The Boy on the Porch

Creech, S. (2013). The Boy on the Porch. New York, NY: Harper Collins.

A young boy around 5 or 6 is left on the porch of couple. He doesn't talk and the note left with him asks the couple to take care of him and that they will return for him.  Marta and John are unsure what to do with him but end up not calling authorities. I think silently they are hopeful that the he will be theirs. They slowly grow into a family. Jacob the boy learns to communicate by tapping. He has a talent for music and art. They begin to treat him as their son and introduce him to others in town. Just as the begin to make arrangements to make their family legal, they get a visit from a stranger. It is Jacob's father. He has returned to take him. It is obvious to Marta and John and the readers that his man will not foster his talents like the couple did. They beg to let him stay but the father refuses. Jacob leaves with him taking a guitar and the farm is broken without him. Looking for him bring no positive results and their letters to him are returned. Eventually they become foster parents. It never fills the hole left by Jacob, but it helps.  One day their beagle who has been down and depressed since Jacob's departure begs to go outside. There sleep in a chair on their porch was a young man with a guitar.

A sweet story on what makes a family. This would bring tears to anyone who reads it. The theme is love and patience are all that most kids with troubled backgrounds need to flourish. I wouldn't hesitate to read this aloud to my class.