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Great book!

Peer discussion done in class.

“She smiled at me with pity and confusion an went back to the conversation, so I just stared out of the window and in my head, I drew the world as it should be. For a while it made me feel better. But then I got to school.”

I loved the message this story gives. Amber and her sister feel a hole where their father is missing, but realize that even with that hole their family unit is extremely strong.

I picked it this book because the main character shares my name, but I ended up loving the story and the message. This book tells the story of a young girl who has both Italian and Japanese backgrounds. She lives with her Italian mother and has not seen her father for many years. This causes her to feel disconnected from her Japanese culture.

Addresses family issues with dad leaving and not coming back.

I like this book it is about a little girl that writes a letters that she writes to her dad and the other sister writes back.

“Its not easy to be half this and half that, especially two halves that are so completely different.”

I would offer this book in a reading center for a middle school class if children are interested in reading it on their own!

Realistic fiction. This book portrays the realities for children today especially as many children in the class that account for having singable parents can relate. This book is also great in the sense that it is relatable to children entering middle school, this book is a great read as many children can connect.

“Life is so confusing and human beings are strange creatures, Amber. They‘re complicated. Illogical.”

A book following a 12 year old (almost) through reallt hard parts of life. Things everyday students struggle with and have to encounter, including not having the newest gadgets & having a missing parent & fitting in in a new place & a lot more. It has the chapter numbers in english, japan & italian to include all parts of her. It also includes her doodles which relate to her feelinfs

Dream On, Amber by Emma Shevah (contemporary fiction, published 2015) focuses around a half-japanese, half-italian pre-teen who has to start middle school. Her dad left and she has to deal with that, and posing as him to her little sister. She has a lot going on that she is trying to make sense of, and things that a lot of children could easily relate to. I think it is good for the grades dealing with the middle school transition & such

“Ambra Alessandra Leola Kimiko Miyamoto. I have no idea why my parents gave me all those hideous names but they must have wanted to ruin my life, and you know what? They did an amazing job.“

I love the little details that the book has around the border of each page- a very similar style to the Diary of a Wimpy Kid. I know that when I read in elementary school I always gravitated to the books written like a journal because they were extremely relatable and very easy to visualize.

Published in 2014, it is the story of a mixed girl named amber and her trying to fit in at middle school. Amber also does not have a dad- well she does, she just has not seen him for a very long time. Children who also are missing an adult figure in their life are able to sympathize with this story. Amber is mixed with Japanese and Italian, which a lot of children can relate to within the classroom and help them feel represented in a book.

This book touches and is built upon a difficult issue. Living without a dad or not even getting to see him can be hard for everyone involved. For the child in a classroom going through this, they get to come to the understanding that there are plenty of motivations out there. Kids can relate well to Amber and because of this, the book might enlarge their overall point of view in what its like without a dad and how to overcome it!

This book is important because it can connect to all the kids out there without a father. Doing so is hard to accomplish and it‘s important to have a book that focuses on a touching aspect of life like this!

Contemporary realistic fiction. This is a book I think a lot of children can relate to, especially those living without their father. It‘s very real and perfect for children exploring longer chapter books because of the diary format and doodles to keep interest. I would definitely love to keep reading this story.

Dream On, Amber by Emma Shevah, 2014. This story feels like a journal, it‘s real and honest and it‘s formatted like a young child might format a journal, complete with doodles. It goes through not only Amber‘s struggles with her dad gone, but also her little sister who is almost two young to remember him but is still affected. This story is wonderful and sweet and definitely a wonderful model of realistic fiction.

Amber is the most hilariously cynical 11 year old.