Each Tiny Spark by Pablo Cartaya is a juvenile fiction book for 4-6th graders.
Emilia Torres has a hard time concentrating at school. Her mind often wanders and sometimes she forgets what she is supposed to be doing. But she loves puzzles, taking things apart and putting them back together again. Emilia loves her family and is excited for her dad to return from deployment. But instead of life getting back to normal, everything seems to fall apart instead.
Emilia's mom is away on a business trip and her dad is being distant, focusing only on welding an old car, something Emilia is drawn to as well. Trouble at school isn't helping things either. Redistricting is on the horizon and the town is divided over the decision.
Can Emilia deal with the pressure when everything seems to be out of control?
Wowee, this book has a lot going on. Emilia has ADHD, her dad has PTSD. There's immigration, redistricting, racism. Family drama, deployment and more. It might just be too much to fit into a juvenile fiction story. What should we focus on? All off it, parts of it, pick and choose? I think that is going to be the hardest part about discussing this book in the classroom. Then again, Each Tiny Spark may just appeal to each person in its own way.
What I did like best about this book was how the teacher took the class project and made a very surface assignment, really dig down deal. I feel like that's what true research is all about; finding the "spark" that speaks to you and seeing where it takes you.
This will be an interesting book to discuss in bookclub and I am excited to see where our discussion takes up.
That's all for now!
-M-