First, we’re having a GREAT time with the One School-One Book program…. Getting “thank you” notes from parents already about how it’s “forcing” some family reading time that they seemed to have lost over the years.
— Paul Marinko - Principal at St. Paul's Lutheran School - Fort Wayne, IN
Since last spring, our entire school has excitedly embraced the One School, One Book Program. We will soon begin our spring selection: A Cricket in Times Square -- the third book we've adopted since the spring of 2010!

We are so thrilled with the positive impact this program has had on our students, families, and staff
— Laurie LaRue - First Grade Teacher at Edgewood School - Bristol, CT
I think the OSOB program is brilliant. My seven year-old attends Orleans Elementary in Massachusetts and they (we) are reading Masterpiece. Since the grades levels range from one to five at this school, finding a book to suit all is difficult. My daughter can follow the big picture somewhat but we have to reinforce what we’ve read because it’s a lot to take in for her.
— Glenn Krzeminski - Parent of student at Orleans Elementary - Orleans, MA
The One District, One Book program promoted by Read To Them...is a powerful way to systemically address and promote a culture of literacy throughout the entire school system.

My school actually adopted a hamster and even used it as “pet therapy” for many of the behaviorally challenged children in our school.
— Kenny Moles of West Virginia

Heartbeat

by Sharon Creech (2004)

Heartbeat is the second book by Sharon Creech to tell a story through poetry. Creech’s “poems” are easy to read as they are actually beautiful prose sentences arranged in stanza form.

Heartbeat is the story of a 12-year-old girl grappling with the diversity of issues in her life: her mother is expecting a baby; her grandfather is losing his memory; she loves to run and to draw; she is stimulated by both her English class (in which she learns about footnotes and the thesaurus) and her drawing class (in which she is given a very interesting and challenging exercise); and she can’t quite figure out her feelings toward her best friend, Max (with whom she likes to run).

Creech’s achievement in this novel is to blend an impressive array of themes and tell a story in a brisk 180 pages – through the medium of unforgettable and accessible poetry.

Here is a link to a longer article praising the virtues of Sharon Creech’s Heartbeat: http://www.senorcafe.com/archives/literature/a_christmas_plu.html

There are eight supplementary resources for Sharon Creech’s Heartbeat:

a sample letter home to parents
a sample reading schedule
a trivia bank
Daily Trivia Questions
Daily Trivia Answer Key
a Trivia Quiz
Trivia Quiz Answer Key
Suggested Activities

As a participating member of One School, One Book you may have access to all of these documents. Here are some samples: