Home of the Brave - By Katherine Applegate

Home of the Brave is a realistic fictional story written by Katherine Applegate. It is for ages 9 to 12 and is 256 pages written as a poem. It is a beautiful story about a boy who arrives in Minnesota from Sudan. His life in Sudan was in a village with his parents and brother. They took care of and herded cattle. Wealth was determined by how many cattle the family owned. There was violence and his dad and brother were killed. Kek and his mother ran and survived but lost each other. Kek goes to Minnesota to live with his aunt and cousin while they hope to hear news of his mother.

The reader is shown the world through Kek's eyes. He arrived in the winter and had to adjust to all the snow and cold. It is a different world here. Kek befriends an older woman and gets a job taking care of her cow. It makes him feel close to home and like he is doing something good. He is very excited to learn at school and meets people from many different places. Kek finds out that the woman will sell the farm and that he won't be able to take care of the cow once it is sold. This devastates Kek and he tries to run away. He doesn't get far. He stops to see the cow and his cousin comes to talk with him. They both have the pain of watching family die and it is hard. Kek feels guilty for surviving and wonders why he was able to survive. At the end of the story, his mother arrives in Minnesota and it is their new home.

This story is heart-felt and touching. It really puts the reader in the place of being so new to a place that is so far away. Kek is a kind boy and has to adjust to the changes. I can only imagine how hard that would be. I believe this book helps us imagine. I think that children would enjoy reading it and that it would help them understand what some people have been through in order to be here. It is good for immigrants to read because they will be able to relate to it so well.

Kek grew through the story. He had to accept that he should not feel guilty for running away and for surviving. It was a gift that he survived. He learned to make Minnesota his new home. It is a very different place, but it can be home too.

Mini-lesson:
I think this would be a great book to discuss in small groups. The students could have a literacy circle in which they are given roles that facilitate discussion. They could learn a lot by thinking deeply about this book and from the thoughts of their fellow students.