Home of the Brave

Home of the Brave

Written by: Katherine Applegate

Publisher: Feiwel and Friends in Jan 2009

Genre: Realistic Fiction

Reading Lexile: 770L

Summary:

Kek is an African refugee. He came from Africa to Minnesota to escape the feuds going on from his home. When he comes to Minneapolis he experiences new things that he has never before done. His brother and father died but he is still waiting for his mom (hoping she is still alive). He finds home in his aunt and cousins apartment where he meets his new best friend. He is a 5^th grader who is terrified, but finds comfort in a cow and it owner.

Evaluation:

This is a very good story about the struggles a young person faces as an African refugee coming to a new country (United States). It is written in poetry form where there are a bunch of short poems put together to form a larger poem which is a story. It flows very well and the way it is written makes it easy to visualize what the author wants to say in the story. This story is based off of events that have happened in the past, but it is fictional characters that are affected by these events. This story is very realistic and it gives other African Refugees something to relate to their experiences. The climax seems natural and something like that of what could happen in real life. The characters most definitely seemed real especially because I have seen people that are described in the story and I am from Minneapolis. The setting showed times of trouble for people coming over from Africa as Refugees. Kek has struggles and weakness in this story. They both seem to revolve around him coming to a new land and from being an African Refugee. The theme was worthwhile and when reading it aloud I could hear the characters talking. The language was natural.

Literary elements:

-          Setting- Takes place in Minneapolis Minnesota during the time that African Refugees were coming over from Africa because of terrors going on in their country. It shows the hard times people had and had to face. You could hear, see, and touch what the author was writing.

-          Style- The author decides to write this in poetic form. She writes a whole bunch of short poems and puts them together to create a beautifully enriched flowing story. It makes the story very visual.

-          Point of View- The different characters in the story all tell feelings that they have with situations dealing with events that have happened in their lives. Kek’s point of view: New American citizen and African Refugee. Kek’s cousin’s point of view: somewhat new to America, some experience in Minnesota, African Refugee. Kek’s best friend: Foster child that is not treated the best.

Mini Lesson:

I would do this lesson on style because it is written in poem form and it uses small poems to make up a larger story.  I would have the students be guided by the teacher to learn what style of a book is. The teacher will tell them what style of a book is and then as a class they would try and figure out what the style of the book is. Since the style is poem form, it would be an introduction to a poetry unit. We would look at they kind of poetry the book uses.

Target Audience:

Upper Elementary.