Spirit Walker

This is a digital trailer for "Spirit Walker" by Nancy Wood. This was my "big project" for the semester.

Hallowilloween: Nefarious Silliness from Calef Brown, by Calef Brown

Title: Hallowilloween: Nefarious Silliness from Calef Brown     Author/Illustrator: Calef Brown

Reading level: Ages 4-8
Hardcover: 40 pages
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Books for Children (September 6, 2010)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0547215401
ISBN-13: 978-0547215402

Synopsis: Welcome to a spooky, silly world of tongue twisters and crazy rhymes all centered around the creatures one might see in a Halloween-themed town. There's the Vumpire to ump the baseball games (but only at night), the Grim Reaper, a werewolf and even a witch or two in Hallowilloween.

Review: Calef Brown's fun, freaky verse is perfectly paired with acrylic illustrations to tickle the funny bone of anyone who loves Halloween. But the book is not only fun for kids; parents who have a broader reading base than their children will enjoy Brown's riffs on classical literature (The Portrait of Gory Rene/The Picture of Dorian Gray) and references to traditional Halloween ghouls and beasties.

Awards/Reviews:

A Junior Library Guild Selection

"A modern master of nonsense verse reaches new heights of giddiness with this Halloween-themed collection. . . . Nefariously silly indeed."-Kirkus Reviews, starred review

"Brown's acrylic illustrations add to the creepy silliness: an artful mix of naive and stylized, whimsical details and vibrant color. Young readers will relish the wordplay and find themselves torn to choose a favorite among this wacky menagerie."- School Library Journal, starred review

Connections:

The teacher should connect his/her computer to the projector and go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6n_b8_jN1l4. Here the teacher can show the class a video of Calef Brown reciting nonsense poetry, then reciting poems from "Hallowilloween." Ask the students how the setting the author chose complimented what he was reading/discussing.

So much of the impact of the poems in "Hallowilloween" comes from Brown's illustrations. Ask the students to pick one poem to illustrate their own way. After the students have finished, ask them to answer some questions. What elements and colors did they choose, and why? How do they think this contributed to the mood of the poetry? How would the poems seem different if Brown used bright, happy colors?

Blue Lipstick: Concrete Poems, by John Grandits

Title: Blue Lipstick: Concrete Poems
Author: John Grandits
Reading level: Young Adult
Paperback: 48 pages
Publisher: Sandpiper (May 21, 2007)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0618851321
ISBN-13: 978-0618851324

Synopsis: Jessie likes blue lipstick, hates her brother (most of the time), doesn't like trophy-zombie jocks or pep rallies, can get a little cranky and loves her kitty. All these things are revealed in John Grandits' funny, sarcastic splice of high school life called "Blue Lipstick: Concrete Poems."

Review: Grandits uses concrete poetry, poetry in which the words have been arranged in such a way as to form images, to both tell and illustrate the story of Jessie, a high school girl who marches to the beat of her own bagpipes (or cello, as the case may be). Grandits' use of letters and words to create images reveal his sly sense of humor and make the reader want to laugh out loud (especially the way he uses the word "bOObs" to illustrate the cheerleaders' "attributes" in the poem "Pep Rally"). Grandits' use of one long line of flowing, bouncing text to illustrate the movement of a volleyball in "Volleyball Practice" is inspired. His use of unconventional text placement really helps the reader see inside the protagonists head and see what she was thinking as she "wrote" it.



Awards/Reviews:

• American Library Association Notable Books for Children
• Nominated for Beehive Children's Poetry Book Award
• Nominated for Dorothy Canfield Fisher Children's Book Award
• Nominated for Garden State Teen Book Award
• Nominated for SCASL Book Award

"This irreverent, witty collection should resonate with a wide audience." -  School Library Journal review

"Grandits playfully, and quite effectively, channels a teenage girl's dreams, anxieties, and pet peeves." - The Horn Book review

Connections:

Prior to meeting with the class, the teacher should transcribe "Bad Hair Day" into a regularly formed free-verse selection. Use the projector ported to a computer to show both forms of the poem side by side. Ask students which one they feel is more powerful. Why? How does the text "illustration" help tell Jessie's story?

Have students think about writing their own concrete poetry. What types of things would they want to write about? What images could they use to correspond with their poem?During the class's next computer group time, have students go to http://www.wild-about-woods.org.uk/elearning/concretepoetry/ and create their own concrete poem to print out and turn in. (Don't forget to remind the students to write their names and class periods on the paper!)

One of Those Hideous Books Where the Mother Dies, by Sonya Sones

Title: One of Those Hideous Books Where the Mother Dies
Author: Sonya Sones
Reading level: Young Adult
Paperback: 272 pages
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing (October 25, 2005)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1416907882
ISBN-13: 978-1416907886

 

Synopsis: Fifteen-year-old Ruby's life has drastically changed. Her mother, the only parent she has ever known, has died of cancer. Now Ruby must leave her life in Boston behind to go live with her movie-star father in Los Angeles. Ruby documents her trials and tribulations in verse, expressing her rage, sarcasm and even humor through poetry.

 

Review: Sonya Sones mostly uses blank verse to tell the story of Ruby, who must leave behind her mother's grave, her friends, her aunt and everything she knew to go live with her famous movie star father - whom she has never met. Her mother and father divorced before Ruby was born. By using verse, Sones allows the reader to look between the linesRuby has written to visualize and feel Ruby's pain and anger. The only time Sones writes in prose is when showing the e-mails Ruby and her friends have exchanged, as well as the e-mails Ruby continues to send her dead mother. By using a free-verse style, Sones gives readers an intimate look into the life (and head) of this very true-to-life teen character.

 

Awards/Reviews:

• winner of the Tennessee Volunteer State Teen Read Award (2006)
• winner of the Iowa Golden Apple Teen Read Award (2006)
• winner of the Rhode Island Teen Book Award (2005 -2006)
• winner of the New Hampshire Isinglass Teen Read Award (2005-2006)
• winner of the South Carolina Mustang Book Award (2005)
• winner of the 2004 Cuffie Award from Publisher’s Weekly for the Best Book Title of the Year
• chosen a Popular Paperback for Young Adults by the American Library Association
• named an International Reading Association Young Adults’ Choice (2006)
• named a 2005 Best Book for Young Adults by the American Library Association
• named a 2005 Quick Pick for Reluctant Young Adult Readers by the American Library Association
• nominated by the American Library Association to be a 2004 Teens’ Top Ten Book
• named an Honor Book by the Society of School Librarians International (2004)
• chosen a Kliatt Editor’s Choice: Best of 2004 Hardcover Fiction
• chosen a Chicago Public Library Best of the Best Teen Book List (2004)
• chosen a New York Pubic Library Book for the Teen Age (2005)
• chosen for the New York State Charlotte Award Suggested Reading List  2006
• chosen a Westchester’s Choice List: Best Young Adult Book (2005)
• chosen for the Texas Tayshas High School Reading List 2005-2006
• chosen a YASIG Best of the Best (Missouri)
• chosen a Kansas State Reading Circle Senior High School Titles Top Pick  2005
• chosen a Pennsylvania School Librarian Association (PSLA) "Top Ten (Or So)" Young Adult Books  2004
• chosen a PSLA Young Adult Top 40 Fiction List 2004
• chosen an Amazon.com Top Ten Editor’s Pick for Teens (2004)
• chosen a Top Ten Summer Read by Girl’s Life Magazine (2004)

          Nominated for the following state book awards:

• Arizona Young Reader's Award (2005 – 2006)
• Florida Teen Reads Award (2006-2007)
• Maine Student Book Award (2005 – 2006)
• Pennsylvania Young Reader's Choice Award (2005 – 2006)
• Missouri Gateway Readers Award (2006-2007)
• Eliot Rosewater High School Book Award (IN) (2006 -2007)
• Garden State Teen Book Award (NJ) (2007)

"Sones’ novel is an unusual combination of over-the-top Hollywood fairy tale and sharp, honest story about overcoming grief…It’s Ruby’s first-person voice—acrimonious, raw, and very funny—that pulls everything together, whether she is writing e-mails to her deceased mother or attending Dream Analysis class at a private L.A. high school…A satisfying, moving novel that will be a winner for both eager and reluctant readers." - Booklist starred review

"Ruby’s affable personality is evident in her humorous quips and clever wordplays. Her depth of character is revealed through her honest admissions, poignant revelations, and sensitive insights. This is not just another one of those gimmicky novels written in poetry. It’s solid and well written, and Sones has a lot to say about the importance of carefully assessing people and situations and about opening the door to one’s own happiness…Ruby’s story is gripping, enjoyable, and memorable." - School Library Journal starred review

"It is true that the mother dies, but this hilarious and painfully real novel in verse and letters is anything but hideous." - VOYA review

 

Connections:

Lead a round-table discussion on the book. Ask students to speculate on why they think Sones wrote the book in verse. How might the novel have been different if it had been written in prose? Would it have been as effective?

During the class's computer group time, have students go to https://penzu.com/ and click on "try it free". Ask to students to imagine they are Ruby and write what would be the next entry in Ruby's diary. The entry must be in free verse and at least 10 lines. Ask students to image what they think happened after the book ended. Ask students to make sure they title the piece and put their names on their entries at the bottom of the page with their class period, then print out their entries.

During the class's next computer group time, have students again go to https://penzu.com/ and click on "try it free". Ask students to write their own free verse diary entry over something that happened to them recently. It can be sad, funny, scary or angry. Stipulate that it must be at least 10 lines. Tell students to make sure their entries have a title. Have students print out their free-verse diary entries with their names and class periods on them and hand them in to you.