Shoeshine Girl (Rise and Shine) - Trophy Chapter Books Paperback | Engaging Children's Literature for Early Readers & Classroom Reading

This is a very emotional story of Sarah Ida Becker, a tough little ten-year-old girl, who feels unloved and has a negative attitude toward her parents and her summer-time guardian, Aunt Claudia, with whom she's staying the summer in a small town.Sarah always wants money in her pocket; so much so that she is willing to, basically, "rob" a neighbor girl's piggy bank. This desire for money leads her to get an unlikely job as a shoeshine girl, which is something only men and boys did.The relationship between Sarah Ida and the shoeshine stand owner, Al, is a great learning experience for her that's full of emotion, which tugs at the heart of the reader. Because of Al, she turns from a ME person to someone who thinks of others.Bulla has written in the most simple language a very dramatic story. The reading level is rated at grade 2.2, but it is far from a dumbed-down book. Almost every chapter ends in a cliffhanger.This is definitely a great beginning chapter book as well as a spell-binding read-aloud. It takes about one hour to read, but each of the short ten chapters are only a 5-plus minute read.Realistic Fiction; grades 3-8The Creative Teacher: Activities for Language Arts (Grades 4 through 8 and Up)