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    Character Connections: Finding Yourself in the Story

     | Oct 18, 2012
    IN OTHER WORDS
    BY LISA GRAFF
    Oct 18, 2012
     
    A few years back, I found myself in a small town in Illinois, visiting an elementary school in which every single student, from the kindergartners to the fifth-graders, had read my first novel, THE THING ABOUT GEORGIE. As the librarian shuttled me through the hallways early that morning to prepare for my first presentation, I noticed an amusing trend.

    One after the other, the students I passed on their way to their classrooms—children who had clearly been told repeatedly that “The Author” would be visiting their school that very day—stared at me, the stranger in their school carrying her large cup of coffee, and whispered to one another about whether or not I might be Her. And without fail, one by one, each group of students decided that, nope, I wasn’t it. Couldn’t be. Even if I did sort of look like the lady on the back of the book.

    Why, you wonder? How could hundreds of children independently come to the same faulty conclusion, based on pretty much zero evidence? Easy: Because Georgie, the main character in my novel, was a dwarf, and I (at 5’10’’ without heels) clearly was not.

    This sort of thing happens nearly every time I visit a school to talk about THE THING ABOUT GEORGIE, and it never fails to make me laugh. Because, of course I don’t need to be a dwarf to write about someone (a boy, at that!) with dwarfism. I rely on things like research, and introspection, and my own imagination to make a character very different from myself come to life. As an author, that concept seems very clear.

    But as a reader, well, I must admit I often find myself making the same assumptions about authors and their protagonists. Every time I reread THE GREAT GILLY HOPKINS, I want to believe that Katherine Paterson must have some of Gilly’s stubborn spark in her, because otherwise how could she write the character so brilliantly? And Gary D. Schmidt clearly had a bit of a troubled childhood, and found a teacher who helped turn him around, or how else could OKAY FOR NOW’s Doug Swieteck feel so real? And don’t even get me started on Harper Lee and Scout Finch…

    Obviously, I’m aware that these are works of fiction, whose plots and settings and details have been carefully crafted for the sake of good storytelling. And I understand that even in autobiographical novels, such as TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD, no fictional character can be an exact representation of the author. Thoughts, feelings, events, and beliefs must all be tweaked and manipulated to work within the larger whole of a protagonist’s story.

    But when I’m inside a delicious novel, none of these truths about crafting fiction seem to matter. When I’m reading a story—a really, really good one—and connecting deeply with a character, it feels like there’s absolutely no way the writer could have created someone so real, so affecting, if he didn’t know his subject, well, personally.

    As readers, we develop meaningful bonds with our favorite protagonists. We read as the main character—we walk around in his shoes, see the world from her eyes, for those few hundred pages until the story ends. We cheer when our hero achieves a great victory, and swoon when the heroine finds her true love, and weep when our now dear friends receive some injustice. When a character with whom I feel a bond makes a decision that I know will ultimately spell disaster, I am quite literally angry with him. “How could you do that to yourself?” I want to shout through the pages—when perhaps what I really mean is: “How could you do that to me?” One need only poke a head inside the still-raging debate over the romantic choices of Bella Swan or Katniss Everdeen to understand that readers—passionate, vocal, occasionally crazed readers—tend not to form opinions about potential love interests based on which matches would be right for the character herself, but rather on their own personal ideals (for the record: Team Jacob, Team Gale, no contest).

    As an author, however, I don’t write with that sort of fierce connection to my characters. Oh, I adore them. I find them at turns interesting, frustrating, and downright curious. But I don’t write as them. Even while working on my third novel, UMBRELLA SUMMER—my only book to date inspired by events in my childhood—I never once felt that the protagonist was a representation of me. In that novel, the main character, ten-year-old Annie Richards, has developed a rather extreme hypochondria, and worries in turn about everything from smallpox to gangrene to runaway zoo animals, and at one point even suggests that her best friend’s hamster might have seasonal affective disorder. To put it quite simply, Annie is a worrywart.

    I, like Annie, was a bit of a hypochondriac when I was a child. And, like Annie, my hypochondria stemmed from a traumatic experience. When I was nine years old, my older brother suffered severe kidney failure, and spent about a month in the hospital, close to death, until he ultimately recovered. (At this point in the story I always feel the need to let people know that my brother, unlike Annie’s in the novel, survived his illness, and is now a healthy adult.) But my hypochondria took a very different form than Annie’s, as did my path to wellness. And while I was mostly a shy, straight-A type at that age, Annie’s character is much more boisterous, and impetuous than I could ever dream of being. (At one point in the novel, infuriated with her former best friend’s lack of understanding, Annie makes the curious decision to hose down her entire Junior Sunbird troop at their annual Fourth of July car wash fundraiser.) So really, despite our shared experiences, it feels like quite a stretch to say that the character of Annie and I are much of anything alike at all.

    However, if a person’s life could be said to have themes, in the way a novel does, Annie and I would share a big one: The realization that grief and worry are no substitute for a life well lived. So in that regard we are extremely similar. So too do the themes of my other protagonists’ stories mesh with mine. Like Kansas and Francine (the dual protagonists of my most recent novel, DOUBLE DOG DARE, who simultaneously battle in a high-stakes dare war and attempt to cope with the divorces of their respective parents), I have struggled to make sense of an occasionally unfair hand I’ve been dealt. And even like Georgie, the ten-year-old dwarf from THE THING ABOUT GEORGIE, I have in my own way felt out of place in the world.

    I once had a student ask me, during a school visit, if I ever felt guilty for putting my characters in bad situations. And my answer surprised even me a little: No, not in the slightest. In fact, I like putting my characters in bad situations, because conflict is the root of good story, and we can’t learn anything about a character at all if we don’t see what she’ll do when faced with real challenge. So I don’t need to write a character who would only do the things I would do, or who only holds beliefs I hold, because I already know how that character’s story would turn out (and quite frankly, it would be a fairly dull read). I enjoy exploring new characters, foreign ones, and seeing what they will do and say and think.

    Really, it’s only after a story is finished—written, rewritten, edited, copyedited, and published—that I tend to see myself in it. At that point I begin to discern, bit by tiny bit, which aspects of the character were pulled from my own personality, and which struggles, hopes, and worries we share. Because, yes, there is quite a bit of me in every single character I write, good or bad. Girl or boy. Dwarf or hypochondriac. But perhaps the most important skill a writer can have is to blindfold herself to those similarities, and to write from imagination—even if what she is imagining turns out to be nothing more than a different version of herself.

    Lisa Graff grew up in a small California ski resort town. She earned a degree at UCLA and went on to receive an MFA in writing for children from the New School in New York. She is the author of THE LIFE AND CRIMES OF BERNETTA WALLFLOWER and THE THING ABOUT GEORGIE, which was named to nine state reading lists. Her most recent novel is DOUBLE DOG DARE.

    © 2012 Lisa Graff. Please do not reproduce in any form, electronic or otherwise.


    In Other Words: Emily Jenkins (Invisible Inkling series) Finds Her Protagonist

    Beyond the Notebook: Interviewing Paul Bunyan with David L. Harrison
    IN OTHER WORDS BY LISA GRAFF Oct 18, 2012   A few years back, I found myself in a small town in Illinois, visiting an elementary school in which every single student, from the kindergartners to the fifth-graders, had read my first novel, THE...Read More
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    Children's Literature Reviews: Recent Favorites

     | Oct 17, 2012

    Every teacher has a favorite book they read aloud each school year or book talk to students. Sometimes we even have a special shelf with our top ten favorite books. In addition, many teachers keep an electronic reading record of what they read at goodreads.com. This social networking site for book lovers helps teachers organize their top picks and put them on a “favorite shelf.” This week members of the International Reading Association Children's Literature and Reading Special Interest Group (CL/R SIG) chose some of our favorite books that have been published in 2012.

    GRADES K-3

    Alko, Selina. (2012). B is for Brooklyn. New York: Christy Ottaviano/Henry Holt.

    B is for BrooklynThis fun ABC book begins with a map of Brooklyn, a borough of New York City, and an author’s note discussing the layout of the book. Author, Selina Alko, lives in Brooklyn where she writes and illustrates books. Each letter highlights famous landmarks, streets, icons and institutions in Brooklyn. For example, C is for Coney Island, Court Street, Carroll Gardens and Clock Tower. Small child-like illustrations accompany each of these C words along with a gouache and collage illustration of the Coney Island Cyclone roller coaster. Different food stands sell clams, cones, chicken, cotton candy and cheese with a little girl licking strawberry ice cream. Brooklyn is home to many immigrants, therefore I is for Immigrants, Ice cream trucks, Ice-skating and Intellectuals. Each June Brooklyn celebrates the beginning of summer with the Mermaid Parade highlighted for the letter M. This wacky and wonderful parade includes sea creatures, marching bands, drill teams, antique cars and more. After reading this book, children could create their own ABC book about the city or state in which they reside.

    - Deanna Day, Washington State University Vancouver


    Aylesworth, Jim.  (2012). Cock-a-doodle-doo, creak, pop-pop, moo. Illus. by Brad Sneed. New York: Holiday House.

    Cock-a-doodle-dooRhyming lines and onomatopoeia make this nostalgic picture book describing the sights and sounds of life on a family farm rather noisy. Not only do the hard-working family members awaken to the almost-impossible-to-resist smells and sounds of bacon sizzling in the frying pan, but their days are filled with an animal cacophony while they also notice how "breezes swish” (unpaged) later in the day, and how the welcome “clang, clang, clang” (unpaged) of the dinner bell signals that “It's time to eat" (unpaged). Amid all the daily chores and animal noises, there is much fun and support among the family members, and there’s nary a cellphone or a disgruntled countenance among them. Anyone who thinks country living is quiet needs to take a look at this book. Together, the engaging text filled with all those sounds and the watercolor illustrations depicting lots of movement from the farm folks as they complete their tasks evoke feelings of warmth, comfort, and togetherness that make this one fun to read aloud.

    - Barbara A. Ward, Washington State University Pullman


    Brett, Jan. (2012). Mossy. New York: G. P. Putnam’s Sons.

    MossyMossy, an Eastern box turtle, lives by the damp, cool Lilypad Pond. Because she spends so much time there, curlicues of moss begin to grow in her carapace, eventually forming a moss mat which provides the perfect place for ferns and wildflowers to grow. Soon Mossy has an amazing garden she carries on her back. Mossy loves her garden. Each day brings her a lovely surprise—a new flower or a strawberry! Just as Mossy encounters Scoot, a male turtle in the pond, she is picked up by Dr. Carolina, the owner of a local museum. Although Mossy quickly becomes the museum’s star attraction, she seems unhappy and possibly lonely. Two artists, Flora and Fauna, paint a giant picture of Mossy with all her plants, and then Dr. Carolina releases Mossy exactly where she had been found, to Scoot’s delight. The book’s simple text and detailed illustrations with information-filled margins will undoubtedly be a big hit with young readers. Children can spend many hours reading the book and poring over the drawings. A fantastic addition for classrooms, the title will be particularly useful to complement lesson plans and units about habitats and plant-animal interactions. Read more about the author in Kathy Prater's Engage post "Putting Books to Work: Jan Brett's Home for Christmas."

    - Rani Iyer, Washington State University Pullman


    Katz, Jon. (2012). Lenore finds a friend: A true story from Bedlam farm. New York: Henry Holt.

    Lenore Finds a FriendFinding friends to play or eat lunch with isn’t always easy. Just like humans dogs sometimes have this problem too. In bright photographs readers will meet Lenore, a black Labrador retriever, who perseveres and finally makes a friend. As a puppy Lenore tried to make friends with a rooster and donkey, but they crowed or kicked her. Even another dog, Rose, was too busy herding sheep to be friends with Lenore. One day, Lenore met a grumpy ram named Brutus and gave him a big kiss on his nose. Brutus had never been kissed before and didn’t know what to do. The next day Lenore returned and kissed Brutus on the nose again. Rose tried to interfere by barking and growling at this odd animal pairing, but Lenore wouldn’t give up. The next morning she returned to the pasture and found Brutus. They touched noses, ate grass and hung out together. Lenore finally found a friend. Teachers could make a T-chart and invite students to list all of the different things Lenore did to try to make friends. On the other side of the chart students could share what they do to make friends.

    - Deanna Day, Washington State University Vancouver


    McNamara, Margaret. (2012). George Washington’s birthday: A mostly true tale. Illus. by Barry Blitt. New York: Schwartz & Wade Books.

    George Washington's BirthdayThe author has created a humorous look at George Washington’s seventh birthday. When George wakes up on the morning of his birthday he starts dropping hints about his special day but no one seems to pick up on his rather obvious hints. His older brother and teacher insist he begin his studies for the day and his father has him helping with chores around the farm. George continues to drop not-so-subtle hints about what a special day it is and remarks about the cold weather. Throughout the book the author and illustrator have cleverly inserted bordered boxes with Fact or Myth about George Washington. Some of the facts prove to be true later in this future president’s life but many of the myths, particularly the “I cannot tell a lie. It was I who chopped down the tree.” (page 15) are simply fabricated. This will be a humorous read aloud for President’s Day in February though the actual amount of information about the first president is scant. Listen to the author during this NPR interview. Listen to the ReadWriteThink podcast, Chatting About Books, entitled “Celebrate Life” which discusses birthdays.

    - Karen Hildebrand, Ohio Library and Reading Consultant


    Schwartz, Amy. (2012). Lucy can’t sleep. New York: Neal Porter/Roaring Brook Press.

    Lucy Can't SleepLucy can’t sleep. She tries counting baby otters, mountain goats, kangaroos and even sailing boats, but none of this counting works. She then realizes Dolly and Bear are missing and begins looking for them throughout her house. The detailed and colorful illustrations show Lucy looking way up high and way down low for her friends. After she finds them it is time for an evening snack of strawberry shortcake and chocolate pudding. Even though the house is quiet and her belly is full, Lucy still isn’t sleepy. Next, she moves outside to swing, stare at the sky and listen to the radio. Not ready to shut her eyes, Lucy begins to play dress up—putting on fancy shoes, gloves and lipstick. After spinning and dancing around Lucy finally yawns. All children will laugh when the final page is read and shared. After reading aloud this book children could discuss what they do when sleep doesn’t come quickly.

    - Deanna Day, Washington State University Vancouver


    GRADES 4-8

     

    Bauer, Joan. (2012). Almost home. New York, Viking.

    Almost HomeTeachers who are looking for multiple genres within one book that includes fiction, poetry, letters and thank you notes, will find that this book is the answer. Sixth grade Sugar Mae Cole lives in Missouri with her mother and grandfather, and part-time father. Mr. Leeland, the name Sugar calls her father, is a gambler and a loser. When things get bad, he disappears. King Cole, Sugar’s grandfather, is able to help them out for a time but shortly after the story opens, he passes away. Now Sugar and her mother are going to lose the family home. It means they are now homeless. Living on the street, going to a shelter and eventually to foster care when her mother falls apart and is hospitalized, Sugar maintains a hopeful attitude that things will get better. There are still ups and downs to her situation but through the emails and poetry of her wonderful sixth grade teacher, Mr. Bennett, and the supporting foster family she is placed with, Sugar carves out a new life for herself while her mother is getting the help she needs. Joan writes more about this book at her blog Toward Home or visit her website to learn more about her award-winning books.

    - Karen Hildebrand, Ohio Library and Reading Consultant


    Cox, Judy. (2012). The secret chicken society. Illus. by Amanda Haley. New York: Holiday House.

    The Secret Chicken SocietyMrs. Lopez is Daniel’s third grade teacher. One day she announces that the next science project for the class will be watching and hatching chicken eggs as they develop in the class incubator. Daniel is especially excited to learn that there will be a drawing to see who gets to keep the chickens at the end of the year. Being an animal lover and owner of several pets already he convinces his environmentally friendly father right away but his mother is a little more reluctant to give her okay to one more pet.  Daniel barely manages to get his name drawn while other kids learn that their parents will not agree to a take-home baby chick so Daniel ends up with five baby chickens. His brother and sisters help him set up their backyard to raise the chickens but his elderly neighbor, Mr. Grafalo is even grumpier than usual when he sees the chickens. Mrs. Grafalo however is delighted because the chicks remind her of her youthful days growing up on a farm. As the chickens grow, the family is in for a surprise when one turns out to be a rooster, which is illegal in the city. Now how is Daniel going to keep a crowing rooster a secret? The author has included Daniel’s journal at the end of the book that contains all the facts he learned about raising chickens. Learn more about the author at her website or the FaceBook page for this book. For further study, check out the website GREEN AMERICAN and read the article,"The Many Benefits of Backyard Chickens." ReadWriteThink offers other books about chickens and ideas and activities for using these books. Also read Kathy Prater's Engage post "Putting Books to Work: Judy Cox's One is a Feast for a Mouse: A Thanksgiving Tale."

    - Karen Hildebrand, Ohio Library and Reading Consultant


    King, Martin Luther King, Jr. (2012). I have a dream. Paintings by Kadir Nelson. New York: Schwartz & Wade Books.

    I Have a DreamOn August 28, 1968, on the day of the March on Washington D.C., Martin Luther King, Jr., delivered his famous “I Have a Dream” speech on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. The publishers have included a CD of the actual speech in this beautifully illustrated version of the famous speech. Nelson’s oil paintings taken page by page make Dr. King’s ideas come alive for young readers today. Each page and double page spread represent the concepts that Dr. King was so emphatically purporting at the time, representing peace and justice and freedom in a world where blacks and whites would live together in harmony. Listen and watch Kadir Nelson discuss this new book from his speech at Book Expo America or watch Martin Luther King give his speech at You Tube. Teachers might like to try the interactive “Word Mover for ‘I Have a Dream’” from ReadWriteThink

    - Karen Hildebrand, Ohio Library and Reading Consultant


    Laverdunt, Damien. (2012). Small and tall tales of extinct animals. Illus. by Helene Rajcak. Minneapolis, MN: Lerner Publishing Group/Gecko Press. 

    Small and Tall TalesThrough a series of cartoons, legends, myths, and tall tales, readers are taken on an around-the-world tour of animals that are gone but not forgotten. By using intriguing elements from both science and mythology, essentially incorporating facts and legends, the title makes readers think about the possibilities of a world in which huge beavers could gnaw down trees or dodos could waddle through fields while elephant-birds filled the skies. Young readers will surely be intrigued by the stories about the giant lemur and the woolly mammoth, and several other hard-to-say animals who once called this planet home. Particularly appealing are the questions posed about the future of some of the animals related to those that are now gone. This would be a great addition to any classroom science library and may inspire more thoughtful conservation efforts from today’s students.

    - Barbara A. Ward, Washington State University Pullman


    Murphy, Jim. (2012). The giant and how he humbugged America. New York: Scholastic Press.

    The GiantThe Cardiff Giant, a 10-foot tall stone man, was discovered on a farm in upstate New York on October 16, 1869, owned by William Newell. It started when Henry Nichols and Gideon Emmons went to Newell’s farm to dig a well. Several hours of digging eventually unearthed the stone giant and the questions began. What was this huge being? A legend from the Onondaga Indians? Was it actually a real man? Within days, people were line up paying money to Mr. Newell to see the strange sight. Circus entrepreneur, P. T. Barnum got involved and created a duplicate for his circus entourage. Eventually, the scientists came and within months, the gypsum giant was declared a hoax. Jim Murphy’s talent for collecting newspaper articles, vintage photographs, posters and other primary sources combine to revisit the times that brought this post-Civil War diversion to the public and expose the truth with scientific proof and experiments. Murphy provides lengthy and detailed indexes and resources about his research at the end of the book. Learn more about author Jim Murphy at his website or read more about the back story at School Library Journal. For a visual lesson, teachers might like to show the CBC News Video report on the Cardiff Giant. Just as scientists worked on this puzzle, teachers might like to use “Giant Story Problems; Reading Comprehension through Math Problem-Solving” at ReadWriteThink.

    - Karen Hildebrand, Ohio Library and Reading Consultant


    Sobol, Richard. (2012). The story of silk: From worm spit to woven scarves. Somerville, MA: Candlewick Press.

    The Story of SilkAuthor/photographer Richard Sobol returns to the small Thai village where he did his research for his book, The Life Of Rice (2010). He planned to share the new book with the people in the village. When he arrived he discovers they are in the midst of silk season, meaning it is a dry-season activity. The young men of the village are away at school and the silk production industry of the village is in the hands of the women. Sobol writes his book as a learner, asking questions about how silk is actually produced from start to finish. Through his photographs and basic textual information, the readers watches the development of the silk worms, the baskets where they munch fresh mulberry leaves, the pupa stage creating the cocoons, until the cocoons are carefully harvested, boiled, dyed and woven into beautiful fabric known the world over. The author has included a glossary and other useful facts about silk production at the end of the book. To learn more about this author and background information about silk, visit his Traveling Photographer website. Teachers might like to try the Nonfiction Pyramid lesson and graphic organizer found at ReadWriteThink.

    - Karen Hildebrand, Ohio Library and Reading Consultant


    GRADES 9-12


    Carson, Rae. (2012). Crown of embers. New York: Greenwillow Books.

    The Crown of EmbersIn this sequel to The Girl of Fire and Thorns (2011), Elisa is now Queen of Joya d’Arena but her life is in danger. Being pressured by her council to remarry soon to build political alliances and yet finding unrest in the kingdom, she is reluctant to rush into a marriage.  Though she thoroughly accepts her responsibilities as ruler, she is also falling in love with her protector, though it is a love than cannot be. As Elisa learns more about her new country and is guided by the pulsating Godstone in her belly, she embarks on a voyage to discover and learn about the zafira, the soul of the world. Her life is threatened at every turn and the people that surround her have questionable loyalties. Who can she trust? What must she do next? As she works toward these difficult decisions, the enemy Inviernos invade her camp by means of a traitor and the end of the book has a cliffhanger that will leave readers anxiously awaiting the end of the trilogy. Visit the author’s website to learn more about this planned trilogy. Listen to Chapter One, Part 1 from the audiobook. Teachers can look for more fantasy recommendations at ReadWriteThink’s “Feminist Books for Teens.”

    - Karen Hildebrand, Ohio Library and Reading Consultant


    Clayton, Colleen. (2012). What happens next. New York: Little, Brown Books/Poppy.

    What Happens NextA high school ski club trip to the slopes ends up changing the life of sixteen-year-old cheerleader Sid Murphy when she is date raped but unable to remember anything about the incident. She tells no one what little she can remember about what happened, not even her mother or two best friends, Kirsten and Paige. Her initial avoidance of her friends angers them, and they shun her at school, leaving her to fend for herself. When she volunteers to work in the AV room rather than attend one of her classes, she is at first repulsed and then attracted to Corey Livingston, a classmate with a reputation as a drug dealer. As the two grow closer, Sid starts seeing herself and Corey differently. But there's just this "little" thing that keeps her off guard—how she was raped by someone she thought she could trust. Desperate to erase the voluptuous parts of her that seem to attract male attention, Sid began running at all hours of the night and eating next to nothing. She clearly needs help, but she keeps everyone at arm’s length. The author has created a likeable but understandably confused character in Sid while exploring her emotions and actions thoroughly. Because she feels as though she has so little control over many parts of her life, she controls the things she can control. Recognizing their own high school years when gossip and assumptions prompt drama, many teen readers are sure to race through the pages of the book to find out what happens next. In the end, while everything doesn’t turn out perfectly for Sid, she has the resources to survive and to begin to heal.

    - Barbara A. Ward, Washington State University Pullman


    Reef, Catherine. (2012). The Bronte sisters: The brief lives of Charlotte, Emily, and Anne. New York/Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt/Clarion Books.

    The Bronte SistersThis new biography provides glimpses into the lives, times, and personalities of the Bronte family. Surprisingly, three daughters of a minister who lived in Haworth in the north part of England all wrote and had books published during a time when the expected lot of women was marriage and family and  few published women writers. To read this carefully-researched biography is to learn about loss--the death of the girls' mother a few months after giving birth to her last child, the early deaths of two Bronte girls, the early promise and later dissipation and wasted potential of their brother Branwell, the deaths of Anne, Emily, and Branwell, all within an eight month period. But their lives weren't always filled with loss and bleakness; as children, the creative siblings played games and invented characters and stories, drawing strength from one another. The fact that even today Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights remain in print and are widely read refutes those who claimed that women were incapable of creating lasting works of literature. This is a superb introduction to three intriguing women, providing as it does, a study into their characters, but also an examination of times when women's rights were restricted and health care was rudimentary at best. Teen readers may ponder what other stories were left untold by the early demise of these women, all of whom died when they were in their thirties. Back matter includes notes and a bibliography for those who are curious to learn even more. English teachers will certainly want to add this to their bookshelves for the insight it gives into writing and Charlotte's stubborn refusal to change a word of Jane Eyre when it was published.

    - Barbara A. Ward, Washington State University Pullman.


    Willner-Pardo, Gina. (2012). Prettiest doll. New York/Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt/ Clarion Books.

    Prettiest DollAll of her life thirteen-year-old Olivia Jane Tatum has heard how lucky she is to be so pretty. Yes, she knows she is fortunate, but she also longs to be known for much more than her looks. From the book’s opening pages, it’s clear that it’s only a matter of time before Olivia leaves the beauty pageant circuit with its endless rounds of walking, smiling, answering questions, posing in gowns, and searching for a talent that will impress the judges. But after she's no longer defining herself through her looks, how will she know who she actually is? The author does a good job of describing the small town world of Luthers Bridge, Missouri, where Olivia lives and her concern about who she is beneath all that pageantry finery, makeup, hairstyle, and smiles. A chance meeting with Danny, a fifteen-year-old runaway on his way to Chicago because he doesn't want to give in to his own mother's pressure to take growth hormone shots so he can grow taller, leads her to accompany him to Chicago in order to settle some of her own issues. Olivia’s journey to Chicago leads to the realization that being true to herself and following her own dreams rather than her mother's will make her a winner in the end. Readers will enjoy getting a glimpse into the life of someone for whom her appearance has been a ticket to success--or has it?

    - Barbara A. Ward, Washington State University Pullman


    These reviews are submitted by members of the International Reading Association's Children's Literature and Reading Special Interest Group (CL/R SIG) and are published weekly on Reading Today Online. The International Reading Association partners with the National Council of Teachers of English and Verizon Thinkfinity to produce ReadWriteThink.org, a website devoted to providing literacy instruction and interactive resources for grades K–12.


     


    Every teacher has a favorite book they read aloud each school year or book talk to students. Sometimes we even have a special shelf with our top ten favorite books. In addition, many teachers keep an electronic reading record of what they read at...Read More
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    • Teaching Tips

    It's Only Natural to Write Nonfiction

    by Margriet Ruurs
     | Oct 16, 2012
    As a writer, I enjoy creating poetry and fictional stories. But I think that writing nonfiction is one of the most exciting genres because it allows me to delve deeply into a subject in which I’m interested.

    Nonfiction is also one of the first genres children are interested in, well before they can understand a fictional concept. Young children want to read about trucks, helicopters, and dinosaurs. As they get older, kids should be encouraged to delve into nonfiction topics for both research and writing purposes. The process of finding answers to questions when writing nonfiction is exciting and interesting. As long as students can explore a topic of personal interest, they’re more likely to be enthusiastic and committed researchers.

    Teacher and nonfiction writer Deborah Hodge says, “Children have a keen and innate enthusiasm for the natural world. It is the nonfiction author’s job to observe what you are writing about, be it bears in the wild or butterflies in the backyard. There's no way to be authentic and to convey enthusiasm for a subject unless you've actually felt or witnessed it for yourself.”

    Take students on a schoolyard exploration. Form partner teams of two and ask teams to look for interesting things in nature. In an inner city school yard, this might be a spider’s web, leaves changing color, or even weeds growing in the cracks of the pavement.

    Writers are curious. Encourage students to ask questions, such as:
    • What kinds of bugs do they see?
    • What do these bugs eat?
    • How long will each bug live?
    • How does a bug reproduce?
    After observations, taking notes and writing down questions, invite each team to select one question to which they do not know the answer. I noticed ants carrying crumbs and leaves, so my sample question will be “How strong is an ant?”

    The next step will be to find answers. Take students to the computer lab and show them how to use a search engine to do research. Type in key words of your question. I might type in my entire question or some key words: strength, insect, ant.

    When the endless list of possible sites with answers pops up, I scan the URL first. Show students how to judge this information. I do not accept anything listed on a site like Wikipedia since anyone can post information. Encourage your students to look for sites with “edu” or “gov” in the link, or from trusted sources like National Geographic.

    I may need to narrow down my search by adding words like “red ant” or “ant carrying weight.” Look for a minimum of three sites posting the same answer. Record these answers, together with the source.

    The next step is to use the information and to retell it in your own words. Have students retell the gathered information to their partner in a fun and interesting way that’s all their own:

    Ants are so strong they can carry 10 to 20 times their own weight. That is about the same as you lifting a horse over your head!

    Note that I had to do a lot of research, reading, and note taking to end up with just one interesting answer to my question. Deborah Hodge says, “The most important task of a nonfiction author may be deciding what to leave out of a book. You don’t want to clutter a topic with superfluous facts or have it bog down, and end up losing the interest of the reader.”

    Have fun researching and writing with your students about any topic in the curriculum!

    Margriet Ruurs’ latest nonfiction book is AMAZING ANIMALS (Tundra, 2011), a book of world records for animals. She is currently working on a book about global families.

    © 2012 Margriet Ruurs. Please do not reproduce in any form, electronic or otherwise.
    As a writer, I enjoy creating poetry and fictional stories. But I think that writing nonfiction is one of the most exciting genres because it allows me to delve deeply into a subject in which I’m interested. Nonfiction is also one of the first...Read More
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    The Common Core State Standards for Literacy: How Do We Make Them Work?

    by Lesley Mandel Morrow, Ph.D.
     | Oct 15, 2012
    In September of 2011, Lesley Morrow wrote the following post that analyzes and asks questions about six primary covered by the Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts. The response was overwhelming; nearly 9,000 people worldwide not only read this past IRA president’s words, they talked back.

    Last week, IRA issued its Literacy Implementation Guidance for the ELA Common Core State Standards. So, we thought it was the perfect time to give this post a second look. We hope you do, too.


    The Common Core State Standards (CCSS) are an attempt to coordinate the education of the children the United States. So many families move from one place to another that we need continuity in the teaching of reading throughout the country. The CCSS raise questions of concern that deal with how to implement them and are their goals really the right goals for the children we teach.

    One of the elements I like very much about these standards is that they are manageable. They don’t involve a list of hundreds of skills to acquire in one school year. The standards are like a spiral staircase. That is, a standard in third grade builds on the same one in second, first and kindergarten. You can see a definitive continuum. Skills and strategies are repeated but at a more complex level as one goes up the grades.

    The ultimate goal of these standards is for students to become critical thinkers about what they read. Text becomes more complex and therefore the child is asked to engage in higher order thinking. The standards ask that the teacher expose children to varied types of text with equal emphasis on informational literature, and narrative literature. The standards guide children to read magazines, poetry, novels, newspapers, and more.

    The CCSS are also intended to help children learn information and increase their vocabulary in many areas of the curriculum. To do this, the standards put an emphasis on integrating the use of literacy strategies into content areas such as social studies and science. Using themes for learning will help to achieve that goal. The standards also emphasize the need to be literate with technology.

    Although there aren’t any Pre-K national standards just yet, I believe there will be. Many states have Pre-K standards for literacy already. Therefore, it is important to include Pre-K in the discussion of the CCSS. At this time, we can adjust them for four-year-olds.

    Most importantly, the standards suggest that every teacher is a teacher of reading and writing. That is, every teacher is teaching reading and writing whether it is during language arts, science or social studies.

    The standards discuss six areas which include (1) Narrative Literature and (2) Informational Literature. In each of these two standards there are anchor standards that are the same and they include: Key Ideas and Details, Crafted Structure, Integration of Knowledge and Ideas, Range of Reading, and Level of Text Complexity.

    The next major heading is (3) Foundational Skills. The anchor standards in this area are Print Concepts, Phonological Awareness, Phonics, Word Recognition, and Fluency for Kindergarten through Grade 2. In Grades 3 to 5, they are Phonics, Word Recognition, and Fluency.

    Writing is given a prominent spot in these standards. (4) Writing is thought about carefully and given the importance it should have. In Writing, the anchor standards are Text Types and Purposes, Production and Distribution of Writing, Research to Build and Present Knowledge, and Range of Writing.

    The next standard is (5) Speaking and Listening; the anchor standards in this category are Comprehension and Collaboration, and Presentation of knowledge and Ideas.

    The final standard is (6) Language, and the anchor standards are Conventions of Standard English, Knowledge of Language and Vocabulary Acquisition.

    Based on what has been discussed so far, and the manner and order in which the standards are listed in the document, the skills in Narrative and Informational Literature, which focuses on comprehension, is emphasized. Foundational skills such as phonological awareness and phonics have been emphasized for early literacy as coming before comprehension in the past, but the opposite is listed here. This is not a bad thing but one hopes that the instruction needed in phonics will continue.

    Writing is given a prominent spot in these standards and is finally getting the emphasis it should receive. The last two standards, Speaking and Listening and Language don’t seem to get the emphasis I think they should have. Oral language is an important skill our children need, and vocabulary is crucial to success in comprehension, yet it’s listed all the way at the end.

    What many states are doing at this time is looking at their own standards and comparing them to the CCSS to see how they match. They are finding that their own state standards have many more required specific skills to learn, whereas the CCSS are more interested in depth rather than breadth. I am very much in favor of the fact that the CCSS are not as packed with an enormous numbers of skills that can’t be accomplished. Teachers and children are overwhelmed about what they need to teach and learn in a given year and most children aren’t given the time to really learn them all. The CCSS have a spiral effect and build on fewer skills but over a longer period. The same skill however requires more complex thinking as it goes up the grades. For example in writing under “Anchor Standard Research to Build and Present Knowledge,” one of the kindergarten skills is:

    a. With guidance and support from adults, recall information from experiences or gather information from provided sources to answer a question.

    The exact same skill is listed for first grade:

    b. With guidance and support from adults, recall information from experiences or gather information from provided sources to answer a question.

    In grade two this standard is to:

    c. Recall information from experiences or gather information from provided sources to answer a question.

    The only difference here is that it does not involve guidance and support from an adult. For third grade it is:

    d. Recall information from experiences or gather information from print and digital sources; take brief notes on sources and sort evidence into provided categories.

    For fourth grade:

    e. Recall information from experiences or gather information from print and digital sources; take brief notes on sources; take notes and categorize information, and provide a list of sources.

    For the fifth grade it is:

    f. Recall information from experiences or gather information from print and digital sources; take brief notes on sources; summarize or paraphrase information in notes and finished work, and provide a list of sources.

    You can see the continuity between grades and the addition of one more element that makes the task a bit more complex but with time to keep practicing the task.

    There are suggestions for creating units of study in social studies and science that include the CCSS as well as the content in these areas. This is an important idea but one that will require teachers to be engaged in professional development to learn how to do it. If this is done then reading will be taught all day long in school, which is a necessity. Reading is a skill, not a content area. When we read we can learn information from other fields.

    The question that arises in my mind is this: should the content such as social studies and science be a part of the language arts block when explicit literacy instruction takes place especially in the early childhood grades? When reading in small homogeneous groups for skill development, should there be little books about a science theme such as hurricanes or volcanoes, and different levels of little books be created for the different achievement groups? On one hand it would give a purpose for reading. On the other hand, one might argue that it will detract from the explicit instruction.

    My other question has to do with complexity of text. How complex should we require texts for children to be so they are considered proficient and fluent readers? How complex should we require texts for children to be so they are considered ready for college or to pursue a career that doesn’t require college?

    In the previous paragraphs, I ask questions to which I don’t know the answers. I do believe that we are dissecting reading into too many skills and we need to select the precious few we really need. Sometimes less is more. Being able to do fewer skills proficiently might be better than doing more but not doing them very well. I do feel strongly that reading and writing need to be emphasized all day long in school through content areas, as it is the only way our children will become critical readers.

    Lesley Mandel Morrow holds the rank of Professor II at Rutgers University’s Graduate School of Education where she is coordinator of the literacy program. Her area of research deals with early literacy development, and the organization and management of Language Arts Programs. Dr. Morrow has more than 200 publications that appear as journal articles, chapters in books, monographs and books. She received Excellence in Research, Teaching and Service Awards from Rutgers University. Dr. Morrow was an elected member of the board of directors of International Reading Association (IRA) and served as President of the organization in 2003-2004. She was also the recipient of the IRA’s Outstanding Teacher Educator of Reading Award, as well as Fordham University’s Alumni Award for Outstanding Achievement.

    © 2012 Lesley Mandel Morrow. Please do not reproduce in any form, electronic or otherwise.
    In September of 2011, Lesley Morrow wrote the following post that analyzes and asks questions about six primary covered by the Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts. The response was overwhelming; nearly 9,000 people worldwide not...Read More
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    TILE-SIG Feature: Integrating iPads into the High-School Curriculum

     | Oct 12, 2012

    Marilyn Moore
    Marilyn Moore

    Kareen Captan
    Kareem Captan
    by Marilyn Moore and Kareem Captan

    Integrating the iPad

    Kareem Captan, a high-school teacher, uses iPads in his teaching every day. Teachers at the high school in Long Beach, CA, received iPads last school year to use in class. They underwent training and attended seminars in order to effectively use the iPad in the classroom. Students at the high school received iPads this year for classroom use. Students may also take the iPads home and use them to complete homework.

    Mr. Captan was especially excited about one lesson using the iPad. The students watched a short historical video on their iPads. Since they watched it individually on their iPads, they could start, stop, rewind, and watch at their own pace. As they watched it, he had them participate in an online discussion about the material. The ongoing discussion was projected on the overhead. The result was an active and ongoing virtual discussion during class that the students could then refer back to for studying and reviewing. At the end of class, students shut the iPads down and had a verbal discussion about the material. At the conclusion of the lesson, he stated, “I was shocked on how effective this lesson worked.”

    Literacy activities using iPads

    During literacy instruction in the classroom, Mr. Captan uses iPad activities that focus on reading, writing, and peer editing. The following are a few examples of how his students are using iPads this year:
    • Discussion Boards: Students post written discussions on the class website discussion board. The posts are viewed by the entire class and commented on by other students. Surprisingly, students are more conscious of their vocabulary, sentence structure, and grammar because they know their peers will critique them. 
    • Research and Reading: By using the Internet, students search for secondary and primary sources through academic websites. They read and analyze the material and comment on them on a class discussion board. The students create a collaborative reflection and analysis of primary and secondary sources.
    • Dictionary App: When students don’t know/understand a word, they use the Dictionary App to find the definition. In addition, the Dictionary App pronounces the word for the student. Students have created collaborative vocabulary lists as a class. This has been a huge help for English Language Learners and students with learning disabilities. 
    • Note Taking App: This app is used while students read online articles on their iPad. They are able to read an article on their iPads and highlight, bookmark, and make notes on articles or books. This app also organizes notes for students. Once again, this has been a major assist for English Language Learners and students with special needs.
    • Peer Editing: All students post their essays on the class website and edit their peers’ papers online. This transparency has benefited students who learn from each other and are exposed to the expectations of high-school writing. Moreover, the writing process has a more collaborative as opposed to an individual feel. 
    • Group Essays: Students are assigned a topic and assigned to a group. Each group composes one paragraph of a larger essay. These paragraphs are posted on a discussion board, and the students blend the paragraphs into a cohesive and meaningful essay.
    • Resources and Tools: The iPads provide the students with instant resources and tools online. This keeps students focused and less frustrated in class. Also, they enjoy exploring resources and tools.
    Mr. Captan has concluded that since the students have received their iPads, students are reading more, writing more, asking more questions, researching more, working together more, and are excited about being creative with their iPads.

    Dr. Marilyn Moore (mmoore@nu.edu) is a Professor at National University in California and serves as the Faculty Reading Program Lead. 

    Mr. Kareem Captan is a teacher at St. Anthony College Preparatory High School in Long Beach, California and a Masters Degree student at National University.

    This article is part of a series from the International Reading Association Technology in Literacy Education Special Interest Group (TILE-SIG).



    Marilyn Moore Kareem Captan by Marilyn Moore and Kareem Captan Integrating the iPad Kareem Captan, a high-school teacher, uses iPads in his teaching every day. Teachers at the high school in Long Beach, CA, received iPads last school year...Read More
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