Name: Big & Little Questions (according to Wren Jo Byrd)
ISBN: 9780803736931

Julie Bowe

-Fourth grader Wren Jo Byrd questions lots of things--both little and big--when her parents decide to get a divorce, and learns a lot about the true meaning of family, home, and friendship---

Big & Little Questions (according to Wren Jo Byrd)

Sarah Sammis

But the kids at school have maintained their friendships through the thick and thin. Sure, sometimes families move away. Sometimes the move means a friendship becomes a long distance one via email and texting, and sometimes old friends are replaced by new friends. But it's very rarely the sort of drama portrayed here.

Put another way — the children going through the life upheaval are understandably emotional but it's rare here for friends to turn on each other when one is going through an upset such as a divorce.

http://www.pussreboots.com/blog/2018/...

Samantha Seeman

This was a light, easy read on a particularly heavy topic for the desired audience. Unfortunately, today divorce is much more common than it once was. Many children come from complicated home lives and extended family trees. In this more “rose-colored” world of Wren, she seems to be the only one in her class who is affected by divorce, that is except for the incredibly annoying, friend stealer Marianna. Throughout the story, Wren battles with what her parents separating means, how it touches her life, and when to keep secrets and when to tell a friend the truth. Risking her most precious friendship to keep an embarrassing secret weighs heavily on this nine year old girl, as she continues to ask “why.”

It was not my favorite read this year so far, but it certainly was not the worst one either. I think that the author created a world that is not entirely realistic by today’s standards. I do however feel that she tackled the internal fight over when to tell the truth and when to keep quiet, fairly well. I loved that Wren looked words up (or was instructed to do so) when she didn’t understand what they meant. My mother did something similar to my brothers and I when we were growing up, and I think more kids would benefit from that teaching opportunity.

Big & Little Questions (according to Wren Jo Byrd)

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