Module 3: Chapter Book 3

A.   Author	Rosemary Wells
B.    Title	Wingwalker
C.    Illustrator	Brian Selznick
D.   Readability Score	Lexile 650L,  DRA 38,  Grade Equivalent: 4.2
E.    Genre	Fiction
F.    Subgenre	Historical Realism
G.   Theme	Great Depression
H.   Primary and Secondary Characters	Primary: Reuben Secondary: Ma, Pa, Mary Ellen, Circus people
I.      Awards/Date of Publication	Published: May 1, 2002
J.     Publishing Company	Hyperion Books for Children
K.   ISBN Number	0786803975
L.    Summary	Reuben, a young boy, tells about his life during the Great Depression in the Dust Bowl.  He is a second grader in Ambler Oklahoma.  Before the Dust Bowl, his dad works as a dance teacher and mother in a restaurant.  Both parents loose their jobs when the dust blows to town and closes everything down. His father answers an ad in the paper for a wingwalker with a traveling circus in Minnesota.  The family packs up and moves to Minnesota where they travel around with the circus from town to town.  It is a wonderful adventure for Reuben as he experiences so many things he never would have in the small town he was from.  His father is his idol.  The last day of traveling he goes on the wing with his father and makes him so proud.  The descriptive words by Rosemary Wells and the vibrant pictures by Brian Selznick put the reader in the book.
M.  Picture of Book Cover
N.   Usage with students	History of the Dust Bowl is described in detail by Rosemary Wells throughout the entire book.  This could be used as an intro into teaching about the Dust Bowl.  The descriptive writing throughout the book could be used for a writing lesson.