This story will have readers reflecting on words, relationships with others, and "who are you?" I enjoyed the author's language, format and word incorporation. Such an intriguing and interesting story of how our lives and mannerisms and thoughts intertwine with others!

Eleven-year-old Gina Filomena is quiet, observant, imaginative, and perhaps a bit wary—and she is definitely intrigued by her new neighbor Antonio and his unusual, inviting smile. This is the story of their time in Miss Lightstone’s class and what Gina learns about herself and others. Miss Lightstone is Gina’s perfect teacher: creative, unusual, supportive, thoughtful. Lessons seem to flow from her organically. Writing teachers will enjoy this book both for the writing prompt ideas and for the strong characterizations. Creech is a master at showing—not telling—what her characters are thinking and feeling. The relationship between Gina and her father is particularly nice. This is a gentle, somewhat episodic story with not much conflict but enough mystery to keep things interesting, featuring a few quiet revelations. Another well-written offering from Creech, with general appeal for intermediate readers, younger if reading aloud.

As a fourth grade teacher who has used Love That Dog and Hate That Cat in my classroom, as well as having read Walk Two Moons as a student myself, One Time is another nice addition to the library of Sharon Creech's work. I would imagine reading this book alongside our fictional narrative writing unit encouraging students to expand their imagination and where they can draw their ideas. I appreciated the homage to childhood classics including Holes and the short story "Charlie" by Shirley Jackson. I liked reading about how this teacher inspired her class and hope my students would be equally as driven to write after reading this book.

This was a very good book that I hope to use in my classroom one day. I especially liked how the teacher used introductions of other books and had students try to use them to write. I have tried doing that in my classes, but my students have struggled understanding how to write. I think if they saw the characters do that, then they would understand better. Nicely written story with wonderful ending.

A good story to discuss about the power of imagination. Love using novels in verse in my classroom. A lot of magical realism paired with realistic fiction.

Sharon Creech is a masterful voice. I would gladly add this book to my classroom and personal library. What stands out most is Creech’s exploration of character. Yet another new classic from this author.

What a book! As a long-time admirer of Ms. Creech's books, I feel like One Time is a love letter to all her devoted readers, filled with lovely hidden gems (or "winks"). It makes me want to go back and start reading every one of them all over again. I would definitely recommend that readers try a few other Creech books before reading this one -- Granny Torrelli Makes Soup, Love That Dog, and Bloomability, for sure.

Honestly, I think the open-ended narrative leaves lots of room to inspire young authors to write their own continuation of these characters and their stories.

I was so excited to be able to review this ARC from Netgalley because Sharon Creech is one of my favorite middle grade authors. Unfortunately, this is probably my least favorite book I have ever read from her. It did not feel like the plot even developed until three quarters of the way through and even then there was not that much substance. Gina is an imaginative only child and when Antonio moves in next door and is in her same class you would think the story begins, but not much develops. When Antonio is not coming to school there is little information or plot development. My students will enjoy the short chapters, but other than that there is not much to appeal to them. I don’t even plan on buying this for my classroom; it was a miss.

Another gorgeous day, another #netgalley review! With the crazy world around us, I have noticed these past few days have brought up lots of frustrations, anger, worries, and anxiety, which is why I have spent even more time than usual in other worlds. So, back to Sharon Creech’s world we go!
This one is set to come out in September, and all of my ELA teachers, you need this one in your classroom. I believe it’s just a bit of a stretch for my fourth grade readers, but it would be a wonderful read in all other middle grades. When I grow up and look back on my teaching, I hope my students will write about their learning experiences in this gorgeous, flowery way. This is a story of a young girl trying to navigate her way through another year of schooling. The story was gentle and beautiful, and I am mesmerized and am left wondering and hoping that what I read exists beyond these lovely pages. Thank you Sharon Creech for another captivating read!