Sequels Are So Tricky...

I pilfered this book out of the guided reading library, which I figured was a thanks to me for sitting through six hours of professional development on the second floor of an un-air-conditioned building. I'll return it in the morning.

Anyway.

I loved the original book in this short series, The Chalk Box Kid. I read it as a second-grader and thought it was an okay book, then read it this past year as an adult, so I actually understood it. I loved it. I loved how simple the language was and how effective it was in expressing loneliness.

The sequel, The Paint Brush Kid, was still a good book, just not as good. It's an interesting read, to be sure. Gregory and his friend Ivy offer to paint the house of an old neighbor and paint a beautiful mural of the man's childhood in Mexico. Then the state says they're going to tear down to house to build a freeway, so the town must band together to save the house.

I guess what didn't translate into the second book was the main character's internal struggle, and the process of growth he goes through in the story. Maybe this second one was a bit more exciting, but it didn't have quite as much literary merit (although both books are leveled at an M, so I'm assuming literary merit is not a criteria for leveling). I guess I would continue to use the first book as a guided reading book, since it has some things kids can really dig into, and use the second book as an independent reading book.