SAHARA SpEcIaL!

Pages read: 35

Book: SAHARA Special

Pages: 175

Author: Esme Raji Codell

Summary:

Sahara is a young girl, in fifth grade that has lost her father (got a divorce with her mom) who is special Ed. Now, Sahara is not special Ed in the way that she cant talk, or cant move, she is Special in the way that she always sends letters to her dad saying “Dad, are you coming home?” or, “Dad, you can come home now.” or even, “Dad, I’m waiting for you.” Every day she writes at least 5 short letters to her father and she would stick them into her desk every day. Sahara has her own “counselor” that goes with her to every class because she needs help. Sahara would call her mentor “Peaches” even though that wasn’t her real name, she called her that to herself because she never really got her name. Every class that she would go to, Peaches would take her in the hallway and talk to her and play a board game with her. Kids would walk down the hallway and not notice her, and then after 3 steps later they would turn and look at her like she was one of those “street people” as Sahara described them. 

One day Sahara came to school and looked in her desk and all of her letters that she “SENT” to her father went all over the floor were everyone could see them. Her teacher sent them and her to the councilors office. The counselor immediately called her mother and as soon as her mother got there, she read the notes. Sahara described her moms face as very blank and pale like it was something about death. But as soon as she read the first five, she knew what the rest were going to be about. Her mother told her that she was going all special Ed on her and she asked her if she could just not have her talk about her divorce and all of the other stuff that goes on during the separation of her and her father.