Eleven-year-old Gregory and his family had to leave the Navajo reservation at Bird Springs—the only home they’ve ever known—and move to a motel in Tucson, Arizona. Gregory misses his absent father, but he likes school, particularly art class with the kind teacher. He also makes a new friend, Matt, who promptly informs him art class is really art therapy and that Gregory is staying in a shelter, not a motel. Even though Matt can be outspoken, he’s just what Gregory needs now. He’s honest and generous with his allowance so they can ride the Ferris wheel at the carnival. Award-winning author Carolyn Marsden paints a poignant story of a little boy who, as he confronts the more painful aspects of his past, is filled with a sense of hope.
- ISBN: 9780670061938
- Author: Marsden, Carolyn
- Published: 2007 , Viking Juvenile
- Themes: Friendship, homelessness, Indigenous, Poverty
- Descriptors: Americas, Intermediate (ages 9-14), North America, Realistic Fiction, Southwest, United States
- No. of pages: 128