CMS Library: Distance Learning

Planet Earth Is Blue
by Nicole Panteleakos

Nova is eagerly awaiting the launch of the space shuttle Challenger.
Nova and her big sister, Bridget, share a love of astronomy and the
space program.  But Bridget has disappeared, and Nova is in a new
foster home.

People dismiss Nova as severely autistic and nonverbal, but Bridget
understands how intelligent and special Nova is, and all that she can't
express. Nova's foster family and teachers begin to see her potential,
and for the first time, she is making friends without Bridget. But every day,
she's counting down to the launch, and to the moment when she'll see
Bridget again. Because Bridget said, "No matter what, I'll be there. I promise.

     ** Nicole Panteleakos is joining via Zoom on April 30th!**

Thank you to the PTG for funding additional eBooks through our Overdrive Platform!

If you would like to join this group(and haven't already), please click HERE

As Easy as Falling Off the Face of the Earth
by Lynne Rae Perkins

(Grade 7 Book Group)

It's easy to fall off the face of the Earth, as the affable 15-year-old Ry discovers
when he misses his camp-bound train somewhere in Montana. It wouldn't be so
traumatic if his parents weren't adrift in the Caribbean, his grandpa in Wisconsin
hadn't plunged into a sinkhole and all potentially helpful cell phones weren't either
dead, out of range or stolen by a green-hued jungle monkey. Ry's efforts to get 
somewhere from the middle of nowhere form the core of this poetic, ebullient odyssey.

                                                                                                                  (Kirkus Reviews)

If you are in 7th grade and would like to join this book group, please email Mrs. Stockwood.

Trell
by Dick Lehr

(Grade 7 Book Group)

In a Boston swirling with racial tensions and public corruption, a story of false imprisonment
based in fact, from a longtime investigative journalist.The case at hand: the murder of 13-year-old
Ruby Graham, a casualty of gang warfare in the Roxbury neighborhood of Boston. "I know he didn't
do it," says Van Trell Taylor, Romero Taylor's 14-year-old daughter. She cherishes the connection she
is able to maintain with her father, imprisoned when she was just a baby, despite the overwhelming
constraints placed by the prison system and a local media incentivized to paint him as a monster.
The family reaches out to Nora Walsh, a white woman from the projects and an upstart criminal defense
lawyer with a growing reputation for toughness. They must scrutinize the details and fight against public
opinion in order to free an innocent man. Lehr covered the inspiring true story behind this one as a
journalist and brings to light many of the important details not only of the case, but of the public conversation
that surrounded Boston at the time—and does to this day; this important dialogue is still ongoing. (Kirkus Reviews)

On April 8th we finished our discussions of Trell with a Zoom meeting with the author, Dick Lehr.
​He shared fascinating insights on his writing process, journalism, and many stories from when he was a
reporter for The Boston Globe. Thank you Mr. Lehr!