In the end, she puts her family back together. She didn’t know what she was getting into. She learned that she wasn’t just a normal girl, she’s complicated like all of us. I can connect with how she tried to convince her dad to take her to NY. I like that she shared her suitcase at the end.

The best part was her walk with Grandpa Earl & shouting out famous people I left the book behind for students to read and returned last month to find out what they thought.Ĭool that Amara was able to find out her birth connection. Some of the places I am still getting to know, some of these places I have known all my life. I read this book on a first chapter Friday for Melissa Quimby’s class in January. From New York Times bestselling and multi award-winning author Renée Watson comes a heartwarming and inspiring middle grade novel about finding deep roots and exploring the past, the present, and the places that make us who we are. It’s a story of finding your identity told with authenticity by Renée Watson. It’s a story of what Harlem and its rich cultural history can teach all of us. It’s a story of a girl who wants to wear Nikes and workout clothes when her fashion-designer mother is constantly making her dresses. Some Places More that Others is a father-daughter bonding story. Her parents think a trip to Harlem is too much for their young daughter until the convergence of a class suitcase project in family history and her father’s business trip to the NBA finals coincide. I immediately loved it! Always on the lookout for a book that fits the complexity we hope for our upper elementary readers without being too mature for them, Some Places More than Others hits the sweet spot.Īward winning author Renée Watson brings a rich family story to this tale of one girl growing up in Oregon who longs to know both her father’s family and their cultural heritage. Some Places More Than Others by Renée WatsonĪn advance copy of this book made it into my hands from our local independent bookstore last spring.

Some places more than others book