The Break

The Break is a realistic recount by a boy, Mick, who goes hiking with his older brother and his friends.  The big boys laugh at Mick and get ahead of him.  Mick is so angry he leaves the trail and gets hurt.  By the time the hike is over the brothers have learned important lessons about hiking and about being brothers.  The story is told in dialogue and first-person narrative.

The story has a beginning, middle, end structure.  The text is composed of a variety of sentence types.  Illustrations support the text but not all events are illustrated.  A trail map provides additional information.  Quotation marks and exclamation marks are used.  Boldface is used for emphasis.  The book concludes with a two-page spread explaining the characteristics of a recount.

Some words may require clarification: wilderness, dense, tilted, brambles, snared, bearings, clearing.  Simile: ankles … feeling like rubber.  Metaphors: anger boiled inside me, pain screamed up my arm. 

This title is from the Sails Literacy series. Hook readers and ignite their curiosity - over 700 levelled texts with bright, colourful, sophisticated designs.