Book Six: Home of the BRAVE

Home of the BRAVE by Katherine Applegate


Publisher: Square Fish; First Edition edition (December 23, 2008)


Genre: Realistic Fiction 


Grade Level Equivalent: 4.3

Kek is a refugee from Africa, and he finds himself starting a new life in a foreign  land known as Minnesota. He was sent there to live with his aunt and cousin after his father and brother die, and he loses his mother in the refuge camp. He longs to be back home in Africa because he feels that he will never be fully accepted into the community. He finds comfort in a small farm with one cow that reminds him of home. The story takes you through his journey in his first year in Minnesota, and one that leads him to find a new sense of home.

This was a very well written piece of literature because it had a lot of strong parts to it. To start the story is written in poetry, and this is a wonderful addition to this story. The story digs into important issues like how refugees feel, and I think this is important especially in Minneapolis where we have an increased population of refugees. It is also very well written because any one of the poems inside of the story could be taken out and used as an individual poem. The plot of the story is well done because it moves very well throughout the story, and it is very descriptive. I think this shows up a lot when the author describes the settings of the two very different places. The author did a fabulous job on character development because I really got a sense of who Kek was, and when I was writing the poem about his life it really took meaning into my own life. The setting was fabulous because I really got a sense of where he was, and it give you a insight into the drastic difference in setting he experienced.

This book is a great book to use for critical thinking because it digs into deeper issues that need to be discussed, so I think I would use it to talk about things like new students, feeling left out, and even refugees and what they need to feel welcomed. I think all these issues are not easy to talk about, but when talked about in context to the story I think that it would make it much easier. Becuase this story is pretty intense I would probably use this book in my classroom if I was teaching between 6th-9th grade, but I would use it all the way up to 12th.


Thanks for reading y'all!


Gorms