The Naked Mole-Rat Letters Book Review
Posted by Mrs. Matzat on July 9, 2007
The Naked Mole-Rat Letters by Mary Amato
RL 4.3
When Frankie Wallop’s father begins receiving email messages from a zookeeper in Washington, D.C., Frankie decides to take matters into her own hands by writing back to this lady to prevent her father’s new relationship from growing. Frankie’s deception causes her many problems at school and at home, and she quickly learns how one lie can blossom into many. Frankie’s email correspondence with Ayanna, who cares for naked mole-rats at the zoo, starts off with a very malicious ploy to destroy any hopes of a relationship between Ayanna and Frankie’s father, but an odd bond forms between the two people as Ayanna serves as a source of female advice for Frankie. This is a nice story about human relationships that many students will enjoy.
Cindy’s Two-Cents Worth:
I really enjoyed this story and thought the author did a great job of making the characters seem real. If you have a student who is dealing with a single parent who might be dating (especially if the other parent passed away), he or she might really relate to Frankie’s situation with her father. Because of some of the very emotional aspects of this story, I would use caution in reading this one aloud to 3rd and 4th grade students. The story addresses very personal issues such as the death of a parent, single parents dating, privacy issues regarding reading someone else’s email, lying to friends, family, and teachers, and skipping school. It would be a great character education resource for the honesty trait. Just be sure you read it first before using it with your young students. It’s a great book for 5th grade and up. It could be a great book to use with the right group of kids in a literature circle setting. The story mentions the play The Miracle Worker, so you could do a literature tie into any Helen Keller story or biography. I think you will enjoy how the author used a combination of email messages and diary entries to tell the story.
Online Resources
Mary Amato’s Website – includes background information and a reading guide for the story
http://www.maryamato.com/
National Zoo: The Truth about Mole-Rats
http://nationalzoo.si.edu/Publications/ZooGoer/2002/3/nakedmolerats.cfm
Samples of Dulcimer Music by Brian Thomas
http://www.brianthomas.ca/listenonline.html
Helen Keller Kids Museum Online
http://www.afb.org/braillebug/helen_keller_bio.asp
