Age: 1st - 3rd grade
Season: Fall

"Farah feels alone, even when surrounded by her classmates. She listens and nods but doesn’t speak. It’s hard being the new kid in school, especially when you’re from another country and don’t know the language. Then, on a field trip to an apple orchard, Farah discovers there are lots of things that sound the same as they did at home, from dogs crunching their food to the ripple of friendly laughter. As she helps the class make apple cider, Farah connects with the other students and begins to feel that she belongs" (Goodreads feature review).

The purpose of this book is to show the anxiety an immigrant might have in a school setting. Although we don't see Farah's life before the U.S., we feel her reservations towards the unknown world around her. It felt like Bunting was sensitive towards an immigrant's feelings, especially when the teacher looks at Farah "in a kind way" and repeats instructions to her with the use of one word only. Farah reacts in that "I want to say, 'I understand. It's not that I am stupid. It is just that I am lost in this new place.' But I don't know how to tell her" (12). Bunting simply reveals an experience that every child, immigrant or not, experiences: being lost and not being able to voice one's feelings.