You guys! 

One of my favorite Christmas presents arrived totally unexpectedly…a new CI Reader, Libertad, written by my dear friend Rita Barrett!  Rita first told me about her idea for a novel years ago the NTPRS Conference in Reno, then I was honored to read an early draft of her work last year, and  now to finally hold it in flesh and blood, errr… ink and page, it’s so amazing! I’ve already added it to my library list and I’m excited to share it with my kiddos during Free Reading when we go back to school! (If you’re hoping to add more Free Reading in your classes next semester, here are a few tips on getting a Free Reading program up and running.)

I love this book and so will you, because:

1. Rita is amazingly talented and everything she does is top-notch. Trust me on this one 😉
2.  It’s the true story of her friend, Dionisio,  who fled from Cuba during the Castro Regime.  I have a group of boys in Spanish 4 who are hungry for more non-fiction CI Readers and I know they’ll love this one!  It’s written in the 1st person, as if Dionisio were recounting his story, which is awesome, because hello more input! My little darlings hear tons of 3rd person, and it delights me that they’ll get lots of 1st person compelling input with this one!
3. Coolest of all, the same story is written at the Novice High level and Intermediate level, in one book.  Imagine the possibilities! Wouldn’t it be fun to read this with a level 2 or 3 class, and give kids the option to read either level? Hello, differentiation!  Then you could discuss as a class, because the story is the same!

Buy it! Read it! Add it to your library! (And to be clear, I get no compensation whatsoever for this recommendation… I’m just really excited about my friend’s book!)

Happy New Year, Friends!

Rita- ¡Sigues apantallándome cada día más y estoy tan orgullosa de ti, amiga! No se lo digas a Mike pero espero ansiosamente tu próximo libro 🙂