"We are at Shine, on the first day, " says Pattie, when, as the youngest member of the group, she is given the honor of naming the new settlement....
read full description
reviews
Dec 12, 2011
Brian
rated it: 
I vividly remember reading this book in the fifth grade. I found it unscientific, wildly implausible, vague, and artistically somewhat undistinguished.
The book takes place at an unspecified date in the future when the sun is dying for an unspecified reason. The main characters--like many people on the planet--are leaving the earth--however, the nation that they belong to is poor, and cannot afford to take much with them. They can therefore only take a few crops and animals with them, and e More...
The book takes place at an unspecified date in the future when the sun is dying for an unspecified reason. The main characters--like many people on the planet--are leaving the earth--however, the nation that they belong to is poor, and cannot afford to take much with them. They can therefore only take a few crops and animals with them, and e More...
0 comments
like
(1 person liked it)
Aug 02, 2010
Erin
rated it: 
I first picked up this short little novel because I had heard of several teachers using it to teach about sustainability. However, I was somewhat disappointed in their classroom plans when I found that the earth in the story is "dying" due to what seems a natural aging of the sun rather than over-extension of earth's resources or pollution, making the only "green" thing about the book it's title, which refers to the colour of a journal. In any case, it is a sweet little sto
More...
0 comments
like
(1 person liked it)
Jan 06, 2012
Beth
rated it: 
A very quick read at 69 pages. My 5th grade son read this book. I read it as well, so we could discuss it. We both originally thought that the title an cover meant that the book would be about bucolic farm life, but it is about people fleeing earth just before a disaster that causes earth to cease existing. A decent 5th grade book with lots of discussion points: survival, journaling, adapting to change, getting along with other people, establishing a new society, etc.
Oh, and each More...
Oh, and each More...
Sep 15, 2011
Isabel
rated it:
Interesting book and I can see why it is so popular in classrooms. Perfect intro to journaling, civilizations, inter-cultural (species) relations, priorities, literature... Lots.
It reads like a long short story. Nice vibes about the kids. Bitter words about classism and greed among the adults. Interesting how skills are valued based on what the society needs; they are not valuable in and of themselves, unlike writing, which is both!!
The story is cleverly constructed More...
It reads like a long short story. Nice vibes about the kids. Bitter words about classism and greed among the adults. Interesting how skills are valued based on what the society needs; they are not valuable in and of themselves, unlike writing, which is both!!
The story is cleverly constructed More...
Oct 29, 2009
Anna
rated it: 
This book was very short and kind of fun to read. It had quite a bit of symbolism, but I'm sure I never would have noticed them if not for Sister Willburn.
Summary: Patty and her family escape from a dying Earth with several others. After four years of traveling in a spaceship, they land on the small, unknown planet Shine. After building a small community, encountering strange giant moths and despairing that nothing edible can be grown on this planet, Patty and her sister Sarah disco More...
Summary: Patty and her family escape from a dying Earth with several others. After four years of traveling in a spaceship, they land on the small, unknown planet Shine. After building a small community, encountering strange giant moths and despairing that nothing edible can be grown on this planet, Patty and her sister Sarah disco More...
Jun 16, 2009
Elizabeth
rated it:
The first chapter of this was the last chapter of my fifth or sixth grade English book--right after an excerpt from A Wrinkle in Time.
Great story about the colonization of a planet in realistic terms for younger readers. Unfortunately, no hostile aliens, but somewhat hostile folage if you forget to wear your shoes. Everybody in the colony is allowed to bring one book from Earth, and the heroine brings a blank green book.
Great story about the colonization of a planet in realistic terms for younger readers. Unfortunately, no hostile aliens, but somewhat hostile folage if you forget to wear your shoes. Everybody in the colony is allowed to bring one book from Earth, and the heroine brings a blank green book.
May 28, 2010
Marguarite
rated it:
If you're looking for sci-fi for the beginning chapter book reader, this is the book for you. At less than 70 pages, it is a quick read that children will enjoy. When Earth becomes uninhabitable, refugees escape to another planet where everything is made of a glass-like substance. Each passenger is only allowed to take one book from Earth with him. What would you choose?
May 06, 2011
Meghan
rated it:
I think this may have been the first science fiction book that I ever read. For some reason, I vividly remembered the part at the beginning where the old photographs are yellow because the light is getting bluer and colder, and of course the glass grass and crystalline wheat, but I had completely forgotten about the <spoiler>giant moths WTF</spoiler>.
Sep 29, 2011
Lynn
rated it: 
I read this because my 5th grader was reading it. He tends to be overly literal with distopian stories and I wanted to see what he was reading so I could help him understand it. This was by no means as good as The Giver and some others I've read but it was a good easy read for a non-differentiated language arts class.
Jul 24, 2011
Ysabet
rated it:
Clearly beloved by many people, but just didn't do much for me. And yes, obviously it's a kids' book, but I've read plenty of kids' and YA books that I either enjoyed or knew I would've enjoyed when I was in the target age group. With this one, I can't tell how I would've felt if I'd laid hands on it as a child.
Mar 03, 2010
Ellie
rated it:
I read this book in 4th grade and LOVED it! I should probably re-read it again before giving it stars, but I just have great memories of this book and thinking about this book long after I'd finished it (which, to me, is a sign of a great book).
Feb 01, 2010
Rebecca
rated it:
This is another one of those 'gems' from my childhood. Once again, however, it's a gem I don't really remember with too much detail. However, I enjoyed it, and have finally remembered the title. I'm awful when it comes to titles...
Mar 18, 2009
Pandora
rated it:
Very strange narration. It slips from an unknow first person narration to third person. At the end the strange narration is explained.
As I was reading the book I thought it came from the sixties and was surprise it came from the eighties. It has the cold war attiude that Earth is doomed. It made me also think of The Little Prince which also wasn't my cup of tea.
The science of the book also seems to belong more to the sixties than the eighties. For example it skips ove More...
As I was reading the book I thought it came from the sixties and was surprise it came from the eighties. It has the cold war attiude that Earth is doomed. It made me also think of The Little Prince which also wasn't my cup of tea.
The science of the book also seems to belong more to the sixties than the eighties. For example it skips ove More...
Sep 06, 2011
Bethany
rated it:
I was pretty surprised to read such mixed reviews of this book. I loved it! It was sweet. Narrated by a child and with such a lovely perspective that you were totally transported. Short book, but a total delight.
Jan 21, 2012
Ross
rated it:
I read this book because my 6th graders are and we are doing a collaboration between science and English class. Easy read and fun to think about when it comes to humans surviving on another planet
Aug 05, 2011
Aly
rated it:
I read this back in 3rd grade. I loved this book so much. I don't remember much of it, except for like the grass made of glass or something and the moth people, but I thought it was a cute book.
May 16, 2010
Kivrin
rated it:
I heard about this book on Reading Rainbow many years ago, and I've loved it ever since. The story is short, simple, and haunting. I still think it would make a wonderful movie…
Apr 12, 2010
Christian
rated it:
Boys don't let the girl on the cover blow you off, this is very good si-fi. It was very good book at first the cover blew me off but it turned out to be a very funny, sad, adventure type book.
Jul 26, 2011
Sarah
rated it:
This book was highly recommended by my cousin's son. I picked this book up and took it on a family vacation. It got passed around and got a thumbs up. Very easy read.
Apr 18, 2011
Lily
rated it:
This was a great book. Thought provoking and a cliff-hanger... It is not as creepy as some sci-fi books, such as Extras, by Scott Westerfeild, but in a good way.
Jan 16, 2010
Sean
rated it:
It's a good thing this book was short, because its meandering, slow style, lack of pacing and muted conflict got old very quickly.
Jan 11, 2009
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers.
To view it, click here
Aug 13, 2010
Amy
rated it:
Read this for my 5th grade class for the Science Fiction genre selection. Not bad...though Sci Fi is my least favorite genre.
Apr 17, 2011
Josephine
rated it:
I read this in 6th grade and have since then looked for ways to get my hands on it. Finally, found it on BookMooch and had it shipped from a kind person in the Philippines.
This was my first venture into science fiction, and it's very light. Very interesting for kids to read, as I was reading the first chapter to my brother, I picked up on some very heavy and important messages about earth that I missed when we read it in science class. This book is great to read in one sitting, and i More...
This was my first venture into science fiction, and it's very light. Very interesting for kids to read, as I was reading the first chapter to my brother, I picked up on some very heavy and important messages about earth that I missed when we read it in science class. This book is great to read in one sitting, and i More...
Jan 20, 2012
This was a damn creepy book back when I read it as a child. I'll probably re-read it at some point in time.
Jul 17, 2010
Heidi
rated it:
I read it when I was little. I've re-read it several times. I just love it.
Aug 25, 2009
Marvin
rated it:
A sort of Robinson Crusoe story in a futuristic setting. A group of settlers leave Earth just before its destruction & have to find a way to survive on an unfamiliar planet.
