Winner of multiple book awards: 2024 American Legacy Book Award, 2023 International Book Award, Christian Directors' Choice Award, Catholic Press Award 2022, and Royal Dragonfly Book Award for middle grade fiction 2021. Heartwarming, exciting tale for middle grade boys and girls, told through the eyes of middle schooler Victor Ortega, as he looks back on how he survived fifth grade. Told with humor and inspiration, sure to motivate readers with their courage and faith. Victor faces fifth-grade issues--his beloved father's temporary absence, a new school, class bully, scary mountains at night, unnerving PE dance class--plus a hair-raising escape and chase. All are overcome with the help of faith, family, and friends.
Kids in any community can relate to Victor's adventures and misadventures through growing pains of the middle years.
Beautifully illustrated, Victor's narrative keeps the story witty and vivid as his troubles pile up. When will his father return from Mexico? Why can't the bully just leave him alone? Can he do it on his own? Or can Victor--with the help of family and friends--find a way to Survive Being a Kid? Readers enjoy the book's humor and adventure, while sharing Victor's growth in faith and maturity. Young readers can also see Spanish (with translations) in the story.
This story shows Mexican American family life with warmth and respect. The author lived happily for a dozen years in a Mexican American neighborhood in Denver, Colorado and taught kids like Victor, Akeem, Isobel, and others. For parents, teachers, and librarians, the newSong Press website has a link to a free discussion and activity guide with kid-friendly recipes and fun projects. Go to www.newSongpress.net and click on Victor Survives tab.
Vertrees, Heidi: - I taught school and have written articles and curricula for national publishers for Sunday school, elementary school, and government organizations--as well as short fiction and now my first novel! When I was eight, I discovered a passion for writing, and the Bible was my favorite book. Still is! I graduated from the University of Colorado and the University of Denver. I now live in Maryland with my husband Ron, where I teach swimming to homeschool students and lead a Child Evangelism Fellowship "Good News Club." Like Victor, my Dad came from another country, so I grew up in a bilingual home in New York and Colorado. Later I served in the US Peace Corps in the Philippines where I edited a national magazine. Returning home from the Philippines, I backpacked all the way. From the Philippines, I traveled to Hong Kong, Bangkok, Calcutta, and went by train across northern India to New Delhi, then on to Germany and England. In the end, I was blessed to have circled the earth from where I began two years before. In years to follow, I traveled in Mexico. Before teaching English to Spanish-speaking children in Chile, and teaching children newly immigrated from Latin America, Southeast Asia, and South Asia, I lived happily for a dozen years in an Hispanic area in Denver. There I taught fifth grade and was blessed by the graciousness of the Mexican culture. This story is a big "thank you" for that ... ¡Gracias! ... ¡Dios los Bendiga! ... Thank you! ... God Bless You!
