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Batchelder


      Part One

             Yumoto, Kazumi, and Hui Jin. The Friends. Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2005.

             Suggested Grade Levels: 6-8

             Genre: Fiction

           Part Two
        Looking at the cover of the book, I thought of it as a book about three pre-teen boys going on an adventure through their city. I figured it was a multicultural book that took place in an asian country such as Korea or Japan. After reading the book I learned my prediction was way off. I enjoyed the book added a twist with the three boys becoming friends with not another pre-teen, but an older man. I feel like I can personally connect with this book because many of my family members are older and the almost comical way they introduced the old man and his mannerisms reminded me of my older family members. Even though the old man was standoffish towards the boys at first, the boys eventually accepted him and it shows readers to have compassion for others. 

        Part Three
      
        As the theme of the book revolves around death, it showed how different adolescents handle the thought of death through it's characters. Kawabe, for example, handles the news of Yamashita's grandmothers passing with humor and teasing. Kiyama on the other hand, has sympathy for Yamashita. He handle's the situation more maturely and is more cautious about what he says around Yamashita than Kiyama is. I believe these type of characters all represent how adolescents can act in real life in which the readers can connect with more. Throughout the book there are more occurrences of near-death and actual death experiences. With Yamashita almost drowning and the old man's death at the end of the book, you can see how the boys are becoming more mature with the topic about death. They learn that death is not something to be afraid of but rather an experience with amazing memories that is shared with the deceased.

       Part Four
       Lesson Objective:

       Using the idea of old age from the book The Friends, Students will write a letter to their elder self explaining their goals they want to accomplish in life within the class period.

        Lesson Activity:


        Students will envision they are writing a letter to their older self. They will include what goals they want to accomplish in the future and ask their older self questions such as if their goals were ever accomplished.


       Discussion Questions:

        1. What did Yamashita realize after having a near-death experience?
        
       2. What did the boys learn about the man and his personal life?

       3. What is something you want to master in life?

    
         Resources:

          Summaries of the book:

        http://www.librarything.com/work/990596

        Information about the author:

   http://www.booksfromjapan.jp/authors/authors/item/1048-kazumi-yumoto

        Reviews on book:




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