The Last Fifth Grade of Emerson Elementary

January 25, 2016
This entertaining debut novel in verse follows the fifth graders at Emerson Elementary as they attempt to save their “run-down” school, which is danger of closing. In an ethnically diverse class featuring familiar rivalries and crushes, each student has an opportunity to be his or herself in journal entries destined for a time capsule, which are seen only by their teacher, Ms. Hill. In page-long entries, Shovan skillfully employ different poetic forms and styles—haikus, rhymes, acrostics, free verse, limericks, and more (all discussed in an endnote)—to express the students’ personalities, though 18 distinct voices are a lot to track. Characters like Norah from Jerusalem; George, whose father recently left home; Shoshanna, dealing with a demanding friend (“When Hannah wins/ class president/ I’ll finally be free./ If she is boss/ of our whole grade/ she won’t be bossing me”); and Brianna, whose mother struggles to make ends meet, will inspire readers as they find the courage to save their school and make their voices heard, both as a united front and as capable, valuable individuals. Ages 8–12. Agent: Stephen Barbara, Inkwell Management.

A cast of narrators gives voices to the 18 students in Miss Hill's fifth- grade class. As they write daily poems over the course of the school year, a picture emerges of each personality and of the pros and cons of keeping the run-down school open or replacing it. Over the course of the year, thanks to Miss Hill, the students come to understand the power of the First Amendment and find their own voices. Listeners get to know the students as individuals through their poems. One student is reticent to commit to paper, another is sharing a home with a sick grandfather, another is a twin with an unwelcome nickname, and yet another the class president. By year's end, one senses the coming together of the whole group. The narrators shine at expressing the emotions in the poems. A.R. � AudioFile 2017, Portland, Maine