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 !!

Join the "Revolution"!

"It goes on, this world, stupid and brutal.

But I do not.

I do not."

I'm really excited to share this book for my first review on this blog.  It's the latest addition to my favorites list: Revolution by Jennifer Donnelly.

This part-realistic, part-historical fiction novel centers around two teenage girls who spend their lives in completely different worlds, centuries apart.  Andi Alpers is a high school senior living in Brooklyn.  A talented musician, Andi lives with her artist mother and attends the prestigious St. Anselm school.  Music is Andi's outlet, her source of expression, and one of the few things that gets her through her pain-filled life.  She's still carrying around immense guilt and trauma from the death of her younger brother, Truman.  When Andi's Nobel Prize-winning geneticist father hears that she is failing out of St. Anselm, and finds that Andi's mother spends her days trying to paint the perfect portrait of Truman, he decides that Andi must go with him to Paris for her holiday break while her mother is hospitalized.  Andi doesn't share his opinion, but is forced to go.

In Paris, Andi and her father stay with friends G and Lili. G is a historian and an expert on the French Revolution.  He has enlisted Andi's father's help in conducting DNA tests on a heart believed to be the heart of Louis-Charles, the young son of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette.  G explains that Louis-Charles was imprisoned by the Jacobins following the death of Louis XVI, and there were theories that the young prince may have survived the Revolution and grown up under an alias.  Andi's interest in the story of Louis-Charles deepens when she discovers a diary in a hidden compartment in an 18th century guitar case.  The writer of the diary, Alexandrine, was Louis-Charles' companion and entertainer, hired by Marie Antoinette to keep her young son happy.

Alex's story begins in the early days of the Revolution.  Her family works as puppetteers, putting on shows for money.  But she wants to be more.  She wants to be a star actress on the Paris stage.  When a chance encounter with the royal family gives her a position near to the Queen, she decides to use it to her advantage, believing that if she does her job well, Antoinette will help fulfill her dream.  What Alex doesn't understand is how her life will change over the course of the Revolution, how she will grow to truly love the young prince, and how she will sacrifice herself for him.

As Andi works to complete the outline of her senior thesis on French guitarist and composer Amade Malherbeau, she is simultaneously immersed in Alex's story.  The similarities between Alex's relationship with Louis-Charles and Andi's with Truman are striking.  Alex's diary brings the Revolution to life, and begins to help Andi do the one thing that she couldn't do before: heal.

I never realized how little I knew about the French Revolution until I read this book.  The only thing I really knew was that Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette were guillotined.  I didn't know about the thousands of others who met the same fate, or how the catacombs were filled with stacked bodies with no heads, or how the children of the king and queen were treated after their deaths.  Louis-Charles' story is especially gut-wrenching.  A small boy torn from his parents and put in a tower with no care, only to go insane and die there two years later.  This book has motivated me to learn more about the French Revolution and the people involved.  As a librarian, I really appreciate the research that went into writing it.  Donnelly lists the many resources she used at the end of the book, and I'll be reading a couple of them in the future.

Another thing I loved about this book was the music references.  Donnelly traveled all over the music spectrum: Beethoven and Radiohead, Wagner and The Ramones.  The musical ties are amazing, whether you know the music or not.  It's clear that Donnelly did her homework.  She also provided a complete song list on her website.  It's quite extensive and the choices fit the story perfectly.

But the most amazing thing about this book is watching Andi travel through her struggle with pain and depression.  She tries to medicate it, tries to end it all, but eventually finds her way...her own revolution.  I couldn't help but think about the young people that will be helped by Andi's journey.  Those that will realize that they are not the first and only to feel the way they do.  Being able to follow and relate to a character that is experiencing that kind of pain will be very helpful for many.  Seeing the people around Andi who try to love her, even when she doesn't want them to, is a powerful thing.

Overall, I can't say enough about this book.  I highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys a great historical fiction novel...and to everyone else as well.  There is a reason that it was named to the Best Books of 2010 lists for Amazon.com and School Library Journal.  Revolution is not to be missed!

(Photo from rhapsodyinbooks.wordpress.com)