Leepike Ridge

Author: N.D. Wilson (his first?)

Lexile Score: Seriously Lexile people, get with the program, this book has more buzz than a reanimated housefly in January

Genre: Adventure of the high variety

Maturity level: Hmmm, 3rd grade?  The death toll piles up near the end, but none are graphic or unwarranted (wait, did I just write that?  Could I ask a book club if the character deserved to die?  Does that somehow lower the maturity reading level?  "Yeah, it's really for upper elementary, but since the bad guys were asking for it, 3rd graders would be cool with all the gore.")

Pages: 240  Chapters: 13  Average Chapter Length: 18 pages, no illustrations

Theme: Survival, Perseverance, Hope, Friendship

Project ideas:  Prapare a baggy of supplies you'd like to have with you if you were stuck in a cave for three years?  Feidl trip to the local spelunking facility?

First Line: In the history of the world there have been lots of onces and lots of times, and every time has had a once upon it.  OK can we start giving out medals for first lines?  That is brilliant.  Made even more brilliant when one has finished the book and rereads the first page.

Main Character: Tom (the kid) and then Elizabeth (the mom) and then Reg (the skinny cave-dwelling comedian)

Review in 25 words or less:  Instant classic, required on your shelf, Adventure, humor, well-written, social studies connection, edge[ridge]-of-your-seat suspense.

Grade: A

I need to add a category of somehow ranking the titles according to their usability in book club - i.e. how well do the themes allow for discussion?  is the main character easily connected to?  Does the plot have controversial (or at least discussion-stimulating) twists or decisions?

This book has it all.  I definately recommend it for any student book club.  I am a little unsure about what grade level to recommend it for.  I need to get some advice on that.  It would be great to look at research of early North American explorers in conjunction with this read.  Maybe have a look at Who Was First?  by Russell Freedman or something similar.  I thoroughly enjoyed this book, and I am certain that students would as well.  I found a great thematic discussion PDF file on the publisher website that I will post to the pages list.

Links:  Discussion sheet

Comments

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Could the theme possibly be breaking free from being trapped in a situation? The mom was trapped in widowhood, later in a boring relationship, trapped by treasure hunters. Tom was trapped by his father's death, by his mother's new boyfriend, and in the cave. They both broke free to a new life through this adventure.

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