Things Seen from Above

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About Things Seen From Above

Product Description A shift in perspective can change everything.This brilliant novel from the author of The Seventh Most Important Thing celebrates kids who see the world a little differently. April is looking for an escape from the sixth-grade lunch hour, which has become a social-scene nightmare, so she signs up to be a "buddy bench monitor" for the fourth graders' recess. Joey Byrd is a boy on the fringes, who wanders the playground alone, dragging his foot through the dirt. But over time, April realizes that Joey isn't just making random circles. When you look at his designs from above, a story emerges... Joey's "bird's eye" drawings reveal what he observes and thinks about every day. Told in alternating viewpoints--April's in text and Joey's mostly in art--the story gives the "whole picture" of what happens as these two outsiders find their rightful places. Review "An uplifting story of friendship, kindness, and new ways of seeing." — Kirkus Reviews"Readers will think about this novel after they’ve closed the book. It’s full of heart and is sure to encourage looking at the world through a new lens." — School Library Journal"A warm and gentle embrace of exceptional children, the recognition they deserve." — Booklist" Readers will be intrigued by Joey’s skill in creating precise, giant drawings that can only be seen from above." — Bulletin"An appealing story about learning to fit in to a crowd that’s still learning what fitting in truly means." — Book Page "Pearsall writes about compassion without preachiness, bringing the story’s threads together in a satisfying ending that’s feel-good but far from sappy." — The Horn Book Magazine About the Author A former teacher and museum historian, SHELLEY PEARSALL is now a full-time author. Her first novel, Trouble Don't Last, won the Scott O'Dell Award for Historical Fiction. Her latest book was The Seventh Most Important Thing, which earned three starred reviews and was named an ALA Notable Book. To learn more about the author and her work, visit ShelleyPearsall.com. Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved. April: What Am I Doing Here?     Joey Byrd looked like he was dead.   I’m not joking.   Pretty much everybody at Marshallville Elementary knew who Joey Byrd was.   You could be walking to lunch or gym class, and suddenly you’d notice this pale-haired boy lying flat on the hallway tiles--arms out, eyes closed--as if he’d just been struck by a bolt of lightning. Usually a teacher would be standing nearby trying to coax him to get up and motioning for everyone else to go around, saying, “Just ignore him. Keep moving.”   But today, Joey Byrd was lying in the middle of the playground, only a few feet away from where I was sitting. It was only my second day as a Buddy Bench volunteer. I had no idea whether I should go and get Mrs. Zeff, the recess aide, or not. She seemed like a nice lady, but she also seemed pretty frazzled.   Fortunately, Marshallville’s playground wasn’t hard blacktop--it was wood chips. And also fortunately, it was a sunny and warm day for the first week of September in Michigan.   Still I figured the little kid had to be really uncomfortable with all of those pointy pieces of bark sticking in his back while ants, and who knows what else, crawled all over him. . . .   Actually he hadn’t budged since recess started.   I checked the time on my phone. Fifteen minutes had already gone by. His arms had stayed frozen in place--angled diagonally from his sides. His eyes were closed. If you’d drawn a white line around him, he would’ve looked like one of those police outlines of a dead body.   Was he thinking? Pouting? In some kind of trance?   The day before, he’d walked around a tree all recess. I’m serious. Our playground had only one tree--a kind of scraggly maple tree--donated by the class of 2003. Everybody called it the 2003 Tree. Joey had spent about thirty minutes of yesterday’s recess walking around it, making larger and larger c