Still Sal
Still Sal by Kevin Henkes is a stand-alone companion to the acclaimed The Year of Billy Miller, published by HarperCollins Publishers in 2024. This 248-page book, written in English, follows Sal as she navigates the challenges of her first day of school. Initially filled with excitement, Sal’s day quickly turns into a series of disappointments, from being separated from her best friend to facing mishaps that leave her feeling out of place.
Readers will find that Still Sal explores themes of family, friendship, and resilience through Sal’s humorous yet relatable experiences. The story highlights her emotional journey as she learns to adapt to change with the support of her understanding parents, a caring teacher, and empathetic friends. With black-and-white illustrations by the author on nearly every page, this book is suitable for early elementary grades and serves as an engaging choice for both independent reading and family or classroom read-alouds.
Official synopsis Publisher
“Filled with emotionally complex characters and riveting, poignant moments, along with plenty of humor, Still Sal is not to be missed.” –BookPage (starred review)
Kirkus Best Middle Grade Books of 2024!
A stand-alone companion to two-time Newbery Honor author Kevin Henkes’s award-winning and acclaimed The Year of Billy Miller. With themes of family, friendship, and resilience, this very funny school story focuses on Billy’s little sister, Sal, and her first day of school. For fans of Ramona, Ivy + Bean, and Dory Fantasmagory.
Sal has been looking forward to first grade for a long time. But her excitement quickly turns to disappointment when she learns that her best friend, Griff, is in the other first-grade classroom and has the most popular teacher. Then Sal’s name is spelled wrong on her name tag, she trips in front of the cool fifth graders, and her self-portrait doesn’t turn out the way she wanted it to. In fact, everything about school is an absolute disaster. Poor Sal!
Luckily for Sal, she has understanding parents, a terrific new teacher, and empathetic friends who remind her that it takes time to adjust to change. And sure enough, after a few days, Sal feels like herself again.
Still Sal highlights themes of family, friendship, social and emotional growth, resilience, and adapting to change. The fourth stand-alone book in the Miller Family sequence includes black-and-white illustrations by Caldecott Medal winner Kevin Henkes on almost every page and is an excellent choice for early elementary grades, for readers ready for a short novel, and for family and classroom read-alouds.
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