Chapter Book 3: Everything on a Waffle (Newbery)

Author: Polly Horvath

Genre: Fiction

Subgenre: Realistic Fiction

Themes: loss of a parent, adoption and foster care, holding on to hope, not compromising your beliefs

Characters:

~Primrose Squarp

~Ms. Perfidy, Uncle Jack, Primrose’s parents, Miss Honeycut,

 Evie and Bert

Awards:

~Newbery Honor Book

~Boston Globe- Horn Book Award Honor Book

~American Library Association Notable Book

Date of Publication: September 2002

Publishing Company: Scholastic, Inc.

Summary: No matter what everyone else in Coal Harbor thinks, Primrose Squarp know that her parents did not die in a terrible storm at sea.   After living for some time with an elderly neighbor, Primrose finally goes to live with her only relative, Uncle Jack.  Despite several mishaps, Primrose is able to hold true to herself as she discovers the good and bad qualities of the adults in her life as they try to determine what to do with this young orphaned girl.

Recommendation: This book is very funny, but also touches on serious topics such as loss and staying true to personal beliefs.  I believe that this would be a good read aloud book for the classroom, because it touches on a range of emotions and allows for good discussions.  A fun activity for the book would be to make some of the recipes in the book, including waffles.