Safe Return

Safe Return was written by Catherine Dexter. The genre of the book is historical, realistic fiction. Safe Return is a chapter book. The main character in the story was Ursula and the secondary characters were her Aunt Dana and her Uncle Josef. The theme of the story is family and hope. The book was published by Candlewick Press in 1996. The book has not received any awards. The book is about a young girl, Ursula, whose parents have been killed. She now lives with her aunt and uncle in a new place. In this coastal town, the women knit sweaters and leave every late fall/early winter to sell the sweaters. They must travel on dangerous waters for 3 days. Ursula must stay behind with her uncle. The story is about how she copes without her aunt, new things she learns, and how the town deals with the ship being over a month late coming back. Finally on December 24th, the women return just in time for Christmas.

I would use this book as part of my classroom library. I think many girls would enjoy reading this book because the main character is the same age. The book was a fast, easy read. The vocabulary was not difficult for this age group. The book also deals with bullying which many children this age face at school.