We are pleased to announce the winner of a classroom set of THE ART OF THE SWAP by Kristine Asselin and Jen Malone is:
Anne O’Brien Carelli
Congratulations, Anne! The authors will reach out to you to find out where to send the books. Enjoy!
Blog
I’m a fan of stretching out celebrations as long as possible. Give me a birthday present or slice of cake a day, a week, even a month late, and I’ll be as happy as if I received it on time. Happier, really, because what could be better than making surprises and buttercream last and last?
This year, I got away with stretching one of my very favorite celebrations over two full weeks. February 1 was World Read Aloud Day* and I had a very good problem: more requests for Skype visits than could fit into one school day. With the help of wonderful, flexible librarians and teachers, I was able to say yes to almost all of them. Each morning I put on my good sweater and sparkly earrings and chatted with students in Canada, Kentucky, Texas, Massachusetts, Colorado, Connecticut, Georgia, Maryland, New York…When I Skyped with kids in the Bahamas, I showed them a bowl of Ohio snow!
Still, some people wonder, what’s the value of any school visit? For the writer the answer is obvious: spending time with young readers is a jolt of reality. Sitting alone at a desk all day, our audience can grow dim and abstract. No way this can happen in a school, where the walls pulse with kids’ energy and curiosity, concerns and confusions, happiness and vulnerability. One one Skype visit a fifth grader asked me, “Why do you write for kids instead of grown-ups?” and I said, “Because! Kids are the most passionate, invested readers on the planet.” He nodded. Case closed.
What about the value for the students? We writers hope to convince them they all have stories to tell, that each of them has a writing voices as unique and special as his or her speaking voice. We try our best to give them tips, to encourage them by sharing how much revision a “professional writer” does, and to empower them to use their imaginations and create their own worlds.
During almost every visit, in person or by Skype, someone asks me, “Did you always want to be an author?” I used to feel bad about having to admit no, and confess how long it took me to find my way. I would wish I was one of those people who knew, from the age of three, that writing was her reason for breathing.
But as time has gone by, I’ve come to feel okay about saying that I didn’t begin to write seriously until I was three of four times their age. I tell them that, as much as I loved to read when I was young, I was certain all writers lived in castles by the sea, cottages covered in roses, or rooms at the top of crooked staircases. Maybe if I’d met a writer when I was your age, I say now–maybe if I’d sat down and eaten pizza with one, or watched one hold her plump orange cat up in front of the camera, or listened to one talk about how many times she heard no before finally hearing that magic yes–maybe if I’d ever realized that writers were plain old everyday people, I wouldn’t have taken so long to make the discovery that I could be one too. And then I tell them how lucky they are, to have such a big head start on me.
*Here’s WRAD’s mission statement. You can find out more at
http://www.litworld.org/wrad/
We think everyone in the world should get to read and write. Every year, on World Read Aloud Day, people all around the globe read aloud together and share stories to advocate for literacy as a human right that belongs to all people.
*****
Tricia’s newest middle grade novel, Cody and the Heart of a Champion, will publish in April.
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I recently caught up with two former students to talk about – of course – reading! One is at a new school, and I still see the other around campus and in the library, though I’m not regularly in the classroom these days.
I heard from their mothers ( both book people, so of course we’re in touch) that Kenzie and Hannah keep reading records for themselves, and I was very curious to see how – or if – they continued on where their library class with me left off some years ago.
I kept a wall behind my desk depicting my own reading life: covers showing books i’d read and those I planned to read. In addition, a couple of my classes chose to track their reading lives on another wall of the library.I love that this particular wall grew out of these readers’ desires to follow their own lives as readers.
In our recent conversations, I started out by asking the girls why they keep track of their reading. Kenzie uses her list/page count system to prove a point to others and to show that she really is as well read as she says she is, and to see how far she has come as a reader. She also uses a list of books she’s read to keep track of where she’s been. I can relate to that. I remember where I was when I dug through Bronte’s Villanelle on summer in high school, and I opened Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows in the security line at Gatwick Airport. Kenzie also pointed out that she likes bonding with new friends over books they both love.
Hannah uses a journal to remember what a book was about, and to set and keep reading goals. She also finds that she can also track her taste in books.
I asked next how the readers keep track of their reading. Kenzie carries two lists. One is of books to acquire/to read. A book goes on this list when it’s recommended or when she decides to read it. It gets crossed out when it gets added to her (physical) bookshelf. A book goes onto the second list when she starts reading it, along with its page count. When she’s completed it, she marks it off.
Hannah makes lists of books she wants to read while she browses the library shelves, then adds them to her journal when she starts reading, with synopses, notes, and a rating system. I asked some other students about keeping track of their reading. Many of them simply try to remember what they read, except for those who are currently using their Humanities teacher’s Reading Bingo to track their reading.
I keep an occasional journal as well, noting books that inspire me in some way. Otherwise, I keep track using Goodreads and my library wishlist. If not for these tools, I would be lost.
Inspired by this conversation, I also asked my colleagues how they track their reading. They use phone notes apps, Amazon and library wishlists, and Goodreads (many are actually on Goodreads but only a few use it, and those are mostly readers who are members of book clubs).
I asked Kenzie and Hannah how they choose their next read. Kenzie chooses a book from a genre she’s interested in, then explores titles in that genre. A read-alike in that genre inspires her next read. Sometimes she needs a break from a certain type of book, though, like murder mysteries or books with heavier themes.
Hannah finds her next read by using eeny meeny miney mo, from 3-4 books she chooses from the shelves by turning a few pages, according to her mood, and referring to her list.
Asked how they read, Hannah reads all in print, and Kenzie reads in print or on her phone if she’s out and about. Hannah has expressed that she is not at all an audio book lover (it is my main way to consume books these days, to be honest).
Finally I asked the girls what they’re reading now.
Favorite Genre:
Hannah: Realistic fiction and historical fiction – she feels that she learns more from them.
Kenzie: Mystery
One unforgettable book:
Kenzie: Under the Egg
Hannah: All the Light We Cannot See
A book to recommend to a parent:
Hannah: The Rhyme Schemer
Kenzie: Everything she thinks is good
Here we are with a few of our favorite books.
It was a blast to ask these questions of students I’ve watched grow from early readers through their middle grade years. It is especially rewarding to celebrate the readers we all are today.
Do you keep personal reading records? Why and how?
