All Thirteen The Incredible Cave Rescue of the Thai Boys’ Soccer Team

Middle grade teachers, my students absolutely LOVED this book. Every time we had to stop they begged me to read another chapter. I bought the book and got the audio from libro.fm and it really enriched the experience! In 2018 the whole world had eyes on Thailand as rescuers worked around the clock to save a boys soccer team from a flooded cave. This could be a great book to read aloud during a non fiction unit, and I plan on creating lessons with it next year. My students were surprised it was non-fiction because it was so engaging. Christina Soontornvant really created something special here. We get to know the boys and their coach on a really intimate level that makes the stakes even higher. She also sprinkled in some information about Thailand and their culture. We were on the edge of our seats! You know it’s good when even though you know the ending, you’re still sweating throughout the book. I had some students go home and watch the movie, this morning they came in and said it was so good, but “the book was better.” My heart swelled!

I also found this book inspirational. As someone that recently found a love for nonfiction, why can’t kids have good nonfiction books too? Why can’t we find more books that package tough topics for middle grade readers? Kids LOVE learning about history and science, but much of the nonfiction material available is dry and boring, in my opinion. Picture books are doing a great job of it, especially recently, but what about middle grade readers that are ready for something with more meat? Maybe I’m just looking in the wrong places, but who knows maybe I’ll just have to do it myself. Shoutout to @libraryalissa for this impeccable recommendation.

[ID: The book All Thirteen: The Incredible Cave Rescue of the Thai Boys’ Soccer Team standing on top of a desk. The background is blurry but it looks to be in a classroom with a purple wall and whiteboard in the background.]

#MiddleGradeBooks #WeLoveMGLit #NonfictionBooks #AllThirteen #TheRescue #Thailand #MiddleGradeReadAlouds #FourthGradeReadAlouds #TeachersofInstagram #Bookstagram #IncredibleCaveRescue #AlwaysReading #fourthgradebooks