Books with title Sing a Song of Tuna Fish: Hard-to-Swallow Stories from Fifth Grade

Esme tells us about the night she and her mother became "egg vigilantes" against an illegally parked car; her freewheeling first school, where kids sat on sofas instead of at desks and could choose disco dancing instead of math; her dangerous neighborhood, which her father made to seem friendly and wondrous; the Passover dinner when she stole a matzoh right out from under a rabbi; the awe-inspiring, life-threatening Chicago snowstorms; and lessons about love from tea-reading gypsies and Popeye cartoons. In stories that perfectly evoke the perspective of her 10-year-old self, author Esme Raji Codell demonstrates her gift for making the ordinary extraordinary, and the unusual familiar. Sing a Song of Tuna Fish is a memoir of a Chicago childhood, a tribute to the art of attention, and most of all, a joyful listening experience for kids and families.

Like every fifth grader, Esmé Raji Codell spent her days within the small world of school, neighborhood, and family. But this small world provides rich material for the often hilarious, always engrossing stories and vignettes in this book. Esmé tells us about: the night she and her mother became "egg vigilantes" against an illegally parked car; her freewheeling first school, where kids could choose disco dancing instead of math; her dangerous neighborhood, which her father made seem friendly and wondrous; the Passover dinner when she stole a matzoh right out from under a rabbi; the awe-inspiring, life-threatening Chicago snowstorms; and lessons about love from tea-reading gypsies and Popeye cartoons.