Time is ticking and the kick off to the 2019 Global Read Aloud is nearing. I hope this collection of information is helpful!
For a comprehensive FAQ post, go here
The dates are September 30th – November 8th, 2019 – you can fall behind, just don’t read ahead.
The books selected are:
Picture book study
The work of Yuyi Morales – creator extraordinaire. Every time I pick up a book shaped in some way by Yuyi, it takes my breath away. The scope of her work means that we not only get to t revel in the beauty of her art but also marvel at the stories she shares.
1st week:
Dreamers in English or Spanish
2nd week:
Just A Minute: A Trickster Tale and Counting Book
3rd week:
4th week:
5th week:
6th week: Your choice
Early Readers
Stella Diaz Has Something to Say by Angela Dominguez
Stella Diaz loves marine animals, especially her betta fish, Pancho. But Stella Diaz is not a betta fish. Betta fish like to be alone, while Stella loves spending time with her mom and brother and her best friend Jenny. Trouble is, Jenny is in another class this year, and Stella feels very lonely.
When a new boy arrives in Stella’s class, she really wants to be his friend, but sometimes Stella accidentally speaks Spanish instead of English and pronounces words wrong, which makes her turn roja. Plus, she has to speak in front of her whole class for a big presentation at school! But she better get over her fears soon, because Stella Díaz has something to say!
Middle Grade
Mia Tang has a lot of secrets.
Number 1: She lives in a motel, not a big house. Every day, while her immigrant parents clean the rooms, ten-year-old Mia manages the front desk of the Calivista Motel and tends to its guests.
Number 2: Her parents hide immigrants. And if the mean motel owner, Mr. Yao, finds out they’ve been letting them stay in the empty rooms for free, the Tangs will be doomed.
Number 3: She wants to be a writer. But how can she when her mom thinks she should stick to math because English is not her first language?
It will take all of Mia’s courage, kindness, and hard work to get through this year. Will she be able to hold on to her job, help the immigrants and guests, escape Mr. Yao, and go for her dreams?
Middle School
The Bridge Home by Padma Venkatraman
Life is harsh in Chennai’s teeming streets, so when runaway sisters Viji and Rukku arrive, their prospects look grim. Very quickly, eleven-year-old Viji discovers how vulnerable they are in this uncaring, dangerous world. Fortunately, the girls find shelter–and friendship–on an abandoned bridge. With two homeless boys, Muthi and Arul, the group forms a family of sorts. And while making a living scavenging the city’s trash heaps is the pits, the kids find plenty to laugh about and take pride in too. After all, they are now the bosses of themselves and no longer dependent on untrustworthy adults. But when illness strikes, Viji must decide whether to risk seeking help from strangers or to keep holding on to their fragile, hard-fought freedom.
Young Adult
The Marrow Thieves by Cherie Dimaline
Humanity has nearly destroyed its world through global warming, but now an even greater evil lurks. The indigenous people of North America are being hunted and harvested for their bone marrow, which carries the key to recovering something the rest of the population has lost: the ability to dream. In this dark world, Frenchie and his companions struggle to survive as they make their way up north to the old lands. For now, survival means staying hidden—but what they don’t know is that one of them holds the secret to defeating the marrow thieves.
The weekly schedule is:
Stella Diaz Has Something to Say
Week 1: Chapters 1-4
Week 2: Chapters 5 – 7
Week 3: Chapters 8 – 10
Week 4: Chapters 11 – 13
Week 5: Chapters 14 – 17
Week 6: Chapters 18 – End
Thank you to Brittney Dougherty for doing the breakdown for me!
Front Desk:
Week 1: Chapters 1 – 9
Week 2: Chapters 10 – 21
Week 3: Chapters 22 – 35
Week 4: Chapters 36 – 48
Week 5: Chapters 49 – 57
Week 6: Chapters 58 – End
The Bridge Home:
Week 1: Chapters 1-7
Week 2: Chapters 8-15
Week 3: Chapters 16-22
Week 4: Chapters 23-30
Week 5: Chapters 31-37
Week 6: Chapters 38-44
The Marrow Thieves:
Week 1: Pages 1-41
Week 2: Pages 42-79
Week 3: Pages 80 – 117
Week 4: Pages 118 – 160
Week 5: Pages 161 – 191
Week 6: Pages 192 – end
Facebook groups to connect with other educators:
Upper Elementary/ Middle-Grade Book Group
Twitter hashtags for the year:
Picture book author study – #GRAYuyi
Stella Diaz Has Something to Say – #GRAStella
Front Desk – #GRAFront
The Bridge Home – #GRABridge
The Marrow Thieves– #GRAMarrow
Global Read Aloud Merchandise:
T-shirts and other merchandise supporting the project can be found here
Resource Sharing – add your ideas
Please remember and respect that the Global Read Aloud is trademarked and is established in the spirit of free collaboration. Please do not create resources to sell for the project – it goes completely against the nature of the work and will result in you being barred from the project.
Do please share resources on this spreadsheet, make sure to not delete anything off it. Also, please do not change the sharing settings on it.
To see the spreadsheet and add your own free resources, go here
Author Websites:
The Global Read Aloud 
Does anyone know if the book, “Front Desk” comes in a Spanish version?