Dangerous Shannon Hale

Maisie Brown’s middle name is “Danger.”  But that has been the most interesting thing about her for most of her life.  Maisie dreams of being an Astronaut and finally enters a sweepstakes to win a trip to space camp, run by a hero of hers: Dr. Howell.  To her surprise, she wins and sets off for the experience of a lifetime.  At camp she distinguishes herself as one of the smartest students there, and as the target of affection from Wilder—the cutest boy at camp.  This is all unknown territory for Maisie, previously home-schooled and her only interaction with a boy her age coming from her neighbor and best friend, Luther. 

Meanwhile, her small group (called a fire team) wins the competition set up by Howell and they are given the opportunity to go up in the shuttle that connects Earth to an Asteroid in outer space.  Maisie has dreamed of something like this her entire life.  Once they reach the Asteroid, their eccentric camp director decides to show them a discovery they have made-tokens left by an alien species.  As soon as Maisie and her team touch the tokens, they sink into their hands.  After much research, the tokens are revealed to contain nanites (tiny robots) that give their “host” extraordinary powers: super strength, the ability to create plastic armor, the ability to shoot electronic pulses, the ability to build and create any technology, and the ability to create complicated plans.  Together, the five teenagers feel a compulsion to work together-but why?  A conspiracy unravels in which Maisie and her fire team was meant to take the tokens all along so that Wilder’s father would use them to his own advantage.  But they are meant for something larger—something the aliens that left the tokens knew would happen. 

This novel is surprisingly accessible to all readers-even if you are not a Science Fiction reader.  Her character development makes you root for Maisie as she has to make decision about life, death, love, and who to trust. 

Craft Technique:

·         I would recommend this novel to students to read in our work with self-selection and Reader’s Workshop.  It has wide appeal-though I would lean towards a female audience-and its rich character development would make a good opportunity for close-reading.  Particularly, focusing on the question “What does the author want me to understand?” to analyze Maisie’s decisions throughout the book. 

MN Standards:

8.4.3.3 Analyze how particular lines of dialogue or incidents in a story or drama propel the action, reveal aspects of a character, or provoke a decision

8.4.10.10 By the end of the year, read and comprehend literature and other texts including stories, dramas, and poems, in the grades 6–8 text complexity band proficiently and independently with appropriate scaffolding for texts at the high end of the range.  (a. Self-select texts for personal enjoyment, interest and academic tasks.

The Fault in Our Stars

YA - The Fault in Our Stars by John Green 2012



Since I work with junior special education students many of them were very excited about reading this book. In fact, both girls and boys were happy to read this book, far more than any other on the required reading list for juniors - the English department picked a winner!!  The story is based on two teens, Augustus Waters and Hazel Grace Lancaster, both of whom are critically ill.  As the book opens, Augustus (who is in cancer remission) meets Hazel in the Literal Heart of Jesus, the basement of an Episcopal Church in Indianapolis where they attend a support group for sick teens.  Quite quickly Augustus and Hazel become special friends over video games and reading a book, An Imperial Affliction by Peter Van Houten.  Because An Imperial Affliction does not have an ending, but rather lets the reader interpret the ending, Augustus and Hazel (along with Hazel's mom) use Augustus's wish trip to go to Amsterdam and meet the author.  It turns out the Mr. Van Houten is a real jerk and treats the teens badly without revealing the ending to the book.  While in Amsterdam Augustus and Hazel discover intimacy:  Augustus, with one leg, and Hazel who is constantly attached to an oxygen machine.  Upon returning home, Augustus becomes very ill and dies.  At Augustus's funeral Mr. Van Houten appears with his flask attached; alcoholism has definitely taken it's toll.  Hazel learns that Augustus has written a letter to her, but after searching his house and room - nothing turned up. Eventually she discovered that Augustus had Mr. Van Houten edit Augustus's remarks to Hazel.  Mr. Van Houten's assistant is able to come up with the letter; Hazel receives a scanned copy.  In the letter she realizes how much Augustus loved her and truly admired her.  Additionally she learns that Mr. Van Houten is recovering from his own daughter's death; something which alcohol helps with the coping of her death many years before.  This book truly has captivated many of our juniors.  It shows empathy and coping with terrible diseases; however, it also shows that life goes on among friends who hope to leave a legacy.  I did see the movie this summer, and I felt the movie did an excellent job following the book - very true to the story which isn't always the case.

Craft Technique
From Closing in on Close Reading, the idea of reading and rereading deliberately was a take away idea for me.  So often, people skim in their reading and miss some of the true meaning.  In The Fault in Our Stars, a couple of girls mentioned that they did read and reread because they simply did not want the book to end. Although this is probably not the point of close reading, it is nevertheless a learning experience that students can glean from a good author.  They are able to learn good writing and story telling techniques which may benefit them in years to come.  Reading closely certainly help develop deep comprehension which could be tied to other text books.

Minnesota Language Arts Standard: 9.11.5.5.  Demonstrate understanding of figurative language, word relationships and nuances in word meanings.  The flow of The Fault in Our Stars was very readable but also very beautiful, plus the title comes from Shakespeare's Julius Caesar which very few students would appreciate that a phrase 500 years old is still relevant today.

Marilyn Benson, EHS

Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell

Book Summary and Review:  This book would be a perfect summer read for incoming 9th or 10th graders.  I might also include it on an independent reading list for 10th graders.  Eleanor and Park is about two young misfits who fall in love.  Park, the male protagonist, comes from a stable home but feels the outsider amongst his friends.  Eleanor, the female protagonist, has returned to her unstable household- made up of very young siblings, a fearful mother, and a drunkard, abusive stepfather- after months of living in “foster” care.  The story essentially begins on the day Park spots Eleanor on the bus before school.  On that first day, Park sees Eleanor the way his classmates see her.  He’s embarrassed for her.  She has uncontrollable red hair, chipmunk cheeks, thrift shop clothes.  When no one will give her space to sit, Park cruelly demands she sit with him—basically to stop his own discomfort.  Day after day, Park and Eleanor sit together on the bus to and from school and slowly strike up a friendship over comic books, music, and their “outsiderness.”   As their relationship deepens, Park learns more about Eleanor’s dysfunctional family and realizes her spirit and beauty and Eleanor helps Park be his more authentic self, the person he wants to be instead of the son his father finds suitable.  Overall, this is a fast-paced, compelling story that touches upon issues of race, bullying, family, and young love.  The story is told from both Eleanor and Park's first-person point of view which mostly works.  Sometimes the story doesn't seem to benefit from the changes in perspective-- i.e.  when Eleanor and Park are with each other and they reveal as much through their dialogue as they do in their private thoughts.  

Craft and Technique:  Students’ powers of observation begins, most of the time, with the teacher and how he/she teaches them to find their way into a text.  Teaching students how to paraphrase is a useful starting place for close reading as paraphrasing makes clear, to both teacher and students, what we do and do not understand.  Stumbles in comprehension can be brought to light through paraphrasing.  Paraphrasing also reveals the author’s craft and artistry in his/her storytelling.  When I paraphrase “out loud” in front of my students, I ask them what was lost when I recast those lines- of poetry or prose- in my own words.  Students find new ways of describing an author's style through this process.

The questions in Figure 1: Craft Techniques and Related Questions for Close Reading are useful, especially those regarding syntax.  I could see using those in an AP level class as a way of revisiting grammar in the context of close reading and analysis.

MN Academic Standards:  This novel could easily meet the standard highlighting student choice in the classroom- Self-select texts for personal enjoyment, interest, and academic tasks.  Because of the way the novel is written, it fits under the umbrella of the standard regarding reading widely to understand multiple perspectives and pluralistic viewpoints.

The beginning of the novel begins at a point in the future and works its way back to when Eleanor and Park meet.  Conversations about the author’s strategy here and the changes in perspectives tie into the following reading standard- Analyze how an author’s choices concerning how to structure a text, order events within it (e.g., parallel plots), and manipulate time (e.g., pacing, flashbacks) create such effects as mystery, tension, or surprise- though I’d not stop with mystery, tension, surprise.  It might be more interesting to examine what it reveals about the characters, conflicts, themes.

-Bethany Mohs- Edina High School

 

The Thing About Luck by Cynthia Kadahota-Mary Baradaran Summer 2014

I read The Thing About Luck by Cynthia Kadahota.   It was published in 2013 and was the National Book Award Winner for Young People’s Literature that  year.  It’s  told from 12 year old Summer’s point of view. Kouun means luck in Japanese and Summer’s family can’t seem to get a break. There has been a series of unfortunate events for the family culminating with her parents having had to travel back to Japan to be with dying relatives.  That means Summer and her brother Jaz will have to travel from Kansas to another state with her grandparents, Obaachan and Jiichan,  to complete the work  for a harvesting company that her parents were to have done.   The world from Summer’s point of view includes her  quirky brother Jaz (read lonely and trouble making friends) her old fashioned, opinionated and hilarious in a generation clashing way grandparents and just being 12.  Summer eventually learns how she can make things happen so her family can carry on and find their own luck.  I connected with each character in a different way. It was sweet to see into the life of a 12 year old and view events through her eyes.  The author especially made the grandparents very lovable using their English as a second language and cantankerous, but loving relationship for several funny and poignant events.  By the end of the book I wish I knew this family.  Kadahota’s writing had me laughing and feeling sad often right next to each other.

I haven’t had the time for a read aloud in a few years; but I’m considering making the time for this book. I’d definitely suggest it as a free read for my 6th graders.

The strategy from the article that I’d use would be to tap students’ prior knowledge.  There are many ideas from the book that could get students thinking, sharing and ready to read the book:  relationships with grandparents, English as a second language,  bad luck, effort, siblings, not belonging and the commonalities of 12 year olds.

MN Academic Standard 6.4.10.10 By the end of the year, read and comprehend literature and other texts including stories, dramas, and poems, in the grades 6–8 text complexity band proficiently and independently with appropriate scaffolding for texts at the high end of the range. a. Self-select texts for personal enjoyment, interest and academic tasks. b. Read widely to understand multiple perspectives and pluralistic viewpoint. The book would fit well here because it involves an intergenerational Japanese American family in the heartland and agricultural terms.  This is a perspective many of our students probably have no experience with.

counting by 7s by Holly Goldberg Sloan 2013

This new young adult novel was a delight to read. Willow Chance is a 12-year-old genius who, by the age of twelve, has easily mastered many foreign languages, is an accomplished gardener, and knows too much about odd skin conditions.  When tragedy strikes and Willow is left an orphan, the reader is brought along on a journey of grief and healing through friendships formed in odd places. All of the characters are well-developed with a quirkiness and heart that draws the reader in and has her cheering for them all as they try to find their way, and support one another (whether they want to or not), in a not-so-perfect world.  This book occasionally flips perspectives, giving readers a chance to understand the emotions of other characters who are impacted by Willow.  Ultimately, it is a story that shows that “just being there is ninety-nine percent of what matters when your world falls apart.”  

Personally, I am a little tired of all the dystopian, sci-fi fiction that is so popular with our students.  I found this read to be refreshing, insightful and, despite the difficult topic, enjoyable.   I could see using this book as a mentor text for teaching voice in writing.  There are also several passages that would be excellent for closer examination and journal writing.  For example, I might ask, "On page 355 Willow says, 'This is one of the secrets I have learned in the last few months.   When you care about other people, it takes the spotlight off your own drama.'  Give examples from the novel that prove Willow's statement.  Is it a good or a bad thing to care enough about others that your own problems seems less important?"  The craft and structure of this book also lends itself well for more interpretive questions.  As the article suggests, there are several approaches that would allow students to go beyond the "ho-hum" questions and consider how the structure of this novel impacts the meaning.  At the beginning of the novel, we learn that Willow loves the number 7, in fact, she orders her world in 7s.  Some questions to ask students are, "Willow is obsessed with the number 7.  In what ways does she use the number 7 to create order in her world?  Why do you think the author always chooses to write the number in number form  (7) instead of writing it out (seven)?  Explain how this choice impacts the reading of the novel? After her parents' death, Willow stops worrying so much about the number 7.  What does this reveal about her character?"  I might also ask  questions like, "This novel is written in the 1st person point of view, told mostly from Willow's perspective, though some parts are told from other character's perspectives.  How would the novel be different if it were written in 3rd person point of view?"  "Although the author chooses to write from most of the character's perspectives at least once, she never writes from the perspective of Patti.  Why do you think that author made this decision?  How would the novel be different if there were some sections written from Patti's perspective?"

MN STANDARDS:

This novel would easily connect to the 3 standards under Key Ideas and Details:

1. Read closely to determine what the text says explicitly and to make logical inferences from it; cite 
specific textual evidence when writing or speaking to support conclusions drawn from the text. 
2. Determine central ideas or themes of a text and analyze their development; summarize the key 
supporting details and ideas. 
3. Analyze how and why individuals, events, and ideas develop and interact over the course of a text. 

However, a more challenging approach to this novel could focus on the standards found in the Craft and Structure strand:

4. Interpret words and phrases as they are used in a text, including determining technical, connotative, 
and figurative meanings, and analyze how specific word choices shape meaning or tone. 
5. Analyze the structure of texts, including how specific sentences, paragraphs, and larger portions of 
the text (e.g., a section, chapter, scene, or stanza) relate to each other and the whole. 

6. Assess how point of view or purpose shapes the content and style of a text. 

YA, NF - The Planets by Dava Sobel, 2005

Summary and Review:
Dava Sobel is a former staff reporter in the science news department for the New York Times.  She has spent the entirety of her career writing, mostly about science.  The Planets is Sobel’s non-fiction book exploring the solar system using a variety of platforms including mythology, religion, science fiction, and astrology to captivate and inform the reader.  Each chapter is devoted to a specific stellar body using a unique theme or vignette to tie the science facts to relevant, interesting and accessible topics.  For example Sobel uses the Greek god Hermes to explain all of the history and science of the planet Mercury.  From its quick movements to the difficulty in detecting its initial presence she weaves the mythology of the mischievous messenger god with the astronomy of the planet.  This book is both entertaining and informative.  Sobel’s narrative is so engaging; The Planets has the factual information of a textbook with the descriptions of a novel.  She reviews so many concepts that are covered in our 8^th grade astronomy unit, but in a way that would capture the attention of students who prefer social science to natural science classes.  Students who excel in the skills of language arts (text dissection, precise word choice, analyzing allusions), but become frustrated with the directness of science would enjoy The Planets.  Much like Michael Pollen’s stories (Omnivore’s Dilemma or The Botany of Desire), Dava Sobel’s The Planets is a story where art and science find harmony.  Oh, and there are beautiful pictures punctuated throughout the book too; who doesn't love pictures?

Craft Technique and Classroom Connection:
Combining elements from the “Close Reading” article with the The Planets I could see several ways of how I could use this novel in my classroom.  While the science in The Planets is well-researched as evidenced by the extensive bibliography, there are some places where new research has replaced older thoughts about our solar system.  “Close Reading” suggests assigning shorter passages for the ease of re-reading, which works perfectly with the structure of The Planets which is divided into chapters about a specific stellar object.  I could see assigning different chapters to groups of students and having them sort out places where The Planets is accurate and identifying or re-writing sections that contain older science.  This would require students to carefully analyze the text, pull thoughts and ideas from the reading, and sort out science from the extended metaphors, allusions and vignettes.  Additionally, students in my class already create presentations on inner and outer planets in our solar system.  I would like to incorporate reading from The Planets as a resource for the presentation, which I envision would enrich the presentations encouraging students to borrow from Sobel’s style of making science accessible and attractive through other mediums.  One of Sobel’s strengths in The Planets is her careful word choice and complex vocabulary, which makes the book really fun to read, especially out loud.  Due to Sobel’s challenging style, I would likely use the book with my enriched classes, which typically contain students with advanced lexile abilities though as I mentioned earlier, The Planets would be an appealing read for a student who enjoys reading.  I would judiciously use this book within my curriculum knowing that it is a more demanding text.  

Connection to MN Academic Standards: 
Science, 8:3:1 - The Earth is the 3rd planet from the sun a system that includes the moon, the sun, seven other planets and their moons, and smaller objects.

YA - Looking for Alaska--John Green

John Green is a "young adult" author with a huge "human being" following. Students love his work for his intelligent portrayal of adolescent characters. He doesn't write down to them, but instead understands their world is just as important as the world of adults. Those of us who enjoy teaching so much would agree. Looking for Alaska is set in a boarding school in Alabama and Green assembles a group of unlikely but totally believable friends--the kid who has never had friends, really; the kid who has the system down and beat; and the smart and unachievable Alaska. The story is both a mystery--the chapters are titled "33 days before," "31 days before," "15 days after," and it takes awhile to understand the event is Alaska's suicide...well, the friends aren't sure it actually was suicide, and that is the mystery they are trying to solve. The book is full of the desire, longing, pain and joy of being a adolescent. Students who have read it put it only second to The Fault in Our Stars. I'd agree. I'm not sure the book holds up to the official close reading from Sara's link: "Close, analytic reading stresses engaging with a text of sufficient complexity directly and examining meaning thoroughly and methodically, encouraging students to read and reread deliberately. Directing student attention on the text itself empowers students to understand the central ideas and key supporting details. It also enables students to reflect on the meanings of individual words and sentences; the order in which sentences unfold; and the development of ideas over the course of the text, which ultimately leads students to arrive at an understanding of the text as a whole. (PARCC, 2011, p. 7)." There are some interesting problems to discuss, decisions to debate, but as I think about consideration of implications of individual words, sentences etc., it just isn't that deep. I think the purpose of this book would be more motivational, or supplemental--outside reading is where this fit for my students (student choice books read outside of class for pleasure). Many had come to junior year having already read this book for fun. Ditto for the Common Core. The most likely match (below) references characterization and implications of plot details. Again, the complexity of the text isn't that, well, difficult. But is sure is engaging. 1. Read closely to determine what the text says explicitly and to make logical inferences from it; cite specific textual evidence when writing or speaking to support conclusions drawn from the text. 2. Determine central ideas or themes of a text and analyze their development; summarize the key supporting details and ideas.