Reading Rumpus: Crunch by Leslie Connor

They told me I only had to read the first fifty pages. That's like telling a shark he can only nibble the big toe. So, I'm finding that I end up reading them all the way through, no nibbling for me. Alas, trying to get a review on here becomes even more strenuous as I want to talk about them all, want to regurgitate the good ones in full, pass along some teaching ideas. The depth of review is going to suffer (as it already has since my return to work full-time). I doubt there will be many teaching ideas, but at least we'll all get a peek at what's turning out to be some great titles.

First up: Crunch by Waiting for Normal author Leslie Connor...

Crunch is a pleasant, feel-good story of a family living through a gasoline crunch (kids today are too young to remember when there was such a thing so educators might want to drop a little background knowledge on them before starting the book). Crunch follows the stock "get rid of the parents to move the plot" format. Protagonist Dewey's parents are stuck hours away without any gasoline in sight while Dewey and his siblings are left to care for each other and run the family bicycle shop (which is, of course, booming due to the gas shortage). Ms. Connor throws in a mystery (who is stealing from them?) and a cast of pleasurable characters. An easy, feel-good realistic story for the 4th - 6th crowd.

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Genre: Realistic Fiction
Age: 9 - 12
Pages: 336
Themes: Family, Mystery, Perseverance, Honor
Publisher: Harper Collins
Date: March 2010
ISBN 978-0061692291
Borrowed from school library
BUY Crunch HERE
For a discussion guide, an author interview and a few other treats, visit the publisher's website: Here.

Here's a television interview:

Leslie Connor was born on the family room floor and has been in a hurry ever since then. You can read more about her on her website.
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Crunch by Leslie Connor - book review