YouthREAD 2023
YouthREAD allows young readers the opportunity to explore themes similar to those found in the CommunityREAD selections. We also have special programs for children and teens. Check our calendar HERE and join us for some programs.
YouthREAD titles selected as companions to The Invisible Husband of Frick Island are as follows:
Grades Pre-K – 1
We Forgot Brock by Carter Goodrich
Phillip and Brock are best friends. Everyone can see Phillip, but only Phillip can see Brock.
A night at the Big Fair is all fun and games until Phillip gets sleepy, heads home, and forgets Brock!
Brock misses Phillip. And Phillip misses Brock. Will they reunite? With the help of another pair of pals, they just might. Because even imaginary friends get lost sometimes. Finding them is part of the adventure.
Discussion Questions & Activities
Grades 2 – 3
High and Dry by Eric Walters
Dylan lives on a remote island in the Pacific Northwest with his parents, but when they have to go to the mainland, his grandfather weathers a storm to come spend time with him. Grandpa's brought Dylan a number of gifts, and one comes in handy the next day while they are exploring the coast. In fact, this gift leads the duo to a dangerous discovery: a young orca got stuck on the rocks during the storm. Racing against the sun and the heat, Dylan and Grandpa need to work together to figure out how to save the calf while his pod circles nearby.
Discussion Questions & Activities
Grades: 4 - 6
Caterpillar Summer by Gillian McDunn
Cat and her brother Chicken have always had a very special bond--Cat is one of the few people who can keep Chicken happy. When he has a "meltdown" she's the one who scratches his back and reads his favorite story. She's the one who knows what Chicken needs. Since their mom has had to work double-hard to keep their family afloat after their father passed away, Cat has been the glue holding her family together.
Discussion Questions & Activities
Grades 7-8
The Line Tender by Kate Allen
The Line Tender is the story of Lucy, the daughter of a marine biologist and a rescue diver, and the summer that changes her life. If she ever wants to lift the cloud of grief over her family and community, she must complete the research her late mother began. She must follow the sharks.
Wherever the sharks led, Lucy Everhart’s marine-biologist mother was sure to follow. In fact, she was on a boat far off the coast of Massachusetts, preparing to swim with a Great White, when she died suddenly. Lucy was eight. Since then Lucy and her father have done OK—thanks in large part to her best friend, Fred, and a few close friends and neighbors. But June of her twelfth summer brings more than the end of school and a heat wave to sleepy Rockport. On one steamy day, the tide brings a Great White—and then another tragedy, cutting short a friendship everyone insists was “meaningful” but no one can tell Lucy what it all meant. To survive the fresh wave of grief, Lucy must grab the line that connects her depressed father, a stubborn fisherman, and a curious old widower to her mother’s unfinished research. If Lucy can find a way to help this unlikely quartet follow the sharks her mother loved, she’ll finally be able to look beyond what she’s lost and toward what’s left to be discovered.
Discussion Questions & Activities
Grades 9-12
We Were Liars by E. Lockhart
A beautiful and distinguished family. A private island.
A brilliant, damaged girl; a passionate, political boy.
A group of four friends whose friendship turns destructive.
A revolution. An accident. A secret.
Lies upon lies.
True love.
The truth.
We Were Liars is a thrilling, gut-wrenching suspense novel from New York Times bestselling author, National Book Award finalist, and Printz Award honoree E. Lockhart.
Discussion Questions & Activities