Hello and happy Sunday. I’m officially on vacation and couldn’t be more excited. Being a teacher is rewarding, but it’s so exhausting. One of the things I had to do this year that won’t be a part of my obligations next year was joining my students in a 20-minute silent reading activity every Friday. I took Half a World Away from Cynthia Kadohata and intended to read it all, 20 minutes at a time. What really ended up happening is that I got maybe to the 100-page mark and then took the book home and finished it once my students were on vacation.

This book is narrated by Jaden, a twelve-year-old boy who’d been adopted four years earlier and who is now telling his experience as his family is in the process of adopting a baby from Kazahstan. It is a heavy book. It is by no means lighthearted or fluffy, and only towards the end I managed to feel positive emotions towards it. Despite the fact that the main character and narrator is a young boy, it felt like it was targeted towards adults. I don’t know if that’s what felt off for me, but it just did.