by Cecil Castellucci and Jose Pimienta. Milwaukie, OR: Dark Horse, 2017
Beautifully written and told, this is the story of Pearl, a.k.a. Soupy who runs away from her abusive father and joins Remmy, a hobo, who teaches her about "seeing" things and people as they are. He helps Soupy come to grips with her past, her future, and her responsibilities. This empowering story of love and friendship makes readers more sensitive to the homeless and more aware of what life was like in Depression-era United States for so many drifters and men down on their luck.
This book can easily be integrated into language arts as well as social studies studying The Great Depression-era United States, hoboes, and their "Code of the Road." It addresses social studies themes such as: historical events; culture and cultural diversity; and the powers and challenges of governance.
See how to use this book to teach close reading in Worth A Thousand Words: Using Graphic Novels to Teach Visual and Verbal literacy (pp. 90-95).
Grades 7+