Westlandia

"Westlandia" is one of the few books I chose that I hadn't read already prior to completing this assignment, but after I read it I actually ended up purchasing it for my future classroom. The author is Paul Fleishman and I fell in love with it after reading it. It is a great assett to a classroom because it displays a wonderful message that there is nothing wrong with being different.

"Westlandia" is about an outcast named Wesley who has no friends and nothing in common with anyone at school. His parents are very worried about him, because he doesn't even like pizza and soda. When he gets out of school for the summer his teachers instruct them to find a summer project. He uses what he has learned about crops and seed germination to begin his own civilization which he calls "Westlandia". He invents his own alphabet, games, and general ways of living. After so long, the children from school begin to find out and they want in on the action. His parents observe that this is the first time he looks happy in years. When the story concluedes, he goes back to school, with no shortage of friends.