First Day in Grapes

I read First Day in Grapes by L. King Pérez. This book hasn't received any major awards. This book is about a third grade boy named Chico whose life is about constantly moving to follow the harvest. Chico hates going to a new school every time because the kids are mean to him. However, he has a really great start to his first day in Grapes. He sits by a nice kid named John, his teacher really likes him, and he finds out about a math fair. A couple of kids start being mean to Chico at lunch, but Chico stands up to them, and they leave him alone. In the end, Chico decides that it's been a pretty good first day in Grapes. I really liked this book, and how it brought to light little things about hispanic culture. I would definitely read this book in my future classroom. I think the appropriate grade level would be second grade to sixth grade. The way I would incorporate this book in my classroom would be to address the concept of bullying or on the first day of school. This book isn't a typical first day of school book and I like that about it, but it still displays all the first day emotions.

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