Salvage the Bones
is a powerful novel that leaves a lasting impression. The main character, Esch, and her family,
live in rural town in Mississippi. Over
the course of the story, the reader learns of the numerous struggles this
family has to face. For one, their
father is a single alcoholic who is borderline neglectful. Additionally, Esch has three younger brothers
and no food for any one to eat, she has just found out that she is pregnant at
the age of 14, and to make matters worse, a large hurricane is about to hit
their coastal town. Esch and her
brothers have to come together and learn to rely on one another more than usual
in order to survive. At several times
throughout the book, you find yourself asking, “Will Esch and her brothers be
able to muster up the strength necessary to battle poverty and their dismal
fait?”
The book, Salvage
the Bones, pleasantly surprised me. At
first it seemed like such a negative read, as if nothing good would ever come
for these characters. As the story went
on, I began to feel uplifted and inspired by the strength and passion of
children. I feel that though, I always
felt sorry for the characters in this story, they each had their own moments of
validation and victory, which made me feel happy in the end.
Salvage the Bones is a powerful story that could
be used in an upper level classroom. I
feel that students would enjoy the book because it deals with an event that
they have heard of and has happened somewhat recently, Hurricane Katrina. If working on a unit surrounding survival,
this would be the perfect book to read. Students could also study the cause and
effect relationships in the text, along with problem and solution.
Some
related extension activities could include:
- A science/current event activity focusing on hurricanes, how they form, features of the storm, history of hurricanes, devastating effects, recent hurricanes, etc.
- Students could compare and contrast events in the book with events happening in real life (Hurricane Katrina/Sandy.
- In response to the book, students could make book brochures as a way to summarize main events, analyze characters, discuss the setting, etc.
Thanks for stopping by!
Jamie
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