Writing With My Fate According to the Butterfly

Last summer, I led two virtual book clubs with students. They were 7th graders moving into 8th grade and one group read My Fate According to the Butterfly by Gail D. Villanueva. I first learned of Gail and his sweet book through our World Read Aloud Day celebrations. When I started working in my current school district, I introduced the free World Read Aloud Day Skypes to teachers. Now every student visits with an author on World Read Aloud Day in our K-8 district. 

I'm really proud of making connections - between kids and creators, between reading and writing, between teachers and books, between teachers and kids. I love it. So I was excited to share this book with a small group of students. We read and discussed but I also stopped here and there to slow down and look at the writing and that's what I'd like to share today. 

Years ago, I volunteered with 826CHI and spent two weeks with middle grade writers for their summer camp and the focus was food! I love food. I didn't realize how awesome food would be as a theme though until I was there and living it and experiencing how the amazing people of 826CHI brought it to life for me. 

We all have experiences with food. And we all have food that nourishes us or makes us want to throw up. We all have feelings connected to food. Food is such a universal experience. I think of one of my former students who uses a feeding tube. Even she has connections to food. So for this week's mentor text, I picked a snatch of text from My Fate According to the Butterfly that slows down to celebrate the best kare-kare ever. 

My thought for using this is to notice how she first tells us what she's describing. And then she shows us. Y'all, we need to show AND tell. It's okay to show and tell in our writing. Sometimes we need one more than the other, sometimes we need them together, sometimes they stand alone. But showing and telling both matter. 

So here's the excerpt:

"In moments like these, I'm so glad I'm not allergic to peanuts. 

This kare-kare must be life's way of rewarding my hero-ism, bringing me to this carinderia. Because this canteen has the best kare-kare ever. 

Swimming among the orange peanut sauce are beef chunks and pieces of ox tripe with melt-in-your-mouth texture. It also has a generous amount of soft eggplants, string beans, and pechay greens. The peanut sauce isn't too thick, nor is it too thin. It's the perfect sauce on a cup of steamed rice. Add a dash of their sweet-and-spicy shrimp paste, and you've got a saucy, savory, and slightly sweet combination that's like heaven on earth." (p. 122)

There's so much to talk about here! First she tells us what she's talking about. She writes, "...the best kare-kare-ever." It made me think of all the best things I know....

And then she tells us the details. Above are some words I wanted to think about for my own writing: swimming, chunks, melt-in-your-mouth, dash of..., and like heaven on earth. We talk a lot about cliches and not using cliches in writing but at the same time, there is definitely vocabulary that goes with writing about food. These stood out to me and I wanted to think about these for my own writing. 

But first I had to think of food that I think is THE BEST. What foods do you think are the best? Here's my list!

What stood out to me is that all my food comes from other places! When I decided to go vegan, I started exploring places with vegan food, everywhere I go I look for vegan food! From here I decided to zone in on one and see how I would first tell and then show about that food. 

Blind Faith Cafe's Vegan Chocolate Cake

(AKA the best cake ever)

When I went vegan, I went in search of the yummiest vegan options - here, in Chicago, and everywhere I go. And hands down, Blind Faith Cafe in Evanston has the best chocolate cake ever. 

Drizzled with raspberry sauce and served with a side of raspberry sorbet is the most divine chocolate cake. Not too dry, not too gooey, the cake is perfect. The vanilla frosting is sweet but subtle. Take a bite with cake and frosting and raspberry sauce and feel the love and joy and bliss that's like heaven on earth. 

I love mentor texts like this because they truly help me feel held and free when it comes to writing. That I can try something like this myself, that I have stories to tell, that writing can be fun. 

You know you want a piece of this cake now!!! Come to Chicago and I'll take you to experience it. It's awesome. But I also hope you toooootally want to go write about your best food, to show AND tell me all about it. What food do you think is the best?!?

We Don't Eat Our Classmates

Title: We Don't Eat Our Classmates 
Author: Ryan T. Higgins 
Illustrator: Ryan T. Higgins 
Publisher: Disney Hyperion 
Publication Date: June 19th, 2018 
Genre/Format: Fiction/Picture Book
GoodReads Summary: It's the first day of school for Penelope Rex, and she can't wait to meet her classmates. But it's hard to make human friends when they're so darn delicious! That is, until Penelope gets a taste of her own medicine and finds she may not be at the top of the food chain after all. . . .
What I Think: When this book came out, Franki Sibberson asked me if I had read it because of our long discussions about I Want My Hat Back by Jon Klassen. Well, I finally got to reading this and I loved it. You can imagine what might happen when a t-rex goes to school! 
     I absolutely loved how the theme of this book look at how we treat others and how we hope to be treated. It's such a hard concept for kids to grasp and I find myself as a mom going over this again and again with my kids. This book offers a fresh look at this ever important lesson. 
     As a mentor text, I spotted the illustrations and the attention Ryan paid to the characters and their facial expression. They stood out because the story centers on Penelope but the children at school convey their own emotions about how the story is unfolding mostly through the looks on their faces. When I read with my kids, we were cracking up at the faces they were making. Kindergartners spend a lot of time drawing as writing and this extends into first and second grade...but it doesn't have to stop there. Any writer can use drawings to help flesh out their writing. In fact, when a writer draws, they have to show the character and the scene and this helps as they develop what they might include in their written text. Taking time to talk to young writers about their drawings is important. Often they draw happy faces or sad faces but there are so many other emotions they could show in their drawings. Looking at We Don't Eat Our Classmates through the lens of a writer who draws gives writers an opportunity to think about how to show emotion in their drawings. This is also an opportunity to talk about visual literacy when you ask students to stop and notice and discuss what they notice in the illustrations.
     This book would also make a great study for writers of any age who incorporate drawings or illustrations into their writing. 
Snatch of Text: 
When she got home, her dad asked about her first day of school. 

"I didn't make any friends!" Penelope cried. "None of the children wanted to play with me!"

"Penelope Rex," her father asked , "did you eat your classmates?"

"Well...maybe sort of just a little bit."

Merci Suárez Changes Gears

Title: Merci Suárez Changes Gears 
Author: Meg Medina 
Publisher: Candlewick 
Publication Date: September 11th, 2018  
Genre/Format: Realistic Fiction/Middle Grade Novel 
GoodReads Summary: Merci Suarez knew that sixth grade would be different, but she had no idea just how different. For starters, Merci has never been like the other kids at her private school in Florida, because she and her older brother, Roli, are scholarship students. They don’t have a big house or a fancy boat, and they have to do extra community service to make up for their free tuition. So when bossy Edna Santos sets her sights on the new boy who happens to be Merci’s school-assigned Sunshine Buddy, Merci becomes the target of Edna’s jealousy. Things aren't going well at home, either: Merci’s grandfather and most trusted ally, Lolo, has been acting strangely lately — forgetting important things, falling from his bike, and getting angry over nothing. No one in her family will tell Merci what's going on, so she’s left to her own worries, while also feeling all on her own at school. In a coming-of-age tale full of humor and wisdom, award-winning author Meg Medina gets to the heart of the confusion and constant change that defines middle school — and the steadfast connection that defines family.  
What I Think: I visited a classroom last week for a writer's workshop lesson. We had Dr. Carla España, a consultant from The Ed Collab in to work with our middle school teachers. As she was presenting, she showed students some of her writing and how she slipped Spanish in sometimes. A student I was sitting with wrote a goal of using more Spanish in her own writing. When I asked her if she had ever thought of doing that before, she said not until this day because Carla had mentioned it. It gave me goosebumps. How powerful is that? I love Meg Medina's books because she does a great job of capturing the experience of being Latinx in her books. But beyond that, she does a great job of description and developing character through her description. The snatch of text I pulled shows how we can learn so much about a character from a short scene. 
     As a mentor text, I would think about asking students to look at the snatch of text below, or another snatch of text from Merci Suárez Changes Gears, and ask writers to look at what Meg has done to show us who the main character, Merci, is. We can tell a lot about Merci from this snatch of text. I would make sure students recognize that she uses dialogue to show how Merci interacts with others and how their words or actions show us about Merci. I would also think in general about how the scene goes and what that tells us about Merci. Finally, I would look at word choice and how the words Meg has chosen show us the mood of the moment and how that adds to what we know about Merci. 
Snatch of Text:
"I sit on the stool exactly the way the photographer says: Ankles crossed. Torso swiveled to the left and leaning forward. Hands in lap. Head tilted like a confused puppy. Who sits like this, ever? I look like a victim of taxidermy. 
    'Smile,' the photographer says, without an ounce of joy in her voice. 
    Just as I'm trying to decide whether to show teeth, a huge flash goes off and blinds me.
     'Wait. I wasn't read,' I say. 
    She ignores me and reviews her shots. It must be really bad for her to hold up the line this way. Do-overs mean time, and everyone in business knows that time is money. 
    'Let's try again,' she says, trying to adjust my glasses. 'Chin up this time.'
     Chin? Who is she kidding? I already know that's not the problem. My eyes is fluttering and I can feel the soft pull to the left. 
     'Look at the camera, honey,' the photographer says. 
    I blink hard and fix both my eyes on her lens, which always makes me look angry, but it's the best I can do. She shoots again and again in an explosion of shutter clicks. I must look as awkward as I feel, because I can hear the boys snickering." (p. 11-12)

Everything You Need for a Treehouse

Title: Everything You Need for a Treehouse 
Author: Carter Higgins 
Illustrator: Emily Hughes 
Publisher: Chronicle Books 
Publication Date: April 10th, 2018
Genre/Format:  
GoodReads Summary: Featuring beautiful images and a lyrical text with an exquisitely readable cadence, this book gives life and meaning to all the requisite elements of a treehouse, from time, timber, and rafters to ropes of twisted twine that invite visitors to sprawl out on a limb and slide back down again. For anyone who's ever wanted to escape real life and live in a nostalgic dream come true, this poignant picture book captures the universal timelessness of treehouses and celebrates all the creativity and adventure they spark.  
What I Think: This book offers such a sweet blend of excellent text and illustrations. I found myself sinking deeper and deeper into this book as I read. It's hard to explain but Carter does a great job with mood so that I was sucked into it almost like a lullaby. This makes Everything You Need for a Treehouse an excellent read for looking at mood and word choice and description. Being able to describe well, helps to set the mood of a piece of writing. 
     This summer, Heidi Schultz, the author of Hook's Revenge, wrote a blog post for Teachers Write where she shared an awesome way to look at how word choice can impact the mood of a piece. It was titled Setting as a Lens for Character but I really loved how this exercise shows that the words a writer picks impact what the reader understands. We know this of course, but this specific activity really shows how it's possible to take one description and spin it a different way simply by changing the words. I definitely recommend checking out her post and using it along side Everything You Need for a Treehouse as you look at word choice.
     Another way to use this book as a mentor text is to look at all the alliteration Carter packs in! Personally, I think this is part of why this book sucked me in, it flows and the words just slipped off my tongue as I read it out loud. I especially like that this is an opportunity to think about why a writer might employ alliteration. Sure, it can be fun or silly, but it also adds this element of how the words fit together or move along. 
     Of course, after reading this book, I hope you invite student writers to describe what they think they would need for a treehouse!
Snatch of Text: 

"Whether solo or squished

make sure your tree is tall - 

you'll want to see sun speckles up close."

Thank you to Chronicle

for sending me a copy of this book to review.

Drawn Together

Title: Drawn Together
Author: Minh Le
Illustrator: Dan Santat
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion 
Publication Date: June 5th, 2018 
Genre/Format: Fiction/Picture Book 
GoodReads Summary: When a young boy visits his grandfather, their lack of a common language leads to confusion, frustration, and silence. But as they sit down to draw together, something magical happens-with a shared love of art and storytelling, the two form a bond that goes beyond words.

With spare, direct text by Minh Lê and luminous illustrations by Caldecott Medalist Dan Santat, this stirring picture book about reaching across barriers will be cherished for years to come.
What I Think: Relationships with grandparents are special. My own kids adore their grandparents and I loved mine so much. I have memories of working in the garden and mowing the lawn with my grandpa, painting with my grandma, and playing cards with my other grandma. Each of them made me feel important. They showed me how to slow down and take my time and enjoy what I was doing. Drawn Together felt so true to me because my grandmother Mamita spoke Spanish and barely knew English. I learned most of my Spanish from her but there were still so many times when I struggled to express myself accurately to her or failed to understand what she was trying to say to me. Especially her jokes. She loved to recite poetry, sing songs, and tell stories and jokes. Jokes involve complex language which made them so hard to understand. I wish I could have better understood everything she ever said to me...but the reality is that I couldn't. It's hard to explain the heartbreak of this reality but in Drawn Together, Minh Le and Dan Santat bring this feeling to life. 
     While not everyone has the same experience with a language barrier with their grandparent, I wonder if many will still identify with the idea of misunderstanding each other in some way or another. In any relationship, there are so many ways to misunderstand each other. We can feel close and still feel so far away at the same time. 
     As a mentor text, Drawn Together can be used to spark conversations about relationships. It offers an opportunity for students to think about their own relationships and whether they recognize similarities in their own relationships or not. It's also a chance to think about how things like language differences might make growing a relationship difficult and whether there might be ways to overcome this. Student writers can then think about what relationships look like in their own writing and think about how things like language differences might impact the characters or people in their writing. 
     This book relies heavily on the illustrations to tell the story with the text. It's not a wordless picture book but there are several layouts without any text. I love books like this because they make it easy to focus on visual literacy. As a mentor text, readers can think about how they might describe what is happening in the illustrations and how to show this in their writing. It's a powerful way to link reading and writing. 
    Drawn Together is an absolutely beautiful book that everyone needs to read.
Snatch of Text:

"All the things we could never say come pouring out...

...and we build a new world that even words can't describe."

Everything Else in the Universe Blog Tour!

I'm so excited to be celebrating the release of Tracy Holczer's book Everything Else in the Universe! I love how she introduces us to Lucy and her Italian family. They are loud and lovable and I found myself enjoying how she shared her Italian heritage through Lucy's story. Her close family and her extended family play a big role in the story so I wanted to celebrate them with cannoli. We happen to have a locally-owned cannoli place in town called tony cannoli so I stopped in to pick up a small box of Siciliana cannoli (my favorite). 

(Photo Credit: Holly Waxman)

On a more serious note, this book is about a girl whose dad comes home from serving as an Army doctor in Vietnam and my dad was in the Air Force during the Vietnam War. I wasn't born until after my dad came home but I've heard (some) stories from him about what it was like to be there and to come home. He has also dealt with a lot physically and mentally because of his time in Vietnam and I've seen what that looks like for him. 

While my experience with a dad who is a Vietnam veteran is different from Lucy's, I was still so interested to read her story and see if we might have some similarities. I've read other books set in our around the Vietnam War like The Wednesday Wars by Gary D. Schmidt and Eli the Good by Silas House and I find that each story I read helps me feel more connected to my dad as I try to develop a deeper understanding of the time period and what life was like from different perspectives. This book gives us Lucy and her dad and her family and how the Vietnam War impacted them and it reminds us that so many families were impacted by Vietnam War in a variety of ways. 

Here's a picture of me and my daddy. I love him a lot and celebrating Everything Else in the Universe feels like I'm celebrating him in a way.

You can find my ideas for how to use Everything Else in the Universe as a mentor text below. And be sure to visit the other stops on the blog tour.

Everything Else in the Universe Blog Tour:

Smack Dab in the Middle - June 16th

Mr. Schu Reads - June 17th

Kidlit Frenzy - June 18th

Teach Mentor Texts - June 20th

Caroline Starr Rose - June 22nd

Title: Everything Else in the Universe 

Author: Tracy Holczer

Publisher: G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers 

Publication Date: June 12th, 2018

Genre/Format: Historical Fiction/Novel 

GoodReads Summary: In the midst of the Vietnam War, a young girl struggles to embrace change in this tender family story for fans of Cynthia Lord and Wendy Maas. 

Lucy is a practical, orderly person--just like her dad. He taught her to appreciate reason and good sense, instilling in her the same values he learned at medical school. But when he's sent to Vietnam to serve as an Army doctor, Lucy and her mother are forced to move to San Jose, California, to be near their relatives--the Rossis--people known for their superstitions and all around quirky ways. 

Lucy can't wait for life to go back to normal, so she's over the moon when she learns her father is coming home early. It doesn't even matter that he's coming back "different." That she can't ask too many questions or use the word "amputation." It just matters that he'll be home. But Lucy quickly realizes there's something very wrong when her mother sends her to spend the summer with the Rossis to give her father some space. Lucy's beside herself, but what's a twelve-year-old to do? 

It's a curious boy named Milo, a mysterious packet of photographs and an eye-opening mission that makes Lucy see there's more to life than schedules and plans, and helps to heal her broken family. The latest from critically-acclaimed author Tracy Holczer is a pitch-perfect middle grade tale of family and friendship that's sure to delight fans of One for the Murphys and Rules.

What I Think: As I said above, the role of family in this book is key to the story. Through learning about Lucy's family and watching how she interacts with her family, we're able to learn about her and who she is. Writers talk a lot about show, don't tell and one of my favorite ways to show instead of tell is to incorporate interaction between characters. Adding dialogue allows us to see what a main character might say, how another character would react to the main character, and how they deliver their lines. 

     In Everything Else in the Universe, we get to met Lucy's parents and her father's side of the family as well as her mother's side of the family. There are so many exercises writers use to get to know their characters better and thinking about their family is one way to do this. Who are your character's parents or caregivers? Does he/she/they have siblings? Does he/she/they have a big extended family like Lucy? Does his/her/their family live close or far away? Your character's family impacts who they are. Their experiences and how they belong to a family shape who they are. 

     I'll be reviewing another middle grade novel this week, Love Sugar Magic: A Dash of Trouble by Anna Meriano. In Love Sugar Magic, the main character Leo also has a large family and she happens to be the youngest. Being the youngest of five sisters makes her want to grow up faster. She wants to be included in some of their family traditions that she doesn't get to be part of because she isn't old enough yet. It would be neat to match these two books and even look at other books with a lens of how the main character and their family plays a role in who they are but also to look at how the author uses dialogue to show family dynamics and to develop a character for the reader. 

Snatch of Text: 

     "'Life is a meatball, Lucy. Always remember that,' Papo said. Great-Aunt Lilliana grunted her agreement. Because a good meatball was all about the right balance of ingredients, and so was life.

     As the parade of cars peeled off one by one, Lucy looked back at the sign she and Mom had made together and hung last night: WELCOME HOME, CAPTAIN ROSSI!

     When they reached the bottom of the hill, honking and carrying on as though they were a wedding procession, Lucy closed her eyes and tried to imagine Dad's voice when he told her I'll always come back to you.

     But she only heard her own." (p. 14-15)

Creepy Pair of Underwear

Title: Creepy Pair of Underwear 
Author: Aaron Reynolds 
Illustrator: Peter Brown  
Publisher: Simon Schuster Books for Young Readers 
Publication Date: August 15th, 2017 
Genre/Format: Fiction/Picture Book
GoodReads Summary: Jasper Rabbit is NOT a little bunny anymore. He’s not afraid of the dark, and he’s definitely not afraid of something as silly as underwear. But when the lights go out, suddenly his new big rabbit underwear glows in the dark. A ghoulish, greenish glow. If Jasper didn’t know any better he’d say his undies were a little, well, creepy. Jasper’s not scared obviously, he’s just done with creepy underwear. But after trying everything to get rid of them, they keep coming back! 
What I Think: Happy Friday the 13th! What a perfect day to celebrate Creepy Pair of Underwear! It's so fun to see Jasper again. As I was reading, I thought of Edgar Allan Poe's Tell-Tale Heart and the song The Cat Came Back. My elementary school music teacher sang The Cat Came Back With Us so it would be cool to connect the song and this book with younger students. With older students, you could definitely tie this to Tell-Tale Heart. What a perfect opportunity to compare and contrast different texts for mood and also to look closely at how illustrations work with the text to contribute to the mood of a story. 
     Speaking of looking at how the texts and illustrations work together, the snatch of text I share below is an example of how Aaron Reynolds uses dialogue to show us what the characters are thinking and feeling but at the same time, Peter Brown uses the illustrations to hit the message home. As a mentor text, this is perfect for looking at how important dialogue is but also how description of what a character is doing when speaking allows an writer to really show how a character thinks and feels. To practice this, ask students to look at the page where Jasper is begging his mom for the creepy underwear and come up with a sentence to describe what they see in the illustrations or what they visualize in their head. Then have them try it in their own writing. Show, don't tell at its finest!
Snatch of Text:  
     "'Mom! Mom! Can we get these?" Jasper pleaded.
     'I think they're a little too creepy,' said Mom.
     'They're not creepy! They're cool!' said Jasper. 'I'm not a little bunny anymore. I'm a big rabbit now!'"

     "...the underwear glowed. A ghoulish, greenish glow."
Writing Prompt: How does the author use dialogue to show what the characters are thinking and feeling?

Orphan Island

Thank you to Walden Pond Press

for sending me a copy of this book to review 

and for providing a copy of the book 

for me to giveaway! (Details below!)

Title: Orphan Island  
Author: Laurel Snyder 
Publisher: Walden Pond Press 
Publication Date: May 30th, 2017 
Genre/Format: Fiction/Novel 
GoodReads Summary: From acclaimed author Laurel Snyder comes a deep, compelling, heartbreaking, and completely one-of-a-kind novel about nine children who live on a mysterious island.

On the island, everything is perfect. The sun rises in a sky filled with dancing shapes; the wind, water, and trees shelter and protect those who live there; when the nine children go to sleep in their cabins, it is with full stomachs and joy in their hearts. And only one thing ever changes: on that day, each year, when a boat appears from the mist upon the ocean carrying one young child to join them—and taking the eldest one away, never to be seen again.Today’s Changing is no different. The boat arrives, taking away Jinny’s best friend, Deen, replacing him with a new little girl named Ess, and leaving Jinny as the new Elder. Jinny knows her responsibility now—to teach Ess everything she needs to know about the island, to keep things as they’ve always been. But will she be ready for the inevitable day when the boat will come back—and take her away forever from the only home she’s known? 
What I Think: If there was ever a book to judge by its over, this would be it. The cover is absolutely gorgeous for an absolutely gorgeous book. I was completely lost in the story and entranced by Jinny and her thoughts as she works to piece together her story on the island and snippets of memories to come up with what comes next. Jinny is so brave and I loved her more and more with every page. But that made the end that much harder. Aren't all endings hard?   
     I left the book thinking about what comes next for Jinny and knowing that so much us unknown but being okay with that. Isn't that how life goes? I mostly feel like I'm playing catch with one of those water snake toys. I'm trying to have fun and go with the flow but at the same time I'm trying desperately to hang onto time that just refuses to stop wiggling or to be captured all while I'm also worried that I'm going to pop it and I'll be drenched and the game will be ruined. Laurel helped me feel like I'm not alone in feeling this way. 
     In looking at Orphan Island as a mentor text, I fell in love with Jinny as much as I fell in love with the island because of Laurel's description. Some books that came to mind as I was reading were Sam and Dave Dig a Hole, The Wild Robot, The Giver, Island of the Blue Dolphins, And Then There Were None and I even thought of the TV show Lost. In each of these, the setting plays such a large role, it's a character in and of itself. And the protagonist has to interact with and act upon the setting as part of moving the story forward. It's neat to think of how the island itself has memories and holds so much knowledge about Jinny and her story but at the same time, it can only tell her much. 
     As a mentor text, I would definitely have writers look at Laurel's description and think about how she connects the description to the setting but also to the character. Ask writers to look at how it's possible to use a description of the setting to describe what a character is feeling. This is an opportunity to look at mood and how a writer can elicit an emotion from a reader using show don't tell. Have writers think about how the setting impacts the mood and spend time describing the setting in order to show how the character is feeling without ever directly telling the reader what emotion is at play. 
Snatch of Text: 
     "Jinny watched the boat disappear. Until all she could see was water and distance. It happened so fast. She found herself standing, reaching out both arms, in the direction the boat had gone. Both hands were outstretched fingers, grasping. As if there was something in the air she might be able to clutch."

     "They sat together. Two sad shapes in the sand. Watching the day sink behind the cloudy sea. The oranges and pinks of the bleeding sunset made their usual swirling patterns above the mist, looping and arching. Tonight the shapes looked like dolphins. Or maybe just waves, calm soft waves. The new girl stared up, her mouth open slightly, saying nothing as she watched the sky shift and dance, a wash of shapes and colors."
Writing Prompt: Write about a time when you took a risk. How did you feel about the unknown-ness of taking a risk? And how can you compare your experience with Jinny's experiences on the island?
Additional Resources: Visit the Harper Collins page for a Teacher's Guide and Reading Guide.

Be sure to visit other stops on the Orphan Island blog tour!

May 15 - Laura Given

May 16 - Pernille Ripp

Writers Rumpus

May 17 - Teach Mentor Texts

May 18 - Novel Novice

Bluestocking Thinking

May 19 - The Haunting of Orchid Forsythia

May 20 - Book Monsters

May 21 - Maria's Melange

May 22 - Read, Write Reflect

Walden Media Tumblr

May 23 - Satisfaction for Insatiable Readers

May 24 - Nerdy Book Club

May 25 - A Foodie Bibliophile in Wanderlust

May 26 - Kirby Larson

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Little Fox in the Forest

Title: Little Fox in the Forest 
Author: Stephanie Graigin 
Illustrator: Stephanie Graigin 
Publisher: Schwartz & Wade Books
Publication Date: February 28th, 2017 
Genre/Format: Wordless/Picture Book
GoodReads Summary: A wordless picture book in which two friends follow a young fox deep into the woods and discover a wondrous and magical world. 
When a young girl brings her beloved stuffed fox to the playground, much to her astonishment, a real fox takes off with it! The girl chases the fox into the woods with her friend, the boy, following close behind, but soon the two children lose track of the fox. Wandering deeper and deeper into the forest, they come across a tall hedge with an archway. What do they find on the other side? A marvelous village of miniature stone cottages, tiny treehouses, and, most extraordinary of all, woodland creatures of every shape and size. But where is the little fox? And how will they find him?
What I Think: I'm such a fan of wordless picture books, in fact I've blogged about my favorite wordless picture books before and now I can add Little Fox in the Forest to the list. This book reminded me a bit of Aaron Becker's Journey and Mo Willem's Knufflebunny Free but with it's own story and certain charm. I absolutely love how the story goes from shades of blue and white to vibrant color. 
     I've decided the story sits perfectly in the realm of picture book magic. As I'm thinking about this, Please Bring Balloons by Lindsay Ward comes to mind too. Please Bring Balloons, Journey, and Little Fox in the Forest are stories where kids go off on adventures and then come back to their reality at the beginning...but something is just a bit different. It's picture book magic! It's the moment of knowing it was all in the character's imagination...except for that one element that made it back into their "real" world. I love this. This is a perfect example of how a book can elicit different responses from different readers. I think younger kids might accept the story as a story but older students can start to think about what exactly this idea of picture book magic is all about and how it might even connect with their own lives.
     As a mentor text, wordless picture books are a wonderful way to get writers started. Using the story as inspiration, writers can describe one drawing or tell the entire story. The great thing is the story is there, we just have to find the words to bring it to life. As a close read, wordless picture books are perfect for finding evidence to support your thinking. There are so many ways to interpret what's happening in the story and students can think about using evidence to defend what they have inferred from the illustrations.
Writing Prompt: Write about what similarities and differences you notice between Little Fox in the Forest and Journey and/or Please Bring Balloons.

Posted Blog Tour and Giveaway!

Thank you to Walden Pond Press 

for sending me a copy of Posted to review 

and for providing a copy of the book 

for me to giveaway! (Details below!)

I'm thrilled to be part of the blog tour for John David Anderson's next novel: Posted! This is a must-read, must-share for middle school!

Title: Posted
Author: John David Anderson
Publisher: Walden Pond Press
Publication Date: May 2nd, 2017
Genre/Format: Realistic Fiction/Novel
GoodReads Summary: From John David Anderson, author of the acclaimed Ms. Bixby’s Last Day, comes a humorous, poignant, and original contemporary story about bullying, broken friendships, and the failures of communication between kids.

In middle school, words aren’t just words. They can be weapons. They can be gifts. The right words can win you friends or make you enemies. They can come back to haunt you. Sometimes they can change things forever.

When cell phones are banned at Branton Middle School, Frost and his friends Deedee, Wolf, and Bench come up with a new way to communicate: leaving sticky notes for each other all around the school. It catches on, and soon all the kids in school are leaving notes—though for every kind and friendly one, there is a cutting and cruel one as well.

In the middle of this, a new girl named Rose arrives at school and sits at Frost’s lunch table. Rose is not like anyone else at Branton Middle School, and it’s clear that the close circle of friends Frost has made for himself won’t easily hold another. As the sticky-note war escalates, and the pressure to choose sides mounts, Frost soon realizes that after this year, nothing will ever be the same.  
What I Think: Oh, middle school. As I was reading Posted, I thought about Rebecca Stead's Goodbye Stranger and Geoff Herbach's Stupid Fast. Each of these books has a main character that learns about him or herself through navigating relationships with others. What I love about Posted is that the description puts you right into middle school again. It's just so specific but such an example of showing and not telling at the same time.

Credit: Sophia of Walden Media Tumblr

     Last week, I was asked to conference with an 8th grade writer about a story he was working on in writer's workshop. I read through his piece and I realized he needed to know his character a little bit more so he could show his readers who this character really was and why we should want to go along on his story with him. This is something I think John David Anderson does so well. Each character has depth. He knows everything about the characters who impact Frost's story and he brings them to life. One of the snatches of text is an example of a super secret secret that Frost has. I asked my 8th grade writer friend what was the worst thing that ever happened to his main character and what was the best thing that ever happened to him. He wasn't sure. But as a writer, you have to be sure. You have to know what makes them tick. John David Anderson knows that Frost has his writing deep down in him but that it's nothing he wants anyone to know anything about. 
     The second snatch of text speaks to middle school and pretty much captures the experience of middle school. I'm sure students can relate and might even feel some solace to know they aren't alone. This snatch of a text would be a great to share and invite students to join in and write their own metaphor about middle school but then continue to describe it.  

Credit: Sophia of Walden Media Tumblr

Snatch of Text: "Some things are better kept to yourself. I don't share my poems with anyone. Not even Bench or Wolf or DeeDee. Not because I'm afraid of what they would think. I mean, we play Dungeons & Dragons. It's hard to be embarrassed when it's the four of us. I just prefer not to share. We all need something that's ours. A thing that we know absolutely about ourselves that others can only guess at.
     One day, I think, when I'm good enough, I will pull the notebook from its hiding spot beneath the mattress and open it up for others to see." (p.72)

     "Middle school is a minefield. Deciding who to like and not like and who to follow and who to ignore completely. Worrying that you're going to trip while walking down the hall and sprawl all over the floor like a beached starfish. Wondering if you should raise your hand when the teacher asks a hard question and risk exposing your nerdiness for the sake of a few bonus points. Taking every sideways glance as a message, trying to crack the code. Every day you're bound to do something that gets you noticed by the wrong people. Every day you're bound to step somewhere you shouldn't." (p. 99)
Writing Prompt: Choose a time in the book when Frost is thinking about what it means to be a friend and explain how you relate to Frost or describe what he is learning about friendship.

Be sure to visit other stops on the Posted blog tour!

April 17: Librarian's Quest

Walden Media Tumblr

April 18: Nerdy Book Club

April 19: For Those About to Mock

April 20: Teach Mentor Texts

April 21: Unleashing Readers

April 22: Next Best Book
Read, Write, Reflect
April 23: Bluestocking Thinking

April 24: Litcoach Lou

Book Monsters

April 25: Kirsti Call

April 26: Educate-Empower-Inspire-Teach

April 27: The Haunting of Orchid Forsythia

Ms Yingling Reads

April 28: Maria's Mélange 

Novel Novice

April 29:The Hiding Spot

April 30:This Kid Reviews Books

And don't forget to enter the giveaway for your chance to win!

a Rafflecopter giveaway