You've Read That? Now Read This!

      You’ve Read That?


Many times while I am reading I will find a similarity or connection to a book I have already read. It might be the same topic, but sometimes it's something not as easy to pinpoint.  I'm highlighting three books I think readers will enjoy based on their experience with a certain book.  

This week's feature: Reading With Patrick by Michelle Kuo

Michelle Kuo spends a year teaching in the South with Teach for America, an experience that changes the course of her life. Although she does leave teaching to pursue her law degree as she had planned, Kuo returns to the place where she spent that life changing year and learns that Patrick,  a former student, is now in prison for killing a man.  Kuo visits him in prison and eventually teaches him - Patrick explores poetry and novels with his former teacher.  This is a little bit heartbreaking and heartwarming all at the same time.  As a teacher myself I love a good story about how one person can make an impact on another.  But this story isn't only directed at those in the field of education.  Everyone can find a Patrick to help and encourage.

So, if you've read that....

Now Read This!

The Short and Tragic Life of Robert Peace: A Brilliant Young Man Who Left Newark for the Ivy League by Jeff Hobbs - 

Robert Peace was a young man with great promise. He managed to escape the slums of New York and make it to the Ivy League. This book, written by his former college roommate, looks at how Peace succumbed to the pressures and dangers of the slums to which he returned.

An Invisible Thread: The True Story of an 11 Year Old Panhandler, a Busy Sales Executive, and an Unlikely Meeting with Destiny by Laura Schroff and Alex Tresniowski

Schroff writes of her relationship with Maurice, an eleven year old boy she meets one day on the streets. Something compelled her to go back and connect with Maurice, and the two developed a relationship that has now lasted decades. Schroff shows how one simple act of kindness can make an impact on the life of another.

The Other Wes Moore: One Name, Two Fates by Wes Moore  - Wes Moore grew up in Baltimore, right along with another boy named Wes Moore. In fact, their stories are very similar.  Up to a point.  One Wes Moore becomes a Rhodes scholar. The other Wes Moore is part of a botched burglary, spending his life in prison.  In this book Moore looks at how their lives ended up so differently. This book has also been adapted to a young reader's version, and is perfect for sparking some great discussions centered around the decisions we make.

What other titles would be good read-alikes?