The Hundred Penny Box

I read The Hundred Penny Box when I was in third grade 13 years ago. Its messages of love and memory have stayed with me and will continue to do so forever. I have created my own Hundred Penny Box and just made one for a friend's newborn son. My grandfather was recently diagnosed with altzheimers, an illness I assume that great-great-Aunt Dew suffered from. I took my ratty old copy of the book to his house over Easter. We read it together and discussed his own memories over the years. While his memory is fading, I felt it important to hear them myself, love them, and save them in my own memory as Michael did for Aunt Dew. I would reccomend this book to any child who is losing a grandparent and anyone who needs a good, heartwarming story.

I like this story because it is about a boy that stands up for and loves his great-great aunt and he would protect her hundred pennie box so nothing would happen to it. If it gets lost, she gets lost. I would recommend this book to anyone.

I am a fifth grader at North Hills Traditional Academy. I liked this book. It is interesting because: *It tells about someones life *It deals with feelings *It deals with a neat family. Everyone would love this book.

The story of Michael and his great-great aunt Dew felt very real to us. We especially liked the part where they played the hundred-penny game together. We also liked the part where old Aunt Dew sings and dances to her favorite record. Dancing makes her feel younger and she forgets that she's a hundred years old. Michael loved Aunt Dew, and the author made us love her, too. Michael and Aunt Dew were very close. We thought that he understood her better than his mother did. We also liked the way that Michael stood up to his mother when she was about to throw away Aunt Dew's old box. We think that everyone should read this book because you can learn alot from it and you will enjoy it, like we did. Kids will understand their older family members better and may make them feel good and happy. [This review was composed and written by my fourth graders in Philadelphia)

Michael experiences a wealth of family memories through his elderly aunt, whom he feels is mistreated by his mother; a woman firmly rooted in the present. This is a boy's poignant passage into understanding two important people in his life and his struggle to reconcile them. The author uses dialect which is natural and realistic. My fourth grade students were spellbound listening to this hour-long reading.