Booktalking Colorado - Full Booktalk Record

Booktalking Colorado Full Record:

	Title:	Funerals and Fly Fishing
	Author:	Bartek, Mary
	Date Published:	2004
	Genre:	Real Life
	Grade Level:	6 - 7
	Booktalker:	Sam Marsh

Booktalk:
It’s Brad Stanislawski, not Stan-is-lousy. My name had caused me nothing but trouble with the school bullies. But, now it was summer vacation, and I was at last free of them. For a while. And, my mom, a real estate widow, had finally won a free trip to California. Her best friend, Laura, was going to take care of the place, and me, while mom was gone, but she had a family emergency in Nebraska at the last minute. Finally, I thought, she’d see that she had to take me along with her. I already had a list of all the things that I wanted to do while there. But, no, mom said she just couldn’t afford it. Further, she needed to get away by herself for a while. But, she had another solution. My grandfather in Pennsylvania had suggested that I come see him. He’d even pay the way. Let’s get this straight. Her father, the man she hadn’t spoken with since she married my dad. The man who had not wanted to see her again because she had married my father. The man she couldn’t stand. That Grandfather!!! I tried the guilt trip, but she just turned it around on me. And, she had more practice. So a few days later, I’m on a flight to Pittsburgh, 1500 miles away from Denver to meet a stranger that I know almost NOTHING about. Oh, and she forgot to tell me that he ran a funeral home . . . Sam Marsh May, 2005 for Fall 2005