Everywhere by: Bruce Brooks (realistic fiction)

Brooks presents a very short, concise novel about a boy named Peanuts. The entire book covers a time period of one day when his grandfather suffers a heart-attack. Throughout the story, Peanuts undergoes emotions of grief, worry, and most importantly, love. He is accompanied by another boy, Dooley, who ensures Peanuts that a simple "soul-switch" (similar to voo-doo) will heal his grandfather. The book concludes with the grandfather living, and an overpowering message about the significance of love.

This book is very practical because it contains some heavier themes in it, but would not take several weeks to read aloud in the classroom. Aside from the conflict of his grandfather's ailment, there is also a theme of friendship. Dooley and Peanuts are of two different races and this issue only makes a minor appearance in the story. This emphasizes how crossing races in the name of friendship truly does not need to be as groundbreaking as some literature presents.

I would use this book soley for students to practice identifying themes in the story. I would craft questions that emphasized higher levels of thinking in Bloom's Taxonomy (application, synthesis, evaluation, ect). This could be implemented in an informal setting (similar to a literacy circle).