The Girl from Earth's End | 
The friendship between Henna, P, and Lora was a very sweet addition to the book. The way that they all encouraged each other and pushed Henna was something that I would love to push for in a middle school classroom. This age is such a hard time for friendships and having a good example of what healthy friendships look like is so important.
One of my favorite parts of this book is how gentle the author approaches grief that comes from someone you love being ill. She does it in a way that is really powerful and impactful.
This book was another pick that I think will be great for middles grades. She‘s 12 years old, which fits middle grades age range, and she is learning more about herself throughout this book. I was very excited to read this when I saw it was on the list.
This book has been absolutely mind-boggling for me -- this girl (Henna) leaves her home to find a plant to save her dying father. She has never been away from her little island, hardly ever having contact with the outside world. The theme of sacrifice is prominent in this book! It doesn't even feel like she is burdened by the sacrifice, but that she believes it is the obvious thing to do.
Throughout the beginning of this novel, Dairman adds these sections in parentheses and italics, which highlight the scheduling of certain activities. She doesn‘t come out and say “Henna and her parents have a schedule every day,” but uses her writing to show rather than tell. I am really enjoying Dairman‘s writing.
This book highlights the story of a girl who has lived with her parents on an island for many years, and has hardly had any contact with others. I actually had very little thought about this because the author doesn‘t highlight her isolation much, but here the author does a good job of subtly getting her readers to think about this idea. She hasn‘t had any idea of what other parent-child relationships can look like until now.
My second choice book is “The Girl from Earth‘s End” by Tara Dairman. I am about 1/4 of the way through, and something I really like so far is the title. It‘s ambiguous enough to keep me guessing about what it‘s about, but intriguing enough that I picked it up off the list.
