This book is written from the perspective of Jamie, a little boy. He, his mother, and his little sister are living with a man named Van. The three of them are forced to flea in the middle of the night when Van throws his younger sister, Nin, across the room in a fit of rage. His mom is able to catch her in time so that she is not hurt but the event scares Jamie to the point where he begins to live in fear even after leaving. They move into the trailer of his mother's friend Earl. Earl makes comments that they are not safe from Van. This adds to Jamie's fear. One scene describes Jamie trying to get dressed in a hurry, he isn't sure why he is hurrying but the scene alludes to the anxiety and panic that a child may feel when feeling unsafe. This is a too real scenario. While I do think that the topic is important I am not sure that I would be prepared to read this with my class. ( )

A young boy, his mom, and his baby sister flee from the abusive Van, after Jamie (the boy) sees Van throw his baby sister across the room. They move into a tiny trailer out in the middle of nowhere and both Jamie and his mother struggle to sort out their emotions and fears, while Jamie's mother also struggles to make ends meet.
A powerful subject and a fair-to-middling treatment. Still, possibly a good introduction to breaching the subject with young minds. ( )

This Newbery Honor book didn't feel like a book for children or young adults. It felt like masterfully written short story for adults. The protagonist is a child, but I think the audience is adult.

As the book opens, Jamie, a third grade boy who lives with his baby sister, his mother, and her boyfriend, looks up to see the boyfriend throwing his baby sister across the room. His mother catches the baby, and she is fine, but she packs up her two children and leaves that very moment.

The rest of book covers the few weeks after they leave, as his mother, struggling both financially and emotionally, tries to figure out how to make things work.

A simple, beautiful, and emotion filled little book. ( )

Jamie sees his baby sister thrown across the room, and from then on, he and his family are living in fear. Jamie, his mother, and baby Nin head off to start again on their own. For the most part, the family is just living on hope, but Jamie is confused. He wants life to be normal and simple, but he knows that his mother is truly afraid of her ex coming back. It's a beautifully written story of fear and standing up for yourself. Although it's not written in 1st person, it's almost as if the writing is based off of Jamie's thinking process. It's a great chapter book for advanced third graders or 4th-5th grade. Hopefully students will take away an important lesson that people of any age are capable of showing courage in big ways. ( )

In “What Jamie Saw” Jamie witnesses his mom’s boyfriend treating his little sister badly. The mom gets upset and takes the children away. She goes to a close friend and he puts them up in a house that he owns in the middle of nowhere. They live there for a while until the mom’s ex-boyfriend, or the one they moved away from, finds the family and tries to make things all better. The mom simply tells him that she is not interested. Unfortunately, sometimes this happens in real life and think children can learn that, although it is not okay or right, things happen and they just need to get themselves out of the situation.
Extension
1. Talk about abusive people and tendencies and how to avoid them