Cloud of Witnesses

Who cares if he’s “gifted.” Roland Tanner wants to escape his life. He’s stuck in a broken-down trailer in the hills with his family, the sorriest characters he’s ever met. At his new middle school, his classmates only see him as a hillbilly. He has a secret crush on Patty, but so does his friend Hassan, the new kid from Iran. But then comes the Iranian hostage crisis of 1979. And Roland’s father’s health takes a turn for the worse while he’s away in jail. Will Roland accept the cloud of witnesses—the saints and sinners all around him—and realize that his future can be whatever he makes it? Perfect for fans of Erin Entrada Kelly, Sharon Creech, Cynthia Rylant, and Firoozeh Dumas, is a poignant, humorous book about coming of age in the foothills of the Appalachians. "Weaving fiction and historical events together, this book made me laugh and cry. The characters jump off the page. A great read for all middle school students.” — Marilee Amodt, M.S.Ed., long-time Middle School Curriculum Resource Teacher