They say I must be one of the Wonders...

(From SchoolLibraryJournal.com)

I felt it necessary to start this blog post in the same way that R.J. Palacio started her novel, "Wonder", which is with a lyric from Natalie Merchant's song of the same name.  From the time I started reading this amazing book, that song was in my head non-stop.  It was one of my favorite songs when I was in middle school, which I also thought was appropriate for this book as the story chronicles Auggie's journey into middle school.  I realized when I finished reading the book that the song is extremely fitting for the story. Auggie truly is a wonder, as is this story.

I read it at the end of the last school year, and immediately wanted to share it with my outgoing fifth graders. Because there was only about a week of school left, we weren't able to fit it in.  So I decided to ask the two fifth grade language arts teachers to read it, and to consider using it with this year's fifth grade class.  I thought they could possibly read it aloud and discuss it with the students.  I wasn't necessarily expecting a large project to come with it (though I encouraged that, as is my job as a Media Coordinator).  I just wanted the students to hear this story.

What actually happened is that my fifth grade teachers LOVED the book, and felt the same way I did: our students need to hear this story and they need to hear it now!  So they decided to use it as the first read-aloud for this school year.  As the fifth grade team teaches, each teacher has two language arts classes per day, which means reading it aloud twice every day.  No worries there!  Both teachers love this story so much, and recognize the importance of it that they are enjoying having the opportunity to read it multiple times.

And the kids?  I'm not sure I have the adequate words to describe how much they are loving this book!  It's so cool to see each class with different opinions and thoughts and reactions about Auggie's story.  They agree on a few things: Julian is a jerk, as is his mom.  They're recognizing the learned behavior in that connection, which is also interesting.  They all think Auggie is hilarious, but they're also recognizing his negative qualities - crankiness, selfishness, and rudeness at times.  We're talking through all of these emotions, and why he's experiencing these things as well as why his reactions may be different from ours at times.  Our students have fully embraced this book, and we couldn't be more excited!

We've decided to use this book in a number of ways.  Once the teachers finish reading, which should be pretty soon, the students will be asked to create written responses to the story in which they will choose a character and discuss the story from their point of view.  Point of view is a big part of their LA standards this year and they're still figuring out what it means to "walk in someone else's shoes".  Our school is a STEM school, so we are also going to tie in their Science curriculum.  They happen to be studying the human body and genetics this quarter, so we are going to have them think about Auggie's deformations in the physical, genetic way.  They will research a few different genetic disorders (Down Syndrome, Tay Sachs, colorblindness, etc.) to see how they appear in humans and what the effects are for the people who have them.  We can then tie that back to Auggie and discuss how his disorders would have been carried by his parents and then showed up in him.

Once the three of us read the story, we knew we wanted to get our Guidance Counselor involved as well.  So we gave her the book and asked her to read it too.  She loved it just as much as we did!  In her words... "I love the book because it touched on several topics that I discuss such as Bullying, Self-Esteem, All the Character Traits on Wake County's list, the 7 Habits of Happy Kids book I'm using this year, and dealing with feelings."  She's planning to use the book with the 5th graders this year to tie the story into her curriculum and activities.  She's also thinking about using the story as a focus for February's Pennies for Patients coin drive, discussing with students how Auggie's medical needs would be similar and different from the students for whom we raise money.

Lastly, what have we done with it in Media?  We spent this week using Wordle to create word clouds that describe the story and Auggie.  I was so impressed with the words that the students wanted to use, and their feelings about Wonder and Auggie.  Here's our collection of Wordles...

They are now posted on the wall outside of their classrooms.  Here's one of the word clouds for Wonder...

We discussed how even though the plot summary of the story sounds like it would be a really sad book, most of the words that the kids used to describe the story were positive words: funny, happy, emotional, cool, awesome.  And here's one of the Auggie examples...

The students wanted to know if it was okay to use the word deformed, and I told them they could because that is part of who Auggie is.  He wouldn't be the same wonderful kid without that part too.  But I loved the words they used to describe him the most: smart, happy, good friend, awesome, cool, inspiring.  Many kids also listed words like brave, rare, distinct, unusual, courageous, and, of course, Star Wars fan!

As you can already tell with this LONG blog post, we LOVE this book!!  We're so happy that our kids have latched on to it as much as we did.  I really believe that our love for the story translates to the kids, and that their recognition of that makes them love it that much too.  One of our teachers was talking about how she cried as she read the same part in both classes, and how silly she felt doing it, but I think it's moments like that that help our students know that it's okay to be moved by a story.  Many of my students have asked me where they can buy the book, and if a movie is going to be made from it.  Their excitement for this story makes me realize again why I love my job so much - I get to help connect kids with stories that change their lives.  It's the most wonderful thing I get to do!

We'd like to issue a big thank you to R.J. Palacio for writing this story that is changing the way a lot of us think and act in our daily lives.  Stories like Wonder help us to understand each other a little better, and everyone benefits from that. We're so proud to be a #WONDERschool !!

He has a badge...

...and he's not afraid to use it.

Griff Carver is a kid with a mission.  He wants to make the hallways of Rampart Junior High School the safest they can be, and he's not opposed to taking down anyone who gets in the way of justice.  Griff arrives at Rampart after being expelled from his previous school for reasons unknown.  He wastes no time securing a position on the Rampart Hallway Patrol, even though he's promised his mother he wouldn't be involved with any other patrol units after what happened at the last school.

Griff's determination to keeping the hallways safe is steady, despite having to be a partner to Tommy Rodriguez, the kind of clean-nosed Boy Scout that Griff despises.  When a conspiracy from above causes Griff to lose his badge (and very nearly his mind), it takes Tommy and a sharp-nosed school newspaper reporter named Verity to help take down the crime ring and return Griff to his rightful place as a patrolman.

This book was a lot of fun to read!  Jim Krieg did a great job giving Griff the stereotypical clipped voice that you hear in most cop shows and movies.  I loved Griff's dripping sarcasm and the hard edge that he used to deliver his thoughts.  The contrast between him and Tommy's sunshiny attitude made for excellent interactions and hilarious situations.

Recommended for any reader who is a fan of the Diary of a Wimpy Kid books or books like Josh Lieb's "I am a Genius of Unspeakable Evil and I Want to Be Your Class President".

(Photo from fantasticfiction.co.uk)

A World All Their Own

We have all seen the headlines...girls held captive for years in sheds and small rooms, forced to be slaves to their captors.  The recent stories were Jaycee Dugard, kidnapped and held in a backyard in California for 18 years, and Elizabeth Fritzl, held by her father in a locked basement dungeon by her father.  Both women had children by their captors.  "Room" is the story of one such child.

Five-year-old Jack lives in the little one-room world that Ma has created for them.  His friends include Dora the Explorer, Plant, and TV, though he only gets to see TV for a little while each day.  Jack and Ma play games, learn new words, and read the few books that they have.  Jack loves Ma and Ma loves Jack.  But one person that Jack doesn't love is Old Nick.  Every night when Jack goes to sleep in the wardrobe, he hopes that Old Nick won't come so that Ma won't be sad again.  Jack doesn't get to see Old Nick, but he knows he's come when he hears the beeps of the opening door and the smell of the air from Outside.

Jack lives happily in this little world, as it's all he has ever known.  When Ma drops a bombshell one day and tells Jack that the world that he sees on TV is really in Outside, he doesn't know what to think.  And when she asks Jack to be very brave and rescue the two of them from Old Nick, Jack is forced to face the big scary world outside of his beloved Room.  At five years old, he could never be ready to deal with the changes that come to his and Ma's life when they enter Outside.

This is one of the most-talked about books of the year, and I completely understand why.  Emma Donoghue made a very hard story bearable by telling it through the innocent voice of a child.  While my heart broke throughout the entire book, first for Ma in her captivity and then for Ma and Jack in their freedom, I also found myself rooting for Jack and hoping that he would find his happiness again in the big new world.  Donoghue did an excellent job of taking these big news stories and putting real human faces to them.  It was also interesting to see how Ma and Jack's story didn't end with the rescue, that is actually just the middle.  Both of them experienced real struggles after they left Room, and these are the struggles that we don't hear about in the news.  The media story stops when the so-called torture ends, but there is still much more for these people to endure.

I had to prepare myself to read this book, thinking that it was going to be emotionally draining.  But Donoghue's method of telling the story through Jack made it much easier to read.  "Room" is worthy of all of the accolades and acclaim it has received, and I recommend it for adults who want to get behind the news stories we've heard so much about.

Defining Love

"Trying to write about love is ultimately like trying to have a dictionary represent life.  No matter how many words there are, there will never be enough."

David Levithan views a relationship in a new way in his novel, The Lover's Dictionary.  The relationship is viewed through a series of dictionary entries, with each entry being no more than a page and a half.  As the entries are in alphabetical order, the relationship is not in chronological order.  The reader gets bits and pieces of the relationship's story through the entries and has to piece together the whole picture as they read.

Levithan does a great job of choosing a variety of words and using them in ways that most wouldn't assume to be part of the story.  He writes with sincerity and depth, and it feels as though he has been in these situations before.  The great thing about this book is that he never names the narrators, or even distinguishes which gender they are.  It's up to the reader to determine which entries belong to which narrator, what their genders are, and, therefore, what type of relationship they have.  Levithan is known for writing stories about same-sex relationships, such as "Boy Meets Boy" and "Will Grayson, Will Grayson", so many readers will pick up this book assuming that it will be about the same topic.  However, the ambiguity of the narrators makes this story applicable to everyone, which is pretty ingenious.

I admit that I did assume that this was another Young Adult novel of his, as that is what he is known for.  His past novels include the two mentioned above, as well as "Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist".  But this book is definitely NOT for teens.  Not because of inappropriate material (there is none), but simply because teens most likely could not fully identify with the characters and the story.  The maturity level is that of 20- and 30-somethings in terms of the depth of emotion and issues with which the couple deals.

Overall, this was a satisfying read that will be relatable to all readers in one way or another.  I felt the happiness and sorrow of the couple through their journey, and I felt that it was all very realistic.  Recommended for adult readers.

(Photo from Tower Books)

Librarians - Masters of the Universe!

Check out this brief piece from CNN librarian Kerith Page McFadden about the importance of librarians in our society.  Love to see fellow Tar Heel librarians doing great work and spreading library love!  :D

Somebody gets it!!

The editorial at the link below was featured in the Houston Chronicle:

http://www.chron.com/CDA/archives/archive.mpl?id=2011_4958826

Thank goodness there are people out there who understand how important and relevant librarians still are!

*The editorial mentions librarians teaching high schoolers how to use Wikipedia correctly.  For the record, I teach my elementary students that too.  :)

Young Love and Loss

"Nothing ever really goes away - it just changes into something else.  Something beautiful."

Beautiful is a great word to use to describe this novel, Twenty Boy Summer by Sarah Ockler.  Other good words to describe this novel are: devastating, heart-breaking, joyous, and free.

I heard about this novel last year because it was being challenged (people were trying to have it removed from libraries) in some parts of the country.  Adults weren't happy with the sexual activity portrayed in the story, or with the part of the storyline in which two teenage girls agree to try to find twenty boys to hook up with in one summer.

After reading this novel, it's clear to me that those who challenged based on those grounds didn't read it (as is often the case).  If they had read it, they would have seen it for what it actually is.  A beautiful story about two girls who lose one of the most important people in their lives, and try to cope with their loss however they can.

Anna and Frankie are the teenage girls at the center of the story.  They are next-door neighbors and two-thirds of a lifelong best friend trio.  The third member is Frankie's older brother, Matt.  Two years older than the girls, Matt has always been their protector and leader.  At the age of ten, Anna fell in love with him.  On the night of her fifteenth birthday, she finally finds out that Matt is in love with her too.  For the next month, Anna and Matt meet secretly at night, testing out their new relationship and figuring out the best way to tell Frankie.  Matt wants to be the one to tell her and makes Anna promise not to say anything.  He plans on telling Frankie when they take their annual family trip to California.

But then the unthinkable happens.  He dies the day before they are to leave for the trip.

After a grief-filled year, Anna is now the one making the trip with Frankie and her parents to Zanzibar Bay, California.  Frankie has spent the year trying to deal with her brother's death with makeup, boys, and secret cigarettes.  Anna has spent the year trying to fulfill her promise to Matt and take care of Frankie.  In preparation for California, Frankie decides that they should make it their goal to meet one boy per day, twenty in all, so that they can each have one summer fling during what is supposed to be the Absolute Best Summer Ever.  The trip unfolds in ways that neither girl could predict, as emotions are broken open and wounds are made and healed.

I really enjoyed this book and the emotional journey on which it took me.  My heart broke for both girls for different reasons, and I believe readers will be able to associate with either Frankie or Anna.  Even if you've never suffered a loss as they did, the characters are so personable and easily relatable that it's easy to put yourself in their shoes.  Readers will find themselves rooting for these girls, and pulling for them in their struggle to figure out how to live the new post-Matt lives in which they find themselves.

Recommended for readers in high school and above.