Reading in the Middle, Junior and Senior High Schools, Spring, 2010

I am so glad our book club picked this book. I have had to cover my mouth to keep from laughing out loud so as not to wake up my roomies. I like how throughout the novel she finally starts to realize that it is okay to be herself and her body type that even those who may seem to have it together and have it all, really don't. I think that this would be a quick, easy, and fun read for my students. I could see them doing a project where they write a letter to someone in the novel to tell whatever they felt like needed to be told, the way that the main character Virgina eventually writes to her sister. I think it might be a neat idea to have some kind of assignment or discussion where the students gather information of where people in a rape situation can turn to, whether it be the police, an organization, a doctor, family, or whatever.

This week in class our group discussed Virginia's characterization in the novel. We all agreed that she would be a strong role model for students in our classroom. In the novel Virginia has to deal with some very difficult issues such as date rape, but she handles it in a very mature fashion. She does tell people and tries to get help. She is such a strong character though, that at times she does not seem like a reliable narrator or realistic character. I believe girls would be a lot more troubled and "messed" up over experiencing some of the things she did. She is a great role model for students, and that is what I would want to focus on in the classroom, but she does at times seem a bit stronger and wiser than her age. I believe students will be able to relate to her, and hopefully they will use her as a guiding character of what to do if something like this were to happen to them. I hope that after reading this novel students students will have more confidence and security in their own values and expressing them to others. Virginia is a character that shows a lot of courage and perseverance for her age. This novel would be interesting to students, and it is our job as teachers to expose students to various forms and styles of novels.

I think that with this book having students discuss the difficult issues in small groups would be very beneficial. I believe that students would feel more comfortable discussing some of the sensitive topics of the book in smaller groups. This book is a great tool for helping teachers encourage students to participate and contribute to detailed classroom discussions. The novel is overall a very easy read for students, and I would feel very comfortable as a teacher assigning to book as an out of class reading assignment. Students would come together in class to discuss it, but their actual reading of the text would be individual. I would want students to read the novel because of the topics is covers and not so much because of the literary elements it encompasses.

I really enjoyed this book and felt that it would be really good read for girls who are trying to find their place in their family, society, school and friends. Also even though this book might not be the most fun for boys to read i believe it is good for them to read because it does touch on a boy who date raped a girl and seems to not care. The part I was most concerned about was that the girl didn't seem to be really that upset because I feel she should have not just gone to the campus police. I thought she blew off the the rape and just acted like it wasn't that big of a deal. That concerned me I would have rather seen a girl who tired to really stand up against what had happened than a girl who said it didn't ruin her life.

I agree that we should read more adolescent literature; it is the literature that our students will be reading. I enjoyed the book. Anderson's voice is very funny and relatable, even as she's writing from a male's perspective. As a girl, I can't say that I know what the male high school experience was like, but Anderson really seemed to make sense as a woman writing in the perspective of a male adolescent. I was surprised.

I do think that there are some teachable moments, though I don't know if parents would be on board with their kids reading this. Anderson touches on some heavy issues: bullying, suicide, pornography, and speaks somewhat crassly of raging hormones. With that noted, the book would be worthless without these issues. There are some pretty broad themes that I believe would spark student conversation. I would love to see what students thought about the party scene in which Bethany subjects herself to inebriation and the subsequent nude photographs taken of her.

I would also like to discuss character development. While this is limited, I do think that, for a freshman classroom, the characterization should be noted. Tyler finally stands up for himself at the end of the novel and grows up. It's important to note the ever-present theme of the video game that Tyler plays throughout the novel, Tophet. In this game, Tyler is trying to get through the circles of Hell to become the new Lord of Darkness. This parallels his life immensely (like a slap in the face almost), and maybe too apparent. Nonetheless, I would discuss it in the classroom. Along these lines, I would maybe make the connection, for an extension maybe, with Dante's Inferno, regarding his mission to get on the right track or face the tribulations of Hell. Just a thought; it might raise the level of scholarly learning to the classroom.

For my book jacket project, I read Around the World in 80 Days. It was good. Reading a graphic novel went better than I thought it would. I put together my book jacket using printer paper. I knew that I wanted a picture of a globe on my book jacket to represent going around the world. I found a picture of a globe that said the title on it so I used that. For the rest of my pictures, I tried to think of something that would follow the story line but the only thing I could think of was the different modes of transportation that the main characters of my story used. I printed out pictures of trains because when they traveled across Europe and America, they rode on a train. I used pictures of elephants because in Asia they traveled on elephants. I used pictures of ships because when traveling across oceans, the characters of my book took ships. I used pictures of horses because when the characters were traveling on a train in America, they got attacked by Native Americans and one of the main characters was kidnapped. The other characters rode on a horse to go and rescue him. I put a picture of a suite case on my book jacket to represent traveling. I summarized the author biographies that were in the book to tell about Jules Verne and Rod Espinosa on my book jacket. The book I read had a detailed description of both the original author and the person who adapted the story into graphic novel form. I wrote the summary like I would find on a real book jacket. I tried to summarize the story without giving away important details but still catch the interest of the reader.

Since we may have misjudged when we planned out our book club meeting this will be my last entry. It seems appropriate since we all finished the book this week anyway. The way the author handled the date rape situation was possibly the most realistic and appropriate way she could. Many girls would not want to press charges due to fear and embaressment. We also do not know if this is the way the author truly wanted to portray the incident. She may have been advised by an editor to change certain parts or aspects. I think we would find fault no matter how she ended up writing the scene because there is no good way to portray a date rape scene. I like the fact that it was addressed in a young adult novel though.

This novel has some good conflicts that young readers could relate to. Many girls have trouble with their mothers because of weight or other issues. Many girls lose a close relationship with their fathers as well, and sometimes girls have trouble dealing with this fact in the same way Ginny did. The conflict between Ginny and her brother is also a common one among siblings that I think young readers could connect to.

This book is a bit intense when addressing issues like weight and date rape but I think it could easily replace one of the classics in the classroom. Classics can be intense as well but they are never questioned because they are written by dead white guys. Shakespeare's plays are full of violence but they are never questioned if they are appropriate for a high school classroom. I think this book is appropriate for a classroom and students would be able to relate better to it than a classic.

I enjoyed our book club. Everyone read the book and contributed to discussions. I would love to use this idea in my future classroom.

I was surprised at how much I enjoyed this project. I read “Into the Volcano” by Don Wood. I was worried that I would not be interested in graphic novels but then I realized they may be the best suited book for me. I often end up reading books only for dialogue and skipping descriptive paragraph. I figure my imagination can fill in the holes. Graphic novels rely heavily, if not solely, on dialogue to move the story along. I didn’t have to skip over paragraphs because there are not many in the graphic novel I read. I often have trouble following dialogue in books. I get lost or confused and forget who said what. Graphic novels always point out who is talking. I understood who was saying what at all times.
I also looked into some of Shakespeare’s plays that have been converted into graphic novels. I did not occur to me that his plays are perfectly suited for the graphic novel format. He gave very little stage direction, but his exquisite dialogue makes up for that fact. Most of the graphic novels are written in modern English also making it easier for students to understand and appreciate his work.
I like how this project can help students learn about writing for a specific audience. The front cover gives them freedom to go crazy with pictures or drawing but the others flaps force them to channel their thinking. The back flap encourages them to write a biography about the author of the novel. They have to give information to the readers and make the author sound appealing. The back cover allows them to act like critics who praise the book. These have to be creative as well or people would not believe the book is worth their time. Writing to a consumer type audience forces the students to take their passion for the book and sell it. They have to twist their love of the novel into a sales pitch so others will read the book as well.

For my graphic novel, I chose to read Cinderella, by Beth Bracken and illustrated by Jeffrey Stewart Timmons. It retold the story of Cinderella comic-book style. The pictures of the different characters were different than I had always imagined. The evil stepmother and stepsisters were extremely ugly while Cinderella and the prince looked more ordinary. The story was very similar to the original, with a few changes in minor details. I really enjoyed reading this version because I have not been exposed to graphic novels before. The pictures made the story more visual and added a lot more to the story than just the conversation between the characters. In this graphic novel, the pictures were just as important, if not more important, than the actual text.

I made a book jacket to depict the main ideas and story line of the book. I drew a picture of Cinderella, the Prince, and the fairy godmother on the front of the cover because these were the three main characters. On the back, I drew a castle in the background with a horse-drawn carriage pulling Cinderella to the ball. I also drew the Prince and Cinderella dancing and the Prince holding her purple glass slipper as the clock was gonging at midnight. These were the main things that happened in the story and the parts of the story that was most emphasized in the book.

I created a book jacket for the book Sloth by Gilbert Hernandez. A little twisted of a story, but I liked it. This is the first graphic novel I have ever read! I've just never been interested in them. But I like thie one. I get the impression that graphic novels as a genre tend to twist and dement reality. I can into that perspective.

As far as the project goes, I didn't love making a book jacket. I'm not into crafty things. It was pretty easy, I really did not have trouble summarizing the book at all. I found the word limit comforting, not confining.

I decided to read American Born Chinese for my graphic novel. This novel is about three apparently unrelated characters and their lives. The three characters are: Jin Wang, Jin-Kee, and the powerful Monkey King. Each character goes rough trials and tribulations throughout the book. At the end, the reader finds out that all three characters are related in some way; I won't spoil the ending too much.

I really enjoyed this assignment because it really allowed me to be creative and express whom I really am and I think that's important. I plan to use this assignment when I teach and I think iw I'll get a great response back from my students because they will have a lot of autonomy with the assignment.