The Remarkable Journey of Coyote Sunrise by Dan Gemeinhart

From Goodreads, 

"Five years. That's how long Coyote and her dad, Rodeo, have lived on the road in an old school bus, crisscrossing the nation. It's also how long ago Coyote lost her mom and two sisters in a car crash.

Coyote hasn’t been home in all that time, but when she learns the park in her old neighborhood is being demolished - the very same park where she, her mom, and her sisters buried a treasured memory box - she devises an elaborate plan to get her dad to drive 3,600 miles back to Washington state in four days...without him realizing it.

Along the way, they'll pick up a strange crew of misfit travelers. Lester has a lady love to meet. Salvador and his mom are looking to start over. Val needs a safe place to be herself. And then there's Gladys....

Over the course of thousands of miles, Coyote will learn that going home can sometimes be the hardest journey of all...but that with friends by her side, she just might be able to turn her “once upon a time” into a “happily ever after”."

Goodreads - The Remarkable Journey of Coyote Sunrise

Awards and Nominations: 

• Goodreads Choice Award Nominee for Middle Grade & Children's (2019)

During my second year of teaching, I had the opportunity to go to a reading conference for teachers.  I remember going into the convention center's main room where they had vendors set up and authors you could talk to.  There was also a school bus parked in the room.  It had been renovated and completely remodeled inside and was a library on wheels.  I immediately fell in love with the idea of having a mobile library and thought it sounded like a load of fun.  When I realized this book had a school bus at the center, I immediately knew this book would be full of excitement. 

Coyote Sunrise lives on a school bus with her dad Rodeo.  For the last five years, they have been traveling across the country following their hearts and running from their past.  After her weekly phone call to her grandmother, she finds out that the park where she grew up is being destroyed.  This wouldn't be a big deal, except that Coyote, her mother, and her two sisters buried a time capsule in the park.  Coyote's mother and sisters were killed in a car wreck and Coyote quickly realizes that she has to somehow get Rodeo to go back home first the first time in five years because that box is the only thing she has left of them. 

Favorite quote from The Remarkable Journey of Coyote Sunrise:

"It's something to have someone who misses you when you're gone.  And it's something to have someone who fights to get you back."

Coyote was by far my favorite character in the book.  She had a wonderful character arc.  In the beginning, she was very much like Rodeo in that she would go with the flow and was very laid back.  She agreed to his rules of no-go topics and was okay with not returning home.  Once she found out about the park being demolished, she started to change.  She was secretive to get Rodeo back home and found her voice.  She started talking to people that would help her with her quest for the time capsule.  Near the end of the book, she had completely changed.  She finally opened up to Rodeo about how she was feeling and laid down the law about going home.  Coyote's arc was beyond necessary for Rodeo to finally start healing.  I would love to have another book that follows the next chapter in Coyote and Rodeo's life.  

There were a few curse words in the book.  I really wish that more details had been given about Coyote's mom and sisters' death.  All we are really told is that they were in a car crash and that they were compensated for the accident.  I really wish there had been some kind of explanation of what happened.  It wasn't a necessary detail in the story, but I'm nosy and wanted the information. 

Overall, I really enjoyed this book.  There were always new people joining the crew on the bus or something crazy happening.  I think this is a fantastic young adult book and I'm surprised that it doesn't have more nominations or awards.  I give this 5 stars.

The Honest Truth by Dan Gemeinhart

From Goodreads,

"In all the ways that matter, Mark is a normal kid. He's got a dog named Beau and a best friend, Jessie. He likes to take photos and write haiku poems in his notebook. He dreams of climbing a mountain one day.

But in one important way, Mark is not like other kids at all. Mark is sick. The kind of sick that means hospitals. And treatments. The kind of sick some people never get better from.

So Mark runs away. He leaves home with his camera, his notebook, his dog, and a plan to reach the top of Mount Rainier--even if it's the last thing he ever does.

The Honest Truth is a rare and extraordinary novel about big questions, small moments, and the incredible journey of the human spirit."

Goodreads - The Honest Truth

Awards and Nominations:

• Goodreads Choice Award Nominee for Middle Grade & Children's (2015)
• Gouden Lijst for vertaald boek (2016)
• Missouri Truman Readers Award Nominee (2018)

I read this book about four years ago and absolutely loved it.  This past school year we had some time and I decided to start reading it to my class.  Just two pages in and they were absolutely hooked.  They were asking me to read just one more chapter even when it was time to dismiss to go home.  Needless to say, I'm so excited to share my review of this book.

The Honest Truth tells the story of a young boy named Mark who runs away with his dog Beau.  He has plans to climb Mount Rainier with his camera and backpack full of supplies.  Unfortunately, he is sick and this presents its own problems.  The looming question in this book is will Mark and Beau survive and make it to the top or will they fail to reach the top.

I love this book and the questions that accumulate at every chapter.  I read this to my 4th grade class and they constantly had questions.  The questions started as "Why is he running away?" and "Where is he going?" to "Will Mark make it to the top of Mount Rainier?" and "Will Beau survive if Mark dies?"  This book really got my students to question things happening in the story and we definitely got to work on predictions.  I think it is so good for students at this age to work on questioning skills.  They need to learn how to question things and try to figure out the answer.  This book was absolutely perfect for this because each chapter felt like a cliff hanger and left us asking more and more questions.

I love the format in which this book is written.  The book is written so that the whole chapters are told by Mark and the half chapters are told by Mark's best friend Jessie.  Some of my students hated it and some were mixed, but the overall conclusion with them was that it shouldn't have been told by both Mark and Jessie.  I think that it gave a great view of what was also happening at home while Mark was running away.  This format was great for some of my kids because it was so different than what they typically read.  By the time we reached the end the students understood why the story was told the way it was.

My biggest complaint was the language that was used in this book.  I had to filter and edit as I read this book to my students because some of the language was unacceptable for 4th grade.  I think that other vocabulary could have been used instead of the cursing that was present.

This book was well liked by many of my students and it definitely kept them interested and begging for one more chapter.  They all hated the ending of the book because they felt like it was incomplete and didn't finish telling the story of Mark.  My students said this deserves 4 stars and I completely agree with them.  I give this 4 stars and recommend it as a read aloud for 4th or 5th grade or as an independent read for junior high aged students.