek] relates the process of adjusting to his new life in poignant and lyrical free verse, a stylistic choice that helps set the tone of a character who of necessity thinks in images when he can't find the words to carry him from his old language to his new language . . . Keks observations about the weirdness of American culture and customs will be familiar to immigrants and will cause non-immigrants to see everyday patterns and material possessions in a new light; the evocative spareness of the verse narrative will appeal to poetry lovers as well as reluctant readers and ESL students.”Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books (BCCB) “. . . beautifully written in free verse . . . a thought-provoking book about a topic sure to evoke the empathy of readers.”KLIATT “In an immediate, first-person voice, we get a detailed, emotional glimpse into Keks adjustment to America and its ways. With exact and accessible languageas well as many evocative metaphors, as Kek tries to acclimate to his new life . . . Applegate gives young readers a compelling account of life as an outsider in America.”Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast (blog) “Keks experience is not simply that of an immigrant boy looking to be brave in a new situation. He teaches much, of course, of the things challenging a person recently introduced to a place and culture. He also teaches about preserving the valuable parts of ones own history and culture. But most important, his universal longing to be part of a family, to display bravery and courage, to be accepted, make him just like any young person. His poignant story communicates the shared longings of all young people.”Childrens Literature Network Synopsis:A deeply poetic and affecting novel about the contemporary immigrant experience. Synopsis:The author of the bestselling Animorphs series (written under the name K.A. Applegate) delivers her first stand-alone literary novel: a beautifully wrought story about an African immigrant to America, who makes a journey from hardship to hope. Synopsis:When the flying boatreturns to Earth at last,I open my eyesand gaze out the round window.What is all the white? I whisper.Where is all the world? About the AuthorKatherine Applegate is the author of several bestselling series, including Animorphs, as well as the picture book, The Buffalo Storm. Home of the Brave is Katherine Applegate’s first standalone novel. “In Kek’s story, I hope readers will see the neighbor child with a strange accent, the new kid in class from some faraway land, the child in odd clothes who doesn’t belong,” she says. “I hope they will see themselves.” Ms. Applegate lives with her family in North Carolina. What Our Readers Are SayingAdd a comment for a chance to win!
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