Oh Henry. His life is so rough. His boyfriend committed suicide. His grandmother has Alzheimer's. His father left. His brother is abusive (in my opinion.) He's constantly ridiculed at school. He's also been abducted by aliens for the past few years and they've given him a choice about whether or not to save the planet. Yet, for all the sad things I just described, the book didn't feel overly depressing. It just felt hard. Henry's life is hard. Yet, there is something beautiful about it.

The only thing that didn't work for me was Charlie, Henry's brother. I found him to be abusive and not really worthy of his arc.

A great collection of stories from Gloria's life on the road.

I thought it was slow at the beginning. It took me a while to get into it. About halfway through I started to get into the story. For me, the constantly switching perspectives was confusing and didn't cause me to get into it. Also, part of the story hinges on logic, which is something I struggle with. I don't think I am the right reader for this book.

Inspiring story.

This book was very powerful. It's the story of Samuel, who is a free black boy with no parents. He lives at an orphanage with his younger brother Joshua and other kids. One day his brother is accused of a horrible prank, and Samuel takes the blame. The result? He's sold off into slavery. The luckiest thing you could say about Samuel is that he ends up on a plantation where the owners treat the slaves "well." I think that makes the book easier for younger ages to digest, but the book certainly does show horrific actions that happen on the plantation, as well as the horrors of the Civil War.

One thing I think is interesting, and would love to hear what teachers think about this aspect, is that there is no way this book could have actually happened. Walter acknowledges in the back of the book that the historical timeline doesn't match up with the book. Would that make you more reluctant to teach with it/recommend it? I'm curious.