Week 4 Questions/Assignment

1. I believe that you are to read Ch. 4 - Realistic Fiction. This is one of my favorite genres. I'd be interested to know how many of the best YAL of all time books you have already read (p. 103). Would you agree with their list? Adolescents are struggling with the issues brought up in realistic fiction: perfection in an imperfect world, sexuality, making and maintaining friends, adolescent cruelty, family problems, and mid, body , and spirit. Remember those days?Why not try some of the reader response questions (p.150) with your students this week?

Out of the 22 books on that list, sadly, I have only read seven of them. I agree with a lot of the books that are on that list, but it makes me see how out of date I am to the literature that has come out in the last 6 years. Most of the books that are discussed have been out since 2000 or earlier and I've spent over half the time since then in college reading what was assigned to me and not so much for myself.

I know while I was in middle school and high school and when I could in college, I read the books The Giver, The Outsiders, Holes, Out of the Dust, The Catcher in the Rye, I am the Cheese, Stargirl, Julie of the Wolves, Shiloh series, Armegeddon Summer, and many others that had to do with the struggles adolescents go through. I was a little disappointed not to see some of the books from the 90s that had come out and also books from Great Britain. There are some authors and books that I think would be great choices for teens too.

I loved some of the activities they discuss at the end of the chapter. Some of them I have used, but this books had some I haven't seen before and will be most useful. I will definitely take the books suggestion and print off the copy of the reader-response questions to have near by when discussing reading with my students. I didn't have the opportunity to use them while substituting, but when I have had my own class, I'm always trying to figure out how to start a class discussion.

2. I would also like you to find a picture book for YA's and talk on your post as to why you chose this particular book.

The first book that came to my mind was Maus: A Survivors Tale by Art Spiegelman. It is a biography about his father's experiences during the holocaust. It is more like a comic book, but it has a lot of symbolism in the animals the characters are and it really makes you picture the horror of what happened during the Holocaust. It is a series I have looked into buying for myself to use in the classroom because some students connect more with these than with the novels that are assigned. The pictures also fit well with the dialogue in the books and for students that have a difficult time picturing in their minds what they are reading, this is a great book to use to help them develop this skill. Overall, I love this series, and it was a different approach to learning about an event where many horrible things happened.

Since I am not sure if this is what Sue meant for the assignment, I did look into picture books for young adults. One that stood out is The House that Crack Built by Clark Taylor. It takes a nursery rhyme with a hip-hop beat and uses it to discuss drug abuse beginning with its cultivation in S.America. I think students would be able to relate to this more than with Maus since it applies to them now and brings in elements they find interesting, such as music. It can also be used to talk about different themes in readings and help readers open up with each other and have discussions.

Reading Interests

Since I don't have a class of my own, I got the smart idea that the next time I go sub, I will give my reading interest survey to them. Unfortunately, it did not go so well. The class I did the interest survey with believed that on the questions that did not ask for specifics, they could put the most obscene answers down and treat it like a joke. Because of this I did not get the greatest results, but I will tell you what I can, and that I learned it is easier to work with your own class than another teacher's class.

What I did notice was how many students enjoyed reading non-fiction. Most just put down they liked magazines or reading articles about actors/actresses online. I was surprised how many students believed text messages should be included in genuine reading. I didn't think so since most of the time it is abbreviations and don't have complete sentences. What do you think?

I knew this would be a result, but I was sad to see how many students put down that they did little to no reading from day to day. I was sure to emphasize this doesn't just include reading books. It was either this, or they spent an excessive amount of time reading.

No one put down a real TV show or movie (yes, their last laugh is on me). After school activities mostly had to do with sports, skateboarding, gaming, or paint-balling. This is about all I could get out of the survey since most of the answers were (laughing right now for my censorship) "inappropriate." So glad this sub job is over. . . . . .

What I got out of this survey was the importance of including more non-fiction in my teaching, and not just that informative articles to help prepare them for the unit, but something that applies to now and whatever book they are reading. For instance, the class I did the survey with is reading Romeo and Juliet. A frequent comment was that this would never happen now. I think they would find it more interesting if they could be shown real instances of this situation and be able to compare and contrast and pull the themes and lessons from both.

I definitely plan on giving this survey again, but with the class I will someday have of my own. I can see the value in this and it also helps the students know that the teacher genuinely cares about what they find interesting and will take it into consideration.

Week 3: Censorship

I have never had to deal with a censorship issue in the districts I've worked in, but when I was required to teach some novels that could potentially be an issue, I made sure there was an alternative text that followed a similar theme that the students could read. I've only had a couple of students take up this offer, but only after they started to read the original text and decided that it was not for them.

Every year I take a look at the Challenged Book List to see what changes have been made and it always makes me laugh. This is especially true when looking at some of the reasons why it was added. I think one was Where's Waldo because it depicted nudity. I followed up on this one and I guess that the artist forgot to fill in the clothing on one person. Who would look through that book so closely to even notice something like that?? It is also obvious that these books are taken out of context along with the language. Some of the books were written in a time where some of the words unacceptable today was okay to say then. I completely agree with what the text says about the "censors" and why they do what they do. I'm going to stop talking about this now because it's something I get really steamed about. Which reminds me, I was talking to a teacher where I was subbing at and she offers a lot of the YA books that are said to be "unacceptable" for her students to read, but they have to have their parents sign a permission slip first so she can't get in trouble. The students were excited to read them over their other choices, but were frustrated that we had to go to such extremes so they could have access to the books. Okay, I'm done with my tangent.

Challenged Book: Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut

Anything having to do with WWII have always interested me so I thought I would read Slaughterhouse-Five. It is about a man who had to serve as a Chaplain's assistant in the Army and was suddenly thrust into the Battle of the Bulge ridiculously unprepared. We was captured and forced to work in the enemy camp with others who were captured and while in Dresden, we witnessed over 130,000 people die from the bombing of the city. This is where the book gets its name because while in Dresden, he was bunked in an old slaughterhouse. Hence, Slaughterhouse-Five. The book does not start here, but jumps back and forth in time because the reader believes that time is not a linear thing, but can jump back and forth. He learned this from an alien abduction where he was taken to the fourth dimension. Here, everything occurs at the same time, so if someone dies, you will soon see them again in a different time. This shows an undercurrent of the trauma the war had for Billy. Many more events occur, including him losing his sanity at various time, the death of his father and wife, and him proclaiming his findings about aliens and the end of the US to New York through a radio show. At times the novel can be graphic, and even at time, under-emphasize something that should be portrayed graphically. The book emphasizes the horror of war and what it can do to individuals and to a whole society. Additionally, it address the idea of "free will" and whether we really have such a thing.

I can see why some parents would not want their child to read this novel. I mean, it even as a graphic/sexual picture drawn on one of the pages. But I also believe this is not a book that a teenager should read without the maturity it requires. If a teacher were to want to have this as part of the curriculum or as a reading option, it would have to be for something like an AP class where students are expected be more responsible and mature. The book teaches some great lessons and shows different viewpoints on violence, how people adapt, and how people do not adapt. It makes an individual question there own humanity and how we spend out "time." I do not believe it should be on the Challenged Booklist, but then again, I do not think a lot of books should be Challenged or Banned. It always seems like the most profound books are on that list and it makes me think if the people who "challenged" it even read them. And not just surface reading.

Week 2: Chipmunks The Squeakquel

Aloha! One my way back to the mainland, they played the movie The Squeakquel and I thought this would be a good YA movie to review for this assignment.

There are many reasons why I believe this movie would appeal to adolescents (and some adults). The Chipmunks has been a classic since I was little and, at the moment, remakes of classics have been very popular. It sparks an interest in the newer generation and resparks interest in the older generation. The movie pulls from many things that the adolescent world are interested in. It had its own version of "American Idol" and "America's Got Talent" in that there was a talent competition between schools. On top of that, it remakes classic and new popular songs. Who didn't want to see chipmunks shake their booty to their own version of "All the Single Ladies"?

The movie also appealed to the awkwardness teenagers feel and their struggle find themselves within the school community. Do you want to be considered a jock? nerd? popular? etc? Should these groups come first? Do you turn your back on what you feel is right in order to stay within that social sphere? It even addressed the topic of body image with the Chipettes. One was considered too short and round and the other too nerdy. In the end it taught that even with all these oppositions, you should always stay true to yourself, not what society tells you is right.

Is it just me, or is that a little too deep for the Chipmunks? Of course, there are the basics in humor and topics that always appeal to the adolescent world, including bodily humor, crushes, gaming, pain inflicted left and right on adult figures. . . (kids can be sadistic when it comes to that). On top of that, you get to see these tiny, cute, squeaky creatures wreak havoc and kick butt when we all know it isn't possible. Escape of realism, what a great thing.

I'm not a big fan of remakes. . . and then a second to the remake, but overall, the movie appealed to what adolescents find interesting now, but also appealed to what is happening with them in their own struggle to find themselves and their place in this world. Even with this deep stuff, it keeps it light and funny.

Assignment 4: Savvy by Ingrid Law

I chose to read Savvy because it was the only Newbery book I could find at the airport on my way out of town. It is about a girl named Mibs and her family who, as they turn thirteen, gain a "Savvy." These are supernatural powers, and once they get them, they leave public school so they can learn to control their savvy without worrying about prying eyes or hurting others accidentally. Before Mibs' birthday, there is an accident and her father is hospitalized. A woman from town comes to help take care of them, and plans a birthday party, in public. This is a problem because the Savvy can be. . . an explosive event. Mibs believes her savvy can help wake her father from his coma and there the adventure starts to get to the hospital. It also addresses the social and emotional awkwardness teenagers go through and finding out their own place in society.

The language in this book is amazing. The author uses many literary techniques to convey her message and paint pictures in the readers mind and make it relatable. These techniques include hyperbole, alliteration, rhyming, and also interesting vocabulary that I have not even heard before.

pg 1. "mighty kind of liking"
pg 2. ". . . streamers roiling together and siintegrating like a birthday party in a blender."
"Rain pelted us like a gravel thrown by a playground bully..."
pg 5. "sugar and spice and everything humdrum..."
pg 9. "scumble"
"The house itself had broken out into a ripe, nervous sweat"
pg 13. "soggy boggy road"
pg 16. "arma-double L-dillo"
pg 94. "catawampus"

This is just a small sample.
A lot of the description relates to situations that YAs have experienced themselves and uses similes to show what is happening looks like. You are never left wondering how the author wants you to picture the story and if you are a reader who has trouble with picturing what is happening in your mind, this is a great book to help you learn to do that.

Text to self
There are so many awkward situations I have been in where you feel you do not quite fit into your own skin or wonder what everyone else is thinking about you. Wondering why people do what they do and have a sudden realization that just maybe that person feels just as unsure and awkward as you do, they just show it differently.

I love how the author plays with words. I like to do this myself a lot and when I read how she combines words, it made it very relatable to myself.

Assignment 3: Literacy Biography

I have always loved to read. I remember having my mom read to me every night, even when she did not want to. I would watch the text as she read and began memorizing the words in the book until I could recognize and read them on my own. My favorite book was Goodnight Moon and a Sesame Street book. By the time I was in Kindergarten, I could read the text for that level on my own. Reading came very easily for me, and I do not ever remember struggling with reading. My family often read together and we traveled a lot to Eastern Oregon. Whenever these trips came up, we would go to the library and books on tape to listen to.

In elementary school, reading was accompanied with writing. This was awesome for me. I was put into a writers group that met a couple time of week and we got to write our own "books," poems, etc... and have them published to take home. I still have some of those samples some where... Writing was a little more difficult than reading. There was one instance when a teacher got tired of me writing 'poot' instead of 'put.' I had to write it 50 times the correct way and turn it into her. I never spelled it wrong again. I also had a lot of people on my case about how I held my pencil when I wrote and tried to fix it. Being part of the writing group was much more fun because I could be me without being afraid of someone getting after me all the time.

Middle school became a big shift in reading and writing for me. I got into those Goosebumps/Fear Street series among others and was always talking about reading with my friends. When I got into 7th grade, everything changed. We had to write an imaginative story and create the pictures for it on the computer. I worked hard on my piece, finished it, printed it, and gave it to my teacher. With in what seemed like seconds, he read it in front of me quickly and told me it was not good enough. He promptly wrote a 'D' on it and thew it on a pile of papers on his desk. I was heartbroken. Since then, I was always afraid to write stories which then bled into other areas of reading and writing eventually turning into uncertainty in my own ability. My reading became very private along with different genres of reading.

High school through college was a struggle in gaining confidence in myself as a reader and writer because of the fear of risk-taking. I am often disappointed because I feel like I lost out on a lot of opportunities to challenge myself as a reader and writer. I avoided exploring new ways of writing and style along with reading rich and difficult texts outside what was assigned. My teachers hated how I avoided the options for writing poetry, narratives, and imaginative works. I did have a fantastic professor who changed my perspective and I will always be grateful for that.

Assignment 2: Definition of "adolescent"

An adolescent is a boy or girl who have not gained the mental ability or experiences to make decisions with a lot of rationality and or too emotionally based. This is a horrible way of wording it but that's the best I can do. The reading didn't really change my opinion because it emphasized how there is still brain development in these areas and you do not get to "see" the world until you are away from home on your own. I believe a lot of us are still considered "adolescent" even after we go to college because of this.

Assignment 1: Perspectives as a YA reader

I went through a lot of phases as a reader that related to a lot of the author's experiences. My mom worked for the public library so I was always there reading books. I began to read for knowledge, not so much for entertainment. Later on in school, like with Lois Lowry, I experienced the "betrayal" and reading shifted for me and I viewed what I read differently and sought out different genres that reflected that. My reading was very much a part of my own experiences and were seen through my experiences.