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It's the summer before grade six and Calvin Sinclair is bored to tears. He's recently moved from a big city to a small town and there's nothing to do. It's hot, he has no friends and the only kid around is his six-year-old brother, Sammy, who can barely throw a basketball as high as the hoop.
Cal occupies his time by getting his brother to do almost anything: from collecting ants to doing Calvin's chores. And Sammy is all too eager - as long as it means getting a "Level" and moving one step closer to his brother's Eagle status.
When Calvin meets Aleta Alvarado, a new girl who shares his love for Goosebumps books and adventure, Sammy is pushed aside. Cal feels guilty but not enough to change. At least not until a diagnosis makes things at home start spinning out of control and he's left wondering whether Sammy will ever complete his own journey...
"Tender, direct, and honest."—Kirkus Reviews
"An honest portrayal of love, loss, and friendship." —School Library Journal
"A moving and ultimately hopeful book."—Booklist
"This book is heart-breaking, gut-wrenching, and awe-inspiring.... highly recommend this book to fans of the book Wonder by R. J. Palacio, but i think that any reader will enjoy this excellent debut novel from Alex Lyttle." —JacobtheBookworm, Goodreads
"This is touching, moving, beautiful story and I can't recommend it enough. Even though its target audience is upper middle grade, everyone should read this. Did you watch that television show Red Band Society? My teenager daughter and I loved that show and this book had that seem feel but from the perspective of the non-ill sibling. Nicola Yoon's Everything, Everything was released in September of 2015 and the hype that followed was out of control. The hype for this book needs to surpass that." —Candace, Goodreads
Check out Alex Lyttle's other book:
The Rise of Winter
The Critics Agree: From Ant to Eagle, like The Bridge to Terabithia and Out of My Mind, shouldn't be missed. Read this award-winning book today!
Winner, Red Cedar Award 2019
Winner, Silver Birch Fiction Award 2018
Winner, Rocky Mountain Book Award 2019
Finalist, Alberta Writers Guild 2019
Finalist, Foreword Indies Book of the Year 2017
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Creators
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Publisher
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Release date
April 1, 2017 -
Formats
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Kindle Book
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OverDrive Read
- ISBN: 9781771681124
- File size: 1692 KB
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EPUB ebook
- ISBN: 9781771681124
- File size: 1691 KB
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Languages
- English
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Levels
- Lexile® Measure: 800
- Text Difficulty: 3-4
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Reviews
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March 1, 2017
Cal's little brother is diagnosed with cancer just as Cal's magical summer of friendship with a girl his own age comes to a close.In a first-person narrative set in 1995 near London, Ontario, white, 11-year-old Cal Sinclair describes the change in his relationship with 6-year-old Sammy and his new friendship with Aleta Alvarado. Cal, an avid Goosebumps reader, is an inventive tormentor of his brother, bribing Sammy with "levels" of achievement--Ant to Eagle--for missions like wasps'-nest bothering. Cal is determined to befriend the new girl at church. Aleta, who intensely mourns her deceased mother, is from Mexico (Cal describes her speech as "sing-songy, pretty with only a slight accent"). Cal and Aleta form a strong bond that leaves Sammy behind. When at summer's end Sammy's bruises and exhaustion are given a diagnosis--leukemia--Cal is devastated and contrite. A course of chemotherapy turns into what Oliver, an older, long-term patient in the children's cancer ward, calls the "cancer crumble": arguments between Cal's parents that emerge along with despair even before the unhappy diagnosis and recommendation of palliative care come through. Lyttle's voice for Cal is appealingly direct and articulate, if occasionally outsized--"I imagined a place of absent hair matching absent smiles, cries and moans haunting dark halls and darker rooms"--and his account of his struggle to cope will appeal to readers. Tender, direct, and honest. (Historical fiction. 9-12)COPYRIGHT(2017) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
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March 1, 2017
Gr 5-8-Calvin Sinclair spends the summer before sixth grade challenging his six-year-old brother Sammy to earn "levels" by completing tasks such as collecting a jar of ants or sinking 100 baskets. Each level, named for an animal (such as Snail for mowing the lawn and Fox for showing bravery), is documented in a journal as Sammy strives to move closer to Calvin's Eagle status. When a new girl, Aleta Alvarado, moves to town, Sammy is pushed aside as Calvin and Aleta bond over their shared love of "Goosebumps" books and adventures to their "Secret Spot," an area in the fields between their houses that offers a view of Lake Huron. During this time, Sammy has been feeling tired and sick, leading to a diagnosis of acute myeloid leukemia. Calvin feels guilty and wants to protect his younger brother from the cancer as his parents struggle to deal with the crisis in their own ways. VERDICT An honest portrayal of love, loss, and friendship in the face of a life-changing journey; hand to those who appreciated Katherine Paterson's Bridge to Terabithia or Jordan Sonnenblick's Drums, Girls and Dangerous Pie.-Sarah Polace, Cuyahoga Public Library System, OH
Copyright 2017 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
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