Book talk: The Year of Billy Miller by Kevin Henkes

It's summer time, and your second grade year will start soon. I want you to imagine that you're on a family trip, stopping in Minnesota to see a statue of the Jolly Green Giant. Obviously, this statue is really, really tall and really, really green. You're wearing a new baseball cap that you love. It's a windy day, and you're on the lookout platform of the statue.

Goodbye, new baseball cap!

Your cap suddenly blows away in the wind! Without thinking, you step over the guardrail and REACH as far as you possibly can. You fall to the far pavement below.

The next thing you remember is waking up in a hospital. Your parents are with you, and so is your three-year-old sister, Sal.

You have a head injury, but the doctor says you'll be okay. "You fell exactly the right way to protect yourself," he says.

But you're still worried that you won't be smart enough for the school year.

The Year of Billy Miller by Kevin Henkes. 229 p. 2013: Greenwillow Books. Booktalk to 2nd - 4th, and also to advanced 1st grade readers and reluctant/basic level 5th graders.