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Bunting, Eve. (1991). //Fly Away Home//. New York, NY: Clarion Books.
 * Summary: ** A homeless boy and his father live in an airport because they have no home. Each night they move from terminal to terminal to find a new place to stay. The boy gains hope and courage from a bird in the airport that was trapped and finally finds freedom. This bird helps him persevere through their difficult situation.




 * Use in Unit: ** Explicit lesson strategy on making connections (text-to-text)
 * Generalization Learning Targets: 1, 2, 3 **

Bunting, Eve. (1998). //So Far From the Sea.// New York, NY: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
 * Summary: ** Laura Iwasaki and her family travel to visit their grandfather's grave for possibly the last time since they are moving to Boston. The grave is at the Manzanar War Relocation Center where thousands of Americans of Japanese heritage were interned during World War II. Her father and his family were among the people who lived there. Laura says goodbye to her grandfather and comes to understand how her relatives persevered using courage and strength, and how she must do the same.




 * Use in Unit:** Explicit lesson strategy on making connections (text-to-world)
 * Generalization Learning Targets: 1, 2, 3 **

Lupica, Mike. (2011). //The Underdogs//. New York: NY: Philomel Books.
 * Summary:** The main character Will Tyler is a football star that loves the game more than anyone. When he is playing football the struggles in his life seem to go away; his town isn’t so poor, his dad is not so defeated, and the town has something to cheer for. This year the football season may be canceled because there is not enough funding. Will perseveres through this difficult time to rally an entire town and give hope to the people.


 * Use in Unit:** Read aloud
 * Generalization Learning Targets: 1, 2, 3 **

Paulsen, Gary. (1987). //Hatchet//. New York, NY: Simon & Schuster Books For Young Readers.
 * Summary:** A thirteen-year-old boy, Brian Robeson, is traveling in a small plane to Canada to spend the summer with his father. The plane crashed in an uninhabited part of Canada and the pilot dies of a heart attack. While persevering to survive and overcome many different obstacles, Brian learns much about himself and character traits to overcome hard times.


 * Use in Unit:** Literature Circle and influenced short story and tool kit, also referred to in explicit strategy lessons for connections and inferences
 * Generalization Learning Targets: 1, 2, 3 **

Steig, William. (1986). //Brave Irene.// New York, NY: Square Fish.
 * Summary**: Irene Bobber is the daughter of a dressmaker. Her mother isn’t feeling well and isn’t able to deliver the ball gown she’s made for the duchess to wear. Irene volunteers to deliver the gown. She must overcome many obstacles to complete the errand, including a storm and more. She learns when there is a will there is a way and you must overcome problems to persevere.


 * Use in Unit:** Explicit strategy lesson for making inferences
 * Generalization Learning Targets: 1, 2, 3 **

Stevens, Janet. (1985). //The Tortoise and the Hare.// New York, NY: Reading Rainbow Books.
 * Summary:** The story is about a hare that ridicules a slow tortoise and is challenged by him to a race. The hare soon takes the lead in the race and, confident of winning, decided to take a nap part way through the race. When the hare awakes, he finds that the tortoise has won the race. This Hare believes in the end goal of finishing the race and is able to persevere to win.


 * Use in Unit:** Introduction to perseverance and explicit strategy lesson on making connections
 * Generalization Learning Targets: 1, 2, 3 **