The book was adapted into a play. Watch this promotional video and look at some of the props / costumes that were made for it. Could you make your own props and costumes and perform the story yourself? Overall pretty good, and better than I bargained. I was looking for an easy read (it is) since I had stopped reading for awhile (life and death and crises intervened), and it worked for that, but there were gems, there was hope, there was insight, there was growth. Third, the whole book is basically built around the fact that you’re supposed to feel sorry for Zoe (the main character), which I didn’t obviously . The side characters are if possible even worse than Zoe. Madi, her cousin, is an absolute bitch. She is literally evil. Madi even got her friend to nearly kill Zoe, simply for the fact that she hates her. There are also several mentions of Zoe wanting to end her life. Suicide and murder are NOT to be taken lightly and having teens nearly kill each other or themselves over a stupid fight is not okay.

A story which shows family loyalty at it's finest as Zoe refuses to let her gran be unhappy where she doesn't want to be. The bullying aspect is horrific but not unbelievable as situations have probably happened were things have been that severe in events. Meanwhile, the family relationship is so broken when they begin to make amends for not listening to their daughter they finally bond a little like a realistic normal family. I immensely enjoyed this book especially highlighting Alzheimer's as an illness in YA as any young carers will relate to Zoe in how she has to aid her gran so much.This collection fell flat for me. I am reminded of the way I felt about Amanda Lovelace's new work as well. Early Peppernell's poetry and prose was lush, enticing, and enjoyable. This collection felt stale, overdone, and repetitive. Now, I will not rule out the fact that maybe I have outgrown this author...but when I was thumbing through some of her pervious work I became envious that I'm not getting to read that for the first time! I still enjoy her earlier books! Oliver Jeffers has won numerous awards and delighted millions of kids and parents alike with his beautifully hand illustrated stories. The first half of the book spends time on showing readers why Zoe feels alienated by her parents and so close to her granny. She's in denial of her grandmother's dementia and believes that her parents see her as a problem they want to get rid of. And after one too many times of trying to tell them the truth about her cousin Madi bullying her only to have them think she's lying and talk about sending her away, too, she decides to solve the problem for them and take her granny to see her kind-of long lost son. You can understand what the writer was trying to achieve with this - that Zoe feels a strong connection to her granny, not only because of their relationship, but specifically because of the relationship they share with Zoe's parents. It just felt like it was missing something, and I'm not sure what, but that's kind of what I mean about this story as a fast read kind of working against it a little. The second half of the story focuses more on Zoe's denial of her grandmother's dementia, and her slow realization of just how serious it is. She comes to understand, in taking care of her grandmother, why her parents felt that she was a danger to herself and in need of professional care, but still strives to find a different solution that can work for everybody. The Heart and the Bottle is wholly compelling for the importance of its message and the brilliance of how that is conveyed in words and pictures. This is a book to return to time and time again says Julia Eccleshare, Lovereading4kids’ editorial expert.

He loves travel, cats and dogs, ice cream, working out, doing readings and workshops -- and, oh yes, meeting readers! With the children, identify the key events in the story. The events below are just suggestions but the children may sort their ideas in different ways. However, try to restrict them to between six and eight events otherwise it can become too complicated!Some of the illustrations use lots of pictures to show a single action (e.g. the boy putting on his pilot’s outfit and the conversation about fixing the two machines). Can you make a storyboard that shows an action / event? One of the things about this book that I thought was written extremely well was the dementia aspect, and you can tell that the author has personal experience with it. It's the little things, like Granny being asked simple questions and deflecting instead of answering in the hopes that no one will notice she doesn't know what the answer actually is. It's her taking her granddaughter out for ice cream and forgetting where they're going, why they're going there, how long they've been there. It's how the dementia gets progressively worse as the story goes on, to the point where Zoe can no longer deny that something is seriously wrong with her grandmother and that it's not just a quirk in her personality, or a defensive response because she feels threatened. That's where the real heart of the story lies, and I kind of wish there had been a bit more of that shown as well. Help your child to make finger puppets of the martian and the boy out of felt or other fabric. Alternatively you could use small cardboard tubes decorated with coloured paper, paint or fabric to make mini figures. Playthe story Model on separate pieces of card (or paper) how you would just write one or two keywords on each piece to act as prompts. Alternatively, you could draw pictures or symbols instead of words. For example, if you are using words you could write: Zoe is misunderstood by her parents and bullied by her vile cousin whom films an extreme case of threat against Zoe as they find it hilarious making Zoe beg for her life, literally.

I hate this book. It's disguising as a sort of feel-good wholesome emotional book. In reality it is emotionally manipulative in every way. I am required to write an essay on it. That means I have to praise it and analyze this idiotic novel and it's painfully obvious "underlying" themes. I thought some of the poems just sounded like complete chessy, cliche, bullsh*t though. But also, at the same time, some of them were sobeautiful. Which is why I'm giving this book... 3.5 stars! Mixed feelings to be honest, but it was my first poetry book so y'know, sort of sentimental as well? Sorry this review is all over the place. Zoe has a very close relationship with Granny, but that's about the only good relationship she has in her life. Her parents wish she was more like her cousin, Madi, who has secretly bullied her and blamed her for things for several years without getting into trouble. She is only allowed to hang around with people of whom Madi approves, and isn't very happy with her life. (I have a hard time connecting with characters that I don't like, so Zoe's parents and Madi, who were central characters in the first part of the story, really put me off the book as a whole).

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It was also amazing to be introduced to a transgender charcater and even though this was the only element of diversity that existed within the book. However, I have no experience with transgender indivduals so I cannot say whether this representation was all good or not. But, she was an amazing woman who deserves a medal for what she had to put up with in her family when she was younger. No one should ever have to go through the transition without the support of their loved ones. As the book progresses, Zoe and Granny's relationship takes center stage after Granny is put in a retirement home for her worsening Alzheimer's, and Zoe decides break her out and run away to Toronto to find Granny's estranged son. I love the person that Zoe is when she's with Granny, and the treatment of Alzheimer's in this book is excellent. There are more secrets to be uncovered after the pair arrive in Toronto, which also brought a wonderful and unexpected twist. Grab your tissues, because you're seriously going to be taken on an emotional rollercoaster ride with this book. I found this particularly difficult to read because it hit very very close to home with the character of the Granny. I got half way and I just didn't think I could read anymore because it was getting too personal, but I ploughed through it and I'm really glad that I did. I miss Granny. I always will. But not in a sad way. More in wonder, I guess, that Granny and I are together whenever I think of her, even when I'm alone." Now you may be thinking, "Well, maybe you were just too tired for annotating?". I take annotating very serious. I know I have to be in the mood for it. When I decide to annotate a book, I need lots of annotations and for it to be very neat. This is why I usually only annotate books I've read before or poetry.

So yeah, as you can see, I have a lot of anger about the parents on this book. I'm going to try and not get into another massive rant about the character of Madi because that would last forever. She's just a hateful, self-absorbed brat. Children could write an imaginary letter from the boy to the Martian aboutwhathe hasbeen doing on Earth. Make a mobile

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So then her grandmother is sent to an elderly home, which is something I think is completely grounded because she could barely function alone. Zoe completely disagrees with her parents. I am on the parents’ side this time. Zoe’s parents are not perfect and I would say they were quite bad parents (they believed Madi over their own daughter!). On this topic, however, I think they were completely in the right to put grandma in the home. When you start to agree with parents in YA books, you’re either just too old for the book, or the kid is just stupid. This time it’s the latter. Her gran suffers with Alzheimer's and is getting slowly worse and more forgetful as well as being prone to going want ring alone with her confusion getting herself into dangerous situations. This YA novel by the author of The Dogs didn't give me the best first impression, but it certainly grew on me.