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Second-person Point of View

By on December 7, 2015   /   Book Lists  

You’re reading a book. You’re minding your own business. But you don’t see it coming, until . . .

WHAM!

Second-person point of view smacks you upside the head and you realize you are in the story!

1st-person Point of View:

In middle-grade, tons of authors use first-person POV. A character in the story acts as the narrator, telling about his or her own experiences.

I learned something on the first day of fifth grade—never mess with a girl who can break 1-inch boards with her elbow.

3rd-person Point of View:

Third-person POV is also popular, using an outside narrator to tell what happens to the characters.

Kaylie knew it was going be a rough day when she woke up with a chicken standing on her forehead. And she knew it was going to be a really rough day once the chicken started pecking.

2nd-person Point of View:

So . . . how about second-person POV, where the author acts like the reader is a part of the action? Well, there’s not much out there.

When you ran away, the toughest thing about using a bus was all the waiting.

Second-person POV got stuck in my head recently (a scary place to be!) because I was reading Rebecca Stead’s Goodbye Stranger. From chapter to chapter, Stead used alternating viewpoints throughout the novel, with one of the viewpoints written entirely in second-person. I found the POV to be both surprising and refreshing!

Goodbye Stranger

And, of course, this got me thinking: What other middle-grade books are written in second-person point of view?

Choose Your Own Adventure

As this question percolated, my first thought was a blast from my childhood past—the Choose Your Own Adventure series.

Then I thought of an ongoing nonfiction series that I’ve found many middle-grade students really enjoy—the You Wouldn’t Want to . . . series.

You Wouldn't Want To-1 You Wouldn't Want To-2

And then . . .

Nothing.

That was it.

One middle-grade novel, a nonfiction series, and then a fiction series first published when I was still in elementary school. (And let me tell you—that whole in-elementary-school thing was a few decades ago.)

Now I’ll admit—there are plenty of middle-grade books that occasionally address the reader directly (such as Okay for Now by Gary Schmidt). There just aren’t many that fully immerse the reader in that viewpoint. So . . .

Know of any other middle-grade books where the author uses second-person POV to put you into the story? If so, you can post in the comments below.

T. P. Jagger The 3-Minute Writing TeacherAlong with his MUF posts, T. P. Jagger can be found at www.tpjagger.com, where he provides brief how-to writing-tip videos as The 3-Minute Writing Teacher plus original, free readers’ theater scripts for middle-grade teachers. He also has even more readers’ theater scripts available at Readers’ Theater Fast and Funny Fluency. For T. P.’s 10-lesson, video-based creative writing course, check him out on Curious.com.

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A Reason to Read

By on December 4, 2015   /   Book Lists, Fiction, For Kids, For Librarians, For Parents, For Teachers, For Writers, MUF Contributor Books, Nonfiction  
Obie

My daughter and her horse, Obie.

It’s often said if you want to befriend a horse, you earn its trust by standing still, then turning and walking away. The hope is that the horse will follow.  When my oldest daughter had no desire to read, I was at a loss-what books would entice her to follow me down the literary path? She loved hearing me read aloud, but bucked when it came to reading for school or on her own.

Then my family’s horse genes kicked in, with all four hooves. My grandpa on my dad’s side had worked on a ranch, and my maternal grandpa had raised ponies. I’d grown up in the saddle and obsessed over all things equine as a girl. So of course I was delighted when my daughter’s tween years became “the barn years.”

HorseClassics

Hoping this new-found passion would lasso her into reading, I offered her my favorite horse books. And even though it was hard as a homeschooling mom, for an entire year I left my daughter alone-no book reports, no quizzes, no pressure. Just a girl and her horse books. She began to devour them and beg for more. I signed her up for monthly book clubs, and she galloped through the pages. Recently, she was helping her younger sister pack before her wedding, and my daughter grabbed up her horse books and hugged them. “I’m taking these home,” she declared, and I couldn’t help but smile remembering the little girl who had once hated to read. (Two of my favorite books that aren’t pictured above are National Velvet by Enid Bagnold and Misty of Chicoteague by Marguerite Henry.)

HorseSeries

Now my daughter’s dream  job (besides being a professional barrel racer) is to become a librarian. On average, she says she reads five novels a week.

I’m convinced that the way to get a child to befriend books is simply by finding the right hook, whether that be sports, humor, or horses.

For more great horses and reading posts, check out this MUF post by Jen K. Blom and this MUF post by Jaye Robin Brown.

What are your favorite horse books? What books were the “hook” for you or your reluctant reader?

stacks_image_46Louise Galveston is the author of BY THE GRACE OF TODD and IN TODD WE TRUST (Penguin/Razorbill). She grew up on horseback in Oklahoma. This is not one of her more sensible moments.

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December New Releases!

By on December 2, 2015   /   Book Lists, Fiction, For Kids, For Librarians, For Parents, For Teachers, Nonfiction  

happyholidays-300x263Happy Holidays Everyone!  We hope that this season finds you filled with cheer, enthusiasm and excitement for the new year that will be shortly upon us. What a better time than to give the gift of reading?

 

Buy BOOKS for your loved ones, teachers, and friends it is the one gift that can take you to far-off places, introduce you to strange and wondeful characters, and let you explore something you’ve never seen before, all from the comfort of your very own home.
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Here’s a few brand new titles to add to your shoppping list:

I Funny TV: A Middle School Story  by James Patterson & Chris Grabenstein

51Nm0BSlnHL._SX350_BO1,204,203,200_Jamie Grimm has hit the big time in book four of the #1 bestselling I Funny series!

Jamie Grimm has finally accomplished his dream of proving himself the Planet’s Funniest Kid Comic, and the sky’s the limit from there. Enter a couple of TV executives with a huge plan for Jamie: a new show about Jamie and his oddball friends! But when Jamie struggles to learn the acting ropes, will it be an early curtain call for the biggest show of the decade?

 

 

Broken Ground (Spirit Animals: Fall of the Beasts, Book 2) by Victoria Schwab

Something ancient and evil has awoken from beneath the world of Erdas. Shrouded in shadow and older than memory, just a sliver of its power can destroy with a touch. Even the spirit animal bond, the sacred link between humans and animals that keeps Erdas in balance, is under threat.

Four young heroes, Conor, Abeke, Meilin, and Rollan, are determined to stop it. Together with their spirit animals, they embark on a desperate journey that takes them deep underground and to the far corners of the world. As friends and allies fall around them, the four have no choice but to push forward and confront this darkness. If they stop to look back, they’ll see the truth: Evil already has them surrounded.

 

 

Rise of the Titans (Pegasus) by Kate O’Hearn

In order to save Olympus, Emily and her winged horse, Pegasus, venture to Hawaii—and a Hawaiian volcano—in this fifth book of an exciting series that puts a modern thrill into ancient mythology.

The ancient rivalry between the Olympians and the Titans has been rekindled. However, this time the Titans have a secret weapon—a weapon that rivals the Flame of Olympus. The balance of power is tipped in Saturn’s favor now that he has found his own Flame of Titus. Olympus is almost in his grasp! And just when the Olympians need Emily most, she finds her own grip on the flame weakening.


Who Was Michael Jackson? by Megan Stine

Born in Gary, Indiana, on August 29, 1958, Michael Jackson was definitely not a regular kid. A superstar with The Jackson 5 before he was eight years old, he became the King of Pop as a solo artist. Michael was a creative–yet deeply troubled–genius who always remained devoted to his art right up until his death is 2009 before a much anticipated tour. He had a pitch-perfect voice and footwork that his idol Fred Astaire admired. Who will ever forget the Moonwalk? Kids today who only know Jackson through video performances are nevertheless fascinated by him. Megan Stine provides a sensitive, fair-minded depiction of this unique music legend.


 

Long Road to Freedom (Ranger in Time #3) by Kate Messner

Ranger is a time-traveling golden retriever with search-and-rescue training. In this adventure, he goes to a Maryland plantation during the days of American slavery, where he meets a young girl named Sarah. When she learns that the owner has plans to sell her little brother, Jesse, to a plantation in the Deep South, it means they could be separated forever. Sarah takes their future into her own hands and decides there’s only one way to run — north.

 

 

The Stone Warriors (TombQuest, Book 4) by Michael Northrop

The adventure continues in book 4!

Alex and Ren’s hunt for the Lost Spells takes them on a twisty and magial path, through false doors, and deep into underground tombs where they discover that The Order is planning something bigger than they’d ever anticipated . . .

In the tradition of The 39 Clues and Spirit Animals, the TombQuest adventure continues online, with an epic game! Build an Egyptian tomb of your own, hide treasure and protect it with traps, then challenge your friends to play through!


Story Thieves by James Riley

Life is boring when you live in the real world, instead of starring in your own book series. Owen knows that better than anyone, what with the real world’s homework and chores.

But everything changes the day Owen sees the impossible happen—his classmate Bethany climb out of a book in the library. It turns out Bethany’s half-fictional and has been searching every book she can find for her missing father, a fictional character.

Bethany can’t let anyone else learn her secret, so Owen makes her a deal: All she has to do is take him into a book in Owen’s favorite Kiel Gnomenfoot series, and he’ll never say a word. Besides, visiting the book might help Bethany find her father……Or it might just destroy the Kiel Gnomenfoot series, reveal Bethany’s secret to the entire world, and force Owen to live out Kiel Gnomenfoot’s final (very final) adventure.


Lincoln’s Grave Robbers by Steve Sheinkin

The action begins in October of 1875, as Secret Service agents raid the Fulton, Illinois, workshop of master counterfeiter Ben Boyd. Soon after Boyd is hauled off to prison, members of his counterfeiting ring gather in the back room of a smoky Chicago saloon to discuss how to spring their ringleader. Their plan: grab Lincoln’s body from its Springfield tomb, stash it in the sand dunes near Lake Michigan, and demand, as a ransom, the release of Ben Boyd –and $200,000 in cash. From here, the action alternates between the conspirators, the Secret Service agents on their trail, and the undercover agent moving back and forth between the two groups. Along the way readers get glimpses into the inner workings of counterfeiting, grave robbing, detective work, and the early days of the Secret Service. The plot moves toward a wild climax as robbers and lawmen converge at Lincoln’s tomb on election night: November 7, 1876.

 

 

Women Who Changed the World: 50 Amazing Americans by Laurie Calkhoven

In Women Who Changed the World, you’ll meet fifty of the most influential and inspirational American women who had a lasting impact on our nation and the world. Starting with some of America’s “Founding Mothers” like Pocahontas and Abigail Adams, and continuing up to the present day with game changers like Hillary Clinton, Oprah, and Misty Copeland, the book features a unique and diverse cast from all walks of life. With a mix of photographs and quirky illustrations, Women Who Changed the World is a fun and exciting read that will inspire future generations of leaders for years to come!


Enjoy the holidays everyone! Be sure to  take some time to relax and lose yourself in a book!

 

 

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