Friday Firstliners is a take off on First Line Fridays hosted simultaneously by Hoarding Books and Wandering Words. The first line I’m featuring today should sound familiar to many southerners who have read coming of age stories like To Kill a Mockingbird. Kate DiCamillo’s Because of Winn Dixie is a delightful coming of age story that opens…
“My name is India Opal Buloni, and last summer my daddy, the preacher, sent me to the store for a box of macaroni-and-cheese, some white rice, and two tomatoes, and I came back with a dog.”
This was a favorite of my 6th through 8th graders, boys and girls alike, and presented some of the most memorable characters in tween and teen books. Themes of “friendship, community and fellowship”are presented as only a book set in a small town in the Deep South can do.
I highly recommend this book.
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Author: Rae Longest
This year (2019) finds me with 50 plus years of teaching "under my belt." I have taught all levels from pre-K "(library lady" or "book lady"--volunteer) to juniors, seniors, and graduate students enrolled in my Advanced Writing class at the university where I have just completed 30 years. My first paying teaching job was junior high, and I spent 13 years with ages 12-13, the "difficult years." I had some of the "funnest" experiences with this age group. When I was no longer the "young, fun teacher," I taught in an elementary school setting before sixth graders went on to junior high, teaching language arts blocs, an assignment that was a "dream-fit" for me. After completing graduate school in my 40s, I went on to community college, then university teaching.
Just as teaching is "in my blood," so is a passion for reading, writing, libraries, and everything bookish.
This blog will be open to anyone who loves books, promotes literacy and wants to "come out and play."
View all posts by Rae Longest
powerfulwomenreaders 
Great post! Sounds like a sweet book.
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Winn-Dixie is one of my favorite books. It’s in a category I call books of redemption. It’s a category I love. I hope to write a post about redemptive books soon.
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Redemptive books would make a great post.
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