The One Thing You'd Save

By Linda Sue Park and Robert Sae-Heng

If your house were on fire, what one thing would you save? Newbery Medalist Linda Sue Park explores different answers to this provocative question in linked poems that capture the diverse voices of a middle school class. Recipient of four starred reviews!

"[Park's] message is powerful: We don’t need a great blazing tragedy to determine what we hold most precious in our lives; we can define what’s vital through our thoughts and memories, always at hand, in our heads and hearts—safe, where the flames don’t reach."—New York Times Book Review

When a teacher asks her class what one thing they would save in an emergency, some students know the answer right away. Others come to their decisions more slowly. And some change their minds when they hear their classmates’ responses. A lively dialog ignites as the students discover unexpected facets of one another—and themselves.

With her ear for authentic dialog and knowledge of kids’ priorities and emotions, Linda Sue Park brings the varied voices of an inclusive classroom to life through carefully honed, engaging, and instantly accessible verse. Elegantly illustrated with black-and-white by Robert Sae-Heng art throughout.

• Language: English
• Publisher: HarperCollins
• Release date: Mar 16, 2021
• ISBN: 9780358526018

Linda Sue Park

Linda Sue Park, Newbery Medal winner for A Single Shard and #1 New York Times bestseller for A Long Walk to Water, is the renowned author of picture books and novels for young readers. She lives in Western New York. Learn more at lindasuepark.com.

Book preview

Cover: The One Thing You Would Save. Authored by Newbery medalist, Linda Sue Park. The illustrations are done by Robert Sae-Heng. The cover image depicts a few sketches that include a mobile, a heart-shaped box, a cat, a rug, a spectacle, a shell, a pair of shoes, a few books, a spiral notebook with a pencil, a wallet, a snake, and a small pot with a plant.Title page: The One Thing You Would Save by Linda Sue Park, illustrated by Robert Sae-Heng, Clarion Books, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, Boston, New York.

Contents

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Cover

Title Page

Contents

Copyright

Dedication

Begin Reading

Author’s Note

Read More from Linda Sue Park

Find Your Story

About the Author

About the Illustrator

Connect with HMH on Social Media

Copyright

Clarion Books

3 Park Avenue

New York, New York 10016

Copyright © 2021 by Linda Sue Park

Illustrations copyright © 2021 by Robert Sae-Heng

All rights reserved. For information about permission to reproduce selections from this book, write to [e-mail] or to Permissions, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company, 3 Park Avenue, 19th Floor, New York, New York 10016.

Clarion Books is an imprint of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.

hmhbooks.com

Cover art and hand-lettering © 2021 by Robert Sae-Heng

Cover design by Celeste Knudsen

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available.

ISBN 978-1-328-51513-1

eISBN 978-0-358-52601-8

v1.0221

Dedication

To my WNDB and SCBWI families, with love and appreciation—L.S.P.

To my sister, Myra—R.SH.

It features the top of a few buildings and a starry sky.An illustration depicts an aerial view of a few adjacent apartment towers. One building has a basketball court with few benches and two others have water tanks on the top and the front view of a building. It has a gable roof, a small entrance, and a few windows. A clock is on the top of the building.

"Imagine that your home is

Reviews for The One Thing You'd Save

[jennybeast · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I think this is a cool premise. I like the verse. I like the various characters that we see through the class' choices of what they would save. It's a little spare, and a little emotionally fraught, and altogether a good sort of book.

[ewyatt_16 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Charming, poignant quick read about a teacher who poses the question to her class, "What's one thing you'd save if your house was on fire?" She gives the stipulation that all the people and animals are protected. The rest of the book explores the students thinking about and answering this question. The highly illustrated novel in verse is written sijo (SHEE-zho) poetry. The poems manage to even show connections between students in class and the different ways things are valuable. Would make a solid text for an extension lesson.