Take a Breath Olive Tran

Gr 2-5–In this second installment of Truong’s “Olive Tran” chapter book series, the consistent themes of cultural awareness and kindness are secondary to a that of teamwork. It’s almost time for Maple Avenue Elementary School’s mid-year talent show and fourth-grader Olive Tran is determined to win the pizza party prize for her class. She knows she has talents, but by being so busy thinking about which one to choose, she accidentally misses the entry deadline. Now what? Are her friends talented? Can they work together to win? Suddenly, Olive has new things to think about. Throughout the story, Vietnamese words are used. Early readers can discern vocabulary meanings by carefully reading the text. This is consistent with the author’s previous work, although the intended audience of early readers might find the overall sentence structure and vocabulary a bit advanced. Conversations about youngsters’ own talents can be used to generate lively discussions in classrooms. Most of the chapters are illustrated with Wei’s colorful full-page drawings that move the story along.