Smoky Nightby Eve Bunting, illustrated by David DíazĪ young boy and his mother are forced to flee their apartment during a night of rioting in Los Angeles. The buttons Laura cherishes the most belonged to her mother. The Memory String by Eve Bunting, illustrated by Ted RandĮach button on Laura’s memory string represents a piece of her family history. But they have miles to go before they can sleep, and it’s a real challenge to stay awake for a whole night of driving. As the sky turns shades of deep blue and purple, they watch for night animals, swap baseball stories, and keep a lookout for eighteen-wheelers. Night Driving by John Coy, illustrated by Peter McCartyĪ father and son drive into the night. The story is inspired by the life of a Holocaust survivor.

When the Nazis invade Poland, a family is split apart. The Harmonica by Tony Johnston, illustrated by Ron Mazellan To see the original messages this list is based on, click here.ĭid we miss one? Please let us know on Twitter! In the second part of this blog on mentor texts for narrative writing, we’ll be focusing on picture books, short stories, and more.

So far, we’ve shared our community’s recommendations for mentor texts to teach argument writing and chapter books to teach narrative writing. As a follow-up to our November 2017 #NCTEchat, Using Mentor Texts, we asked our social media community to share some of their favorite mentor texts with us.

Roxaboxen by Alice McLerran