Characters facing big challenges
It seems an appropriate time to talk about facing big challenges, since this whole virus-stay at home-school online thing is pretty challenging! Thinking about different kinds of challenges is kind of a nice diversion. These books were certainly that. The first one is called "Like Nothing Ever Amazing Happened" by Emily Blejwas. It's about Justin, a middle schooler who is struggling to adapt to a new normal. His dad died awhile back and part of the problem with his dad's death is that there were a lot of unanswered questions. Justin's dad was a Vietnam War vet that struggled with PTSD. He didn't talk much about it and was careful with the words he did speak. His dad was killed by a trolley and one of the things that Justin wonders is if his death was a suicide or just an accident. His mom and older brother are doing the best they can to try to hold things together. His brother is a talented athlete but has taken to working at...