| Title | : | Shelter |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | 0593376390 |
| ISBN-10 | : | 9780593376393 |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Library Binding |
| Number of Pages | : | 192 |
| Publication | : | First published January 1, 2021 |
Fifth grade can be tough for anyone. There are cliques and mean kids and homework and surprise math tests. But after tragedy strikes her family, almost-eleven-year-old Maya has a painful secret that makes many days feel nearly impossible.
And today might be Maya's toughest yet. Her family is on edge, she needs to travel alone across the city, a bully is out to get her, and Maya has to face this winter's biggest rainstorm without a coat or an umbrella.
But even on the rainiest days, there's hope that the sun will come out soon.
Emotional and compassionate, Shelter looks at homelessness through one girl's eyes and explores the power of empathy, friendship, and love.
Shelter Reviews
-
[Blog]::
[Youtube]::
[Twitter]::
[Instagram]::
[Pinterest]::
[Bloglovin]
“Shelter” is a rare middle-grade novel that had me in tears because of the instances that happened to Maya, the main character.
Firstly, kudos to the author for talking about a topic that we don’t read much in middle-grade stories, mainly homeless. What happens when your life turns upside down and you have to move out of your house? The author portrayed the characters and events realistically where you immediately want to get into the pages to protect them.
Maya is a strong character, and I immediately adored her from the first page. She does her best to stay hopeful, irrespective of the challenging situations that she encounters. She uplifts her mom and Gabby and prays for her father. I also loved her friendship with Abby. While Abby also has her faults, I liked how she comes through for Maya when needed. Moreover, Maya also has to deal with school drama and bullies like Sloane and Madison (who I detested for their horrid behavior).
However, there are also more reasons to love this story. The author references other childhood classics that Maya leans towards, like “Anne of Green Gable” and “Ramona,” which I cherished. Similarly, the author also writes the story in the form of timeline logs which I thought was unique.
Some moving moments were when she passed through her old neighborhood and reminiscence of her old life or the incident with the backpack that broke my heart. You would need to have a box of tissues next to you when reading this book, as it will make you appreciate life and move you.
Overall, “Shelter” is a beautiful middle-grade novel that I think everyone should read to be more empathetic towards others. -
Shelter is the story of Maya, a ten-year-old girl living in San Francisco. After her father has an accident, Maya and her family lose their home and end up living in a homeless shelter. Meanwhile, she is on a scholarship at an independent school and commutes back and forth, switching between the two worlds. The book follows Maya over one day. In addition to struggling with her home life and living in the homeless shelter, she also has to deal with conflicts outside, such as school politics, homework, tests, and a mean girl.
I love how we get an intimate view of Maya's daily experience. I felt her moments of pain and everything she was going through—the highs and the lows. We get to see those small moments of human connection that Maya makes throughout her day. This book looks at homelessness through a girl's eyes and shows us the depths of struggles many families face. It also explores the power of empathy, friendship, and love.
To listen to my interview with the author, go to my podcast at:
https://zibbyowens.com/transcript/chr... -
"Shelter" é o comovente relato de um dia na vida de Maya, uma menina de dez anos. A tragédia atingiu a sua família e passaram a ter que viver num abrigo.
Acompanhamos a menina num dia de aulas, as suas provações e pequenas vitórias, os seus desejos e maiores medos.
Christie Matheson fez-me pôr em perspectiva muitos aspectos da minha vida, chamando a atenção para necessidades que temos como garantidas, como por exemplo, ter roupa quente para nos proteger num dia de inverno e comida.
Esta foi uma leitura interessante e comovente, pautada por rasgos de esperança.
Novembro 2022 -
The writing is good. I like the main character. I understand what the author is trying to represent. Somehow I feel like I am already familiar with the story.
-
Disclaimer: I received this e-arc from the publisher. Thanks! All opinions are my own.
Book: Shelter
Author: Christie Matheson
Book Series: Standalone
Rating: 4.5/5
Diversity: Food allergies side character, Cerebral palsey death mute side character mentioned, Yemen side character mentioned, Gender neutral side character
Recommended For...: middle grade books, contemporary, homelessness
Publication Date: October 12, 2021
Genre: MG Contemporary
Recommended Age: 10+ (Shelter, Homelessness, Father in hospital, Bullying, Microaggressions, Food insecurity)
Explanation of CWs: Maya lives in a shelter and some of the book deals with education of shelters and showing what they look like. Maya also deals with homelessness and food insecurity, which are brought up often in the book. Maya’s father is in the hospital due to a hit and run accident. There is bullying shown throughout the book. There are some microaggressions shown and mentioned.
Publisher: Random House Books for Young Readers
Pages: 192
Synopsis: Fifth grade can be tough for anyone. There are cliques and mean kids and homework and surprise math tests. But after tragedy strikes her family, almost-eleven-year-old Maya has a painful secret that makes many days feel nearly impossible.
And today might be Maya's toughest yet. Her family is on edge, she needs to travel alone across the city, a bully is out to get her, and Maya has to face this winter's biggest rainstorm without a coat or an umbrella.
But even on the rainiest days, there's hope that the sun will come out soon.
Emotional and compassionate, Shelter looks at homelessness through one girl's eyes and explores the power of empathy, friendship, and love.
Review: I absolutely fell in love with this book so much that I finished it in a one hour reading session. The book takes course during one day in the life of Maya, who has to face homelessness, food insecurity, bullying, and the rain. I loved how the book had notes on homelessness, shelters, and poverty in the front of the book to help educate readers on the very serious issue. I also loved all of the diversity in the book and I loved the commentary on how hungry kids can’t perform as well as fed kids in the book, because that’s a point that a lot of people seem to miss about food insecurity. The character development was well done and the world building was fairly good. I also liked the plot and it kept me hooked throughout the book.
The only issue I really had with the book is that the book paints the bully to be just jealous of Maya. While that might be true, that really downplays a lot of the harm she did to multiple people, including insinuating that a character’s mother would miscarry another child. I do feel that most young bullies have unresolved issues that they perpetuate onto others and use that to bully them for it, but it really downplays the harm that it causes children when you’re told “oh they’re just jealous of you” because, as someone who was told that multiple times before about bullies, it makes the victims feel like they should be more compassionate to the bully when the bully needs to have therapy and come to the conclusion themselves about their issues,
Verdict: It was good! -
*3.5
Shelter is a story about a girl Maya, who's family has lost their home, and after a tragic accident, are unable to move into a new one, and instead have to rely on a homeless shelter for refuge. The story takes place over one day as Maya discovers what it means to be homeless, how important family and friends are, and even more. It's a short but sweet story perfect for younger readers.
I mention this because I had a hard time getting into it at first purely because the writing style is so young. The sentence structure, especially in the beginning seemed very choppy to me, and everything was so over-explained. However, if a much younger reader were reading this, it would probably be helpful to them. For me, it made it just a little difficult to engage with the story at first. Which, because it was so short, was unfortunate, because just as I was really getting into it, the book was over. Even so, I don't think it needed to be longer. It did what it needed to do within 178 pages, and it said what it needed to say. I think I just wasn't the targeted age range for this, and that's fine.
Still, I did enjoy it. I thought it was interesting reading about homelessness through the eyes of a child. Usually when you think of homeless people, you think of adults and elders on the streets, but there are actually *so* many homeless children, and this book brings that to light, which I definitely appreciated.
Maya is still hopeful about her situation without it being too unrealistic. She has moments of bitterness when her classmates flaunt how many clothes they have, and all of their trendy bags, or when they talk about their huge houses. This was completely realistic, though, because of course it would seem completely unfair to her that they have all of these things and don't appreciate it when everything she has comes from one backpack. Because it isn't fair. I admired Maya's ability to stay positive, such as when she mentions how she'd rather stay homeless and have a family that loves and appreciates her, than live in a huge house with all the stuff in the world but a family who doesn't care about her. It shows how much we take for granted in our daily lives.
I appreciate what this book set out to do, and I think it definitely hit the mark. While it didn't always click with me, I still appreciated it, and in the end, I enjoyed my time with Shelter and am glad I read it.
Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher, and TBR and Beyond Tours for providing me with a copy of the book in exchange for my honest opinion. -
This book follows a day in the life of Maya, a tween whose family has moved into a homeless shelter after her father was hit by a car and hospitalized.
Readers share her struggles as she gets up early, takes two city busses to her school by herself, and then tries to get through a school day while keeping her home life a secret from teachers, friends, and bullies.
A good story to build empathy, though it’s middle grade so it’s headed towards a happy resolution to Maya’s family’s problems at the end. -
A day in the life of almost-11 Maya as she navigates her life after her dad’s tragic accident. While he is in the hospital fighting for his life Maya, her mom, and sister Gabby are transitioning from a home they loved to a homeless shelter. Skyrocketing medical bills have forced them into a life they never imagined.
Mom is interviewing for a job, Gabby has extreme allergies, and Maya is fending off vicious bullies at the private school she attends. Thankfully, she has a scholarship so she could remain at the school. Through all the hardships, Maya trudges on with the help of a loyal friend, a supportive teacher, and the belief that things will improve.
Shelter is a sobering look at homelessness in one of America’s most affluent cities. Both heart wrenching and uplifting, the concise story will have young readers questioning and reflecting. A great book for discussion. -
This book is incredibly impactful! I read it to a fifth grade class and it really sparked a lot of conversation! The main character, Maya, was really going through a lot and was very resilient! This book gave my students a new perspective about homelessness, food insecurity, and what is really important! It also addresses bullying. I highly recommend this book! My students and I loved it!
As a mom and teacher this book hit a little harder! I found it hard to read aloud at times, I was getting choked up! That poor mom! She had so many obstacles in her life, I can’t even imagine! As a teacher, I hope I am a students “Ms. Sherman”. She had such a great relationship with Maya. I hope all students have a “Ms. Sherman” in their life! Such a great book! -
I really wanted to like this book. I love Matheson's picture books and a chapter book about poverty that deals with medical expenses, the housing crisis, and has a loving, otherwise stable family? Cool! Unfortunately, it read like a book someone wrote because they wanted to write a Message Book about Poverty. It got better, but the beginning was painful. Each article of clothing she put on had to be described as stained, frayed, or ill-fitting-- as though Matheson had to hit her readers over the head again and again to drive home the point that SHE'S REALLY POOR, GUYS! A subtler touch would have made it much more powerful.
-
A heavy and heart wrenching but important read.
-
What an absolutely gorgeous book.
-
This book was quick but enlightening. I cannot wait to add it to my library for kids who need to see this character for all the reasons.
-
Maya is a bright and thoughtful 5th-grader with a secret. Her family has been living in a homeless shelter for the past month, since her father was hospitalized with serious injuries after being hit by a car. Told over the course of a day, Shelter follows Maya as she interacts with her family and attends school, where she contends with bullies, hunger, and being inadequately dressed for the rainy weather.
I loved this book. Ultimately hopeful, Matheson deftly handles challenging issues including homelessness, food insecurity, classism, bullying, and the affordable housing crisis in cities like San Francisco. Matheson works to reduce the stigma related to homelessness by creating a narrative that demonstrates how easily it is for a family to become unhoused though a simple series of events outside of their control.
Maya’s internal monologue demonstrates the impact of her housing situation and food insecurity on her ability to learn and fully engage in her education, and talks through her internal process accessing coping skills to manage interpersonal conflicts, seeking help, and an unexpected test. Maya’s a pretty well regulated kid with secure attachments, and is still struggling, which underlines the concept that not all struggles kids experience in school are outwardly expressed. Shelter would likely be appropriate for bibliotherapy and SEL curricula focused on building empathy with supports considered for readers who relate to this book’s content.
This book is probably best suited to emotionally mature, but younger middle grade readers. In the book, Maya speaks fondly of the Ramona books, and Sheltered will likely appeal to the same readers.
Representation here includes: an unhoused family, working/middle class characters in an affluent community, side character with severe food allergies, side character with cerebral palsy, racially diverse side characters, an LGBTQ+ side character. CW in comments.
Thank you to @tbrbeyondtours and @christiematheson for including me on the book tour for this book. -
“If you don’t have a house, can you ever feel at home?” Fifth grade can be fanciful and fantastic; nonetheless, for Maya, this year has become fearful and fretful. Today she is challenged with walking and bussing to school alone, without an umbrella or coat during a frigid rainstorm.
According to the American Heritage Dictionary, “shelter is something that provides cover or protection; a refuge, a haven; an establishment that provides temporary housing; to invest, protect; or shield.” An Irish Proverb declares, “It is in the shelter of each other that the people live.”
Although every community has its beautiful neighborhoods and less desirable zones, San Francisco displays stark contrasts among the sprawling estates, basic cottages, and littered streets serving as a shelter for the homeless.
The expression, “everyone has a story” suits the characters in Shelter. Maya’s humble beginnings and solid family structure instill a foundation to be responsible for her homework, caring for her family, friends, and classmates, and courteous to teachers and neighbors. Treating others with respect despite their sense of entitlement or social class was obvious when Maya interacted with some classmates whose lives consisted of luxury homes, exotic vacations, and international travel. Although the class tormentor, Sloane, regularly ridiculed Maya, her backpack, clothing, belongings, and actions, Maya remained sweet, strong, and often silent.
When her Mama relinquished her position as an art teacher at an exclusive, private school to care for her toddler with severe food allergies and nurturing childcare, the family’s income was drastically reduced resulting in financial disparity. After her father, a writer, was innocently struck while riding his bicycle and hospitalized with traumatic brain injury and severe pulmonary contusions, he was unable to work. Crushed by the distracted driven vehicle, his laptop, which held a manuscript and other income related projects, was destroyed. The loss of an advance salary and increased medical bills, private health insurance, and other expenditures were complicated by their landlord’s decision to sell their house. Therefore, they were introduced to a Shelter.
Shelter focuses on a day in the life of a fifth grader who rises at 6:30 in the morning to prepare herself for school and disappointment. While starving for knowledge, nourishment, clothing, and acceptance, Maya is determined to contribute to the school food drive. She did not want anyone to know her painful homeless secret. Her sense of understanding and hope fulfill Eleanor Roosevelt’s belief, “You must do the thing you think you cannot do.”
Unfortunately, foster, neglected, and homeless children can relate to one backpack or one plastic garbage bag holding all their precious possessions. Rather than being exhilarating, being on the move can be exhausting. Each chapter ignites hope with famous, inspirational quotations. The grace of a humanities teacher shared, “Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle.”
Maya’s comfort reading included: Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Anne of Green Gables, Charlotte’s Web, Ghost, Wonder, and Ramona the Pest series. This heart-wrenching story explores homelessness from one girl's perspective and highlights the power of empathy, friendship, and love. With endearing compassion, Maya dreams, “even on the rainiest days, there's hope that the sun will come out soon.”
Although Shelter is a work of fiction, this tragedy traces reality. If someone comments, “Just get a job,” reflect on Carl Jung’s statement, “I am not what happened to me.” Maya’s family fell on “hard times” and “bad turned worse” despite their efforts. “Sometimes I wished we had a bigger or fancier house, especially after I went to play dates or birthday parties in places where our little house would have fit into one room. I don’t wish for a bigger or fancier house anymore. All I want is our house.”
Recognized as a Junior Library Guild selection, a Children's Book Council Notable Book, and a William Allen White Children’s Book Award nominee, Shelter encompasses “qualities of originality, vitality, clarity, factual accuracy, respect for the reader, and broad general appeal to and acceptance by children.” This book was recommended by children for children; nonetheless, all teenagers and adults will also value this story.
More information is available at
https://christiematheson.com/ -
It's a rainy, wintry day in San Francisco, and Maya, almost 11, wakes up at 6:32 in the morning to start her long trek to the private school she attends on scholarship. She needs to catch a couple of different buses and walk part of the way, and the journey is emotionally trying because she passes by the cottage her family once called home. Now, though, home is a homeless shelter where she lives with her mother and little sister Gabby while her father lies in a hospital. Maya is hungry because she skipped breakfast so that Gabby would have something to eat, and she's cold because she has no raincoat or umbrella. The author tells Maya's story with empathy and detail, breaking it up into ticks of the clock that mark the moments of her day, from that first awakening all the way to when she closes her eyes at 7:35 and counts her blessings. There are passages that are heartbreaking such as how she has everything she values in her backpack and how Sloane, the class bully, keeps homeroom from being the safe space it's supposed to be. Readers are able to see into Maya's heart and mind as she worries that she'll lose her valued friendship with Abby because she's ashamed to tell her where she's living. The grinding hunger that assaults her as she goes about her day, diminishing her ability to concentrate in math class, is described vividly, as is her panic when her backpack disappears. But Maya is lucky to have friends like Abby and Ms. Sherman, her art teacher, who make sure justice is done. Perhaps Maya is too good to be true since she still plans to buy food to donate to the food pantry and gives away her chocolate candy to another homeless boy, but these actions say a lot about her character. And while it is probably unlikely that so many good things can happen in one day, the book effectively portrays homelessness through the eyes of a child as well as how quickly a family's living situation can become precarious through gentrification and an accident affecting the primary wage owner. Books such as this one are important for young readers to read because they put a face to the issue of homelessness and show its complexity without pointing a finger of blame. And of course, one of the basic needs humans have is for shelter or a safe place to weather life's storms.
-
First off I would again like to thank TBR & Beyond Blog Tours for arranging an amazing tour for an amazing book and to the publishers for sending me a Netgalley Arc.
This book is so important I can't put into words how I felt and am feeling still to this day and mainly why I am just reviewing the book now. Christie has written about an important topic of homelessness which is a world wide problem in such a stunning and moving way your heart breaks. I am in the UK there are loads of new housing being built but is way too expensive for a person to actually move and they are being bought people from outside and landlords even renting is expensive too.
Maya was a fantastic main character as she went through her day from leaving the shelter to travelling to school which for a young girl must of been hard and then go through the school day we get to see and hear what happens to her. This style of writing was amazing I felt that I was Maya even though I am and adult. I felt her pain being unable to tell her best friend Abby why she could not have a sleepover and Maya having all her important possessions in her rucksack. For me the rucksack was everything Maya cherished she knew she was loved and we also find out the story behind how Maya and her family came to live at the Shelter and it is heart breaking. What is also scary the book shows the reader that this could happen to anyone at any time. The book also shows us that having everything you want does not make a person happy and Christie shows that through Sloan who is not a very nice person who makes people feel worthless.
I am so glad I read this book and it actually made me think and question a lot of things and would be the perfect book to bring up such important topics as homelessness.
Again Shelter made me cry a lot and made me realise just how important it is to cherish what you already have. There was no doubt in mind at all that Shelter deserves 5 whopping stars. -
Maya is dealing with a lot after her dad's accident and living in a homeless shelter. She also attends an elite private school and is trying to keep her issues secret. It does not take long in the story to understand the concerns she has are likely valid as she has her own nemesis at school who seems to control others and their behavior. Fifth grade is hard enough without all the girl drama, but the school she attends is all girls, so Maya finds a way to handle her life issues solo until this day. On the day of this story, Maya is cornered into sharing her story. The way it unfolds is stunningly well written. This story will help many students, both those who deal with either shelter or food insecurity or those who may have not considered it all. The characterization is wonderful with the students and the staff. The afterward by Christie Matheson is important, as well. I hope students will read it and give it some thought. This is a powerful book and I highly recommend it for any library.
You cannot teach without recognizing that shelter and food insecurity is common in our world. This book takes place in San Francisco, but shelter and food insecurity are all over. Bullying is also common and it may come from a place of angst about your own family or life circumstance issues more than you know. -
Maya narrates a day in her life living in a homeless shelter with her mother and little sister. Each chapter is divided up by time stamps, showing how school and home times elapse in a long day filled with micro-aggressions and tears of worry and shame at her family’s poverty. She’s afraid to tell her best friend that she’s living in a shelter; she’s afraid to ask for help with cold weather gear or an umbrella. There is bullying, but there are small kindnesses too.
I admire this effort to portray the emotional toll of homelessness from a middle grade perspective. I think it is a good choice to have the family cue as white, so that readers are aware that homelessness doesn’t just happen to minority folks. I was invested in Maya’s mental health, and was so relieved that there was good news on a number of different fronts at the end of the story.
I wanted to like this book more, but I felt that it tried to tell too much about homelessness, while showing the character’s plight would have been enough. Maya rattles off statistics about homelessness which should be covered in the back matter, and which are covered in the back matter. I hope readers won’t be put off by the preachy passages, because Maya tells an important story. -
Oh my heart, I may have teared up a bit reading this. Over the course of a day, readers learn about what life is like for Maya, a girl who after a series of events, has been living in a homeless shelter with her mother and younger sister while her father is in the hospital recovering from an accident.
This covers a lot of ground that isn't always seen in youth lit in this way...hunger, not having appropriate clothes for the weather, transportation issues, unemployment, affordable housing, bullies, ect.. as an adult reader, it strays into being a tiny bit didactic, but for kids I think they will either relate to parts of it or it will be eye-opening. The book very much captures that being homeless can happen to anyone, sometimes through no fault of their own.
Definitely one I'd recommend, and I like that it's shorter, fast paced, and hovers right in that 3rd-5th grade sweet spot. -
Since having grandkids I have had many books recommended to me by them (my kids at that age recommended many to me as well). Now I search them out on my own and even recommend several back to my grands. This was one that I don't think any of them had read yet (but I may be proved wrong on that in the next few days).
This book is written for the middle grades (I would say from about 4th-7th grade) and is about being homeless...and how it touches entire families. The story is about a young girl named Maya and her family. Her dad is in the hospital and her mom, her sister and Maya find themselves homeless in San Francisco. If all this weren't bad enough, Maya is being bullied at school and she has to learn how to travel across town alone across the city to get to her school.
It's a quick read and one I would recommend to all ages. -
A girl and her family become homeless and have to start over.
I enjoyed what this book did with giving a spotlight to the hidden struggles that people face, specifically, being homeless and having major medical issues. I'm glad the author included all of the background information on how the family became homeless, since it gives context to their situation. The author continually emphasizes how you never know what someone may be dealing with-so be kind!
I really loved the literary quotes that begin each chapter. It set the tone for the entire book. My only issue is that I felt like the whole bully storyline got to be a bit much and becomes very unrealistic. It took a lot of the focus away from the heart of the story.
Overall, this is a great book that could provide comfort and reassurance for kids going through something similar. -
4.5 stars for this contemporary fiction for ages 8-12. This book centers on a girl who lives in a homeless shelter, and a few days of school. The format is compelling, with the time at the beginning of each section. I didn't want to put this down. I loved Maya and her family, and appreciated the stories of how people can end up homeless. Being inside Maya's head, to understand her feelings and anxieties was so good. A quick and powerful read. Family, friendship, self esteem, the healing power of art, and priorities/what really matters are important themes. Most important was the emphasis on the theme that everyone has a story, and it affects who they are, how they behave, what circumstances they are in. Highly recommended.
-
An interesting insight into a homelessness. Written in the first person this is a "day in the life" of Maya, a Year 5 girl who is living in a homeless shelter. The entire book it time stamped and takes you through one day. The book is easy to read and while it sensitively explains the feelings and issues of homelessness, it is done in a way that would be appropriate for young people to read. I would recommend a year 5 & 6 reading level. This would make a good class text. It has note from the author at the back of the book with statistics from USA. If using as a class text I suggest including statistic from your own country or local area.
-
The last book on the WAW 23-24 list! This is a story about 10 year old Maya and follows her throughout the course of a day. It starts with her waking up in a homeless shelter with her Mom and little sister. After an accident left her Dad in the hospital with no known recovery date, the family lost everything and had to move to a homeless shelter. Maya has to make the trek solo to her wealthy school to face her friends, and bullies. Throughout the day Maya experiences tension with her friends, hunger, being bullied, and hope. A good quick read that reminders us that we never really know what others are going through
-
Shelter: three stars. A thoughtful and detailed-yet-accessible peek into the life of a kid experiencing homelessness. A bit didactic and unsubtle in places, but it's easy to feel for Maya, and this book could really help kids to have understanding and kindness toward classmates in a similar situation to hers. I'm curious, though, as to whether homeless children themselves would find it reassuring or not--I don't think I've seen any reviews from folks with firsthand experience with homelessness.
Note there is quite a bit of harsh bullying depicted on-page, in case that's something you're sensitive to reading.
