Keeping the Night Watch

1. Author: Hope Anita Smith
2. Title: Keeping the Night Watch
3. Illustrator: E.B. Lewis Holt
4. Genre: Family/Chapter Book
5. Subgenre: Abandonment/ Poetry
6. Theme: With time, things will get better.
7. Primary Characters: C.J., Byron, Father, the little sister, mother, grandmother
8. Secondary Characters: Maya, Preacher
9. Award/Year: Coretta Scott King/ 2008
10. Publisher: Henry Holt and Company
11. Summary: C.J. is a teenager who is struggling to deal with the return of his father who had left his family. This chapter book is actually made up of several poems that tells the struggles of the three children to cope with the father returning. Although the younger children act more happy to have their father home, you see signs of their concern that the father may leave again.
12. How used: Today, so many children are experiencing broken homes. One parent homes are extremely common. This book can help children to see that it's ok to be upset when a parent leaves or even returns, but you just have to make sure that you learn to mature with the situation. It also shows children how poetry can express a story and feelings.