Thank you to Random House
for sending me a copy of this book to review
and for providing a copy of the book
for me to giveaway! (Details below!)
Author: Mark and Alexis Siegel
Illustrator: Xanthe Bouma, Matt Rockefeller, Boya Sun
Publisher: Random House Books for Young Readers
Publication Date: May 2nd, 2017
Genre/Format: Fantasy/Graphic Novel
GoodReads Summary: The Five Worlds are on the brink of extinction unless five ancient and mysterious beacons are lit. When war erupts, three unlikely heroes will discover there’s more to themselves—and more to their worlds—than meets the eye. . . .
• The clumsiest student at the Sand Dancer Academy, Oona Lee is a fighter with a destiny bigger than she could ever imagine.
• A boy from the poorest slums, An Tzu has a surprising gift and a knack for getting out of sticky situations.
• Star athlete Jax Amboy is beloved by an entire galaxy, but what good is that when he has no real friends?
When these three kids are forced to team up on an epic quest, it will take not one, not two, but 5 WORLDS to contain all the magic and adventure!
What I Think: This is a book of problem solving and perseverance but it's also about friendship and believing in yourself. I love all the different characters and how they come together. What really stood out to me about this book as a mentor text is that the characters have depth to them but it's pretty easy to see this so it makes a good text for a character study but also for thinking about how a writer might add depth to his or her own character. As a mentor text, I would have students look at Ooona, An Tzu, and Jax and make a chart the outlines each of the goals, conflicts, and motivation in the story. Then writers can think about their own characters and whether they have similar agency as Oona, An Tzu, and Jax in The Sand Warrior. Another element to look at would be how each has internal and external goals, conflicts, and motivation. Making sure characters have something that propels them forward it part of writing a good story that readers want to read. It's not easy but it's nice to have mentor texts that gives us examples to go off of.
Writing Prompt: Write about a time in your life when you didn't believe in yourself but a friend helped you persevere.
Writing Prompt: Write about a time in your life when you didn't believe in yourself but a friend helped you persevere.
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