If you loved Wonder by RJ Palacio, you'll be blown away by Pony

 If you haven't introduced your students to Pony by R. J. Palacio yet, you really need to!  I'm a bit surprised it hasn't taken off like Wonder did; it's one of my favorite novels for 5th and 6th graders.

Silas is growing up in the 1800s, in a remote area with his dad (his mom died in childbirth) and his best friend, a ghost named Mittenwool.  Silas's dad doesn't think anything of the fact that Mittenwool is part of Silas's life, or that only Silas sees him.

Silas's dad is a man ahead of his time who has decided to educate Silas himself.  He is accepting, encouraging, and kind.  A tinkerer and scientist by nature, he makes boots for a living; he's also building his reputation as a photographer, using his knowledge of chemicals to get the best results.

One evening, some strangers show up on horseback.  Assuming Silas's father is someone else, they want to take him away with them.  He leaves, at gunpoint, and makes Silas promise to stay in the cabin.  He says he'll be back in less than a week.

Silas stays in the cabin, but the next day, one of the horses the men had captured returns to the cabin. Silas takes that as a sign that he should go find his father.  Mittenwool thinks this is a horrible idea.  But he goes with Silas, anyway.  Because that's what best friends do.  As Silas and Mittenwool navigate their way through rough terrain with unexpected perils and wonderful adventures, they learn about friendship that binds you together no matter what.  

This book is part adventure, part mystery, and part ghost story, with a big dose of growing up in between.  Silas's developing relationship with his horse (on whom he tries a lot of names, and finally decides on Pony) is pure magic!

There were aspects of this book that reminded me of How I Became a Ghost by Tim Tingle, a book my students and I enjoyed a lot.  Palacio's use of old photos as chapter dividers brought to mind the pictures in Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs.

Palacio knocked it out of the park with this book. You need this book on your shelves!  This will become a student favorite and would be lovely as a read-aloud. 

• Want to learn more about how to use the novel study guide I created for 5th - 7th graders?  Read my blog post here.
• You can take a closer look at the novel study I created on TeachersPayTeachers here.