Finding Esme
Esme's grandmother Bee has always had this knack for finding things. If anyone or anything in their small Texan town is lost, Bee can find it. But there are just some things that can't be found--like Esme's dad Harlan who ran off and left her mom silent and despondent. Not only that but her Paps just died on a hill near their farm. Esme can't help but be drawn to the hill and the more time she spends there, the more strange things start happening. Maybe Esme has inherited Bee's finding gift and the old bones she finds are something she is destined to find there on that hill.
I'll be honest when I say that this book has a sort of slow start. It was hard for me to get into the book at first..but I feel like that mood is reminiscent of the small town charm happening in the book. Their small Texas town has that muggy, lazy familiar vibe to it where nothing much happens to them. But as Esme's finding adventure picks up and she realizes more and more things about herself and her family, the writing because more exciting and pulls you right in.
I chose this book specifically to read to my English Language Learners (ELLs) because our second unit of the year is about dinosaurs and paleontology. While of course, Esme finding the bones and unearthing them is part of the book, it's definitely not the center of the story. This book is much more about her emotional journey as she unearths secrets and understanding of her family. Nevertheless, I feel like it will still be an interesting book to pair with our Dinosaur non-fiction curriculum.
This book has a lot about relationships...Esme's relationship with Bee, her Paps, her mother June Rain, her younger brother Bo, her best friend Finch, and many other people in the town and all their relationships with each other.
That being said there are a lot of things in here that students can relate to that might be difficult things happening in their lives--absent fathers, depression in parents, death, strained friendships, financial difficulties. I know that many of my students have dealt with these hard things and it can be of great benefit to them to read about characters experiencing them as well.
Suzanne Crowley has written a couple different books, both middle-grade and young adult novels. This one specifically was inspired by her childhood as well as a fascination with fossils. She now lives back in her native Texas with her family. You can purchase a copy of Finding Esme here.
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