Way Home By Libby Hathorn

This controversial picture book is about a homeless boy named Shane. Shane faces numerous dangers including starvations, gangs on the street, vicious stray dogs and so on. Shane also befriends a stray cat and shows him around the city. While carrying his new friend, Shane introduces him to a prostitute and also a greedy fat cat who has a home and plenty of food. I enjoyed the illustrations of this book. The cover page looks as though it is crinkled trash and the bottom of each page looks as though it was torn off. The illustrations on each page seemed to use a sketch technique filled in with various colors. I feel as though this book was somewhat controversial. Although this book did hint at controversial subjects, the author did not directly discuses these topics. Personally, I do believe starvation, poverty and prostitution are issues in the United States. I also think that starvation and poverty should be discussed with elementary students. On the other hand, I do not think prostitution should be discussed in elementary school due to the age of the students. I would recommend this book to upper elementary students. I would also suggest that the educator reads this book aloud because the topics are not directly discussed in the book.