Unleashing Readers

“Fostering Empathy Through Literature”

Most kids are, by their nature, self-centered. This is developmentally appropriate: after all, they’re learning who they are and building up their self-esteem. Children should be focused on themselves. Think of babies, who will happily ruin a wedding or concert by screaming simply because they’re hungry or uncomfortable. Their entire world is their needs and desires.

We do not, however, want kids to stay that way. A large part of growing into an adult is recognizing that there’s an entire world that exists outside of yourself, and that your viewpoint is not the be-all-end-all of a given situation.

That said, teaching empathy is one of the most difficult tasks of a parent, teacher, or caregiver. But luckily, one of the easiest tools at our disposal is a robust reading list.

In my latest novel, Take It from the Top, kids are able to see the exact same events from two different perspectives. Eowyn, who comes from a one-parent household filled with both grief and financial resources, experiences things very differently than Jules, who comes from a family that’s short on cash but rich in affection and affirmation. These two have done what children are so good at doing: looking past differences in order to create a friendship based on love, joy, and common interests. But, at the ripe age of thirteen, as they transition from being children to being young adults, those differences are feeling starker and heavier.

How do books like Take It from the Top help form empathy in kids?

• Books give kids a safe space to discuss complicated topics. Within stories, kids are able to ask questions that might otherwise feel awkward. They can see the missteps of certain characters—like how Jules struggles to understand Eowyn’s grief, or how Eowyn misinterprets Jules’s envy—and learn from them without making them on their own. So many topics these days are heated and we require perfection in conversations. But kids are imperfect, just like us! They need time and space to learn about issues and form their opinions.
• Books help kids see themselves. Take It from the Top takes place at a summer camp for musical theater. Will most kids go to a summer camp for musical theater? No. But that doesn’t mean they won’t be in positions where they’re competing with friends, or feeling left out of friend groups, or being disappointed by their own lack of skills in any given department. They can identify problems within books, helping to illuminate these problems in their own lives. By understanding themselves better, they can better regulate their emotional responses.
• Books help kids explore perspectives they’re unfamiliar with. Kids are laser-focused on their own lives because at their young age, that’s all they’ve really known. Depending on their circumstances, they may be surrounded by a wide diversity of thoughts and experiences, but they may not be. Books allow kids to experience things from different points of view and understand what it’s like for kids that are radically different from themselves.
• Books fill kids’ hearts with hope. Lastly, any good middle grade book should point kids towards hope. That doesn’t always mean a happy ending—it’s not a spoiler alert to say that Jules doesn’t win the lottery at the end of Take It from the Top, and Eowyn’s mom doesn’t suddenly come back to life. Grief and hardship are real, and kids know that. But what they need to be reminded of is that they can handle grief and hardship. They can be equipped with virtue and courage so that these difficulties become manageable burdens, not all-consuming difficulties. It’s impossible to have empathy without hope for connection.

By reading and discussing books like Take It from the Top, kids can grow in empathy and begin the complicated process of moving from me to we.

Published November 19th, 2024 by Quill Tree Books

About the Book: Set at a camp over the course of six summers, this novel dives into the falling-out of two girls from different backgrounds who thought they’d be friends forever. Claire Swinarski, Edgar Award nominee of the ALA Notable What Happened to Rachel Riley?, tackles privilege, perspective, and the power of friendship in this page-turning puzzle that readers will devour.

Eowyn Becker has waited all year to attend her sixth summer at Lamplighter Lake Summer Camp. Here, she’s not in the shadow of her Broadway-star older brother; she’s a stellar performer in her own right. Here, the pain of her mom’s death can’t reach her, and she gets to reunite with her best friend, Jules Marrigan—the only person in the world who understands her.

But when she gets to camp, everything seems wrong. The best-friend reunion Eowyn had been dreaming of doesn’t go as planned. Jules will barely even look at Eowyn, let alone talk to her, and Eowyn has no idea why.

Well, maybe she does…

There are two sides to every story, and if you want to understand this one, you’ll need to hear both. Told in a series of alternating chapters that dip back to past summers, the girls’ story will soon reveal how Eowyn and Jules went from being best friends to fierce foils. Can they mend ways before the curtains close on what was supposed to be the best summer of their lives?

About the Author: Claire Swinarski is the author of multiple books for both kids and adults. Her writing has been featured in the Washington Post, Seventeen, Milwaukee magazine, and many other publications. She lives in small-town Wisconsin with her husband and three kids, where she writes books, wears babies, and wrangles bread dough.

Thank you, Claire, for supporting our belief that books are the key to empathy!

“Heroes: One Size Does Not Fit”

All It’s been said that there are no new ideas in literature, just new takes on existing ones. Some of our most beloved stories borrow heavily from their predecessors. For example, long before Harry Potter there was “The Sword In the Stone,” which tells the story of Britain’s King Arthur from boyhood and which Rowling cites as one of her influences.

Similarly, the Hero’s Journey is one of the oldest ideas in fiction, regardless of medium. From Homer’s Odyssey to the Hunger Games, it’s a story structure that’s been around almost as long as stories themselves. Dante’s Inferno. To Kill A Mockingbird. The Hobbit. Even Miles Morales: Across the Spider-Verse. All make use of the hero’s journey.

 But what makes a hero? All too often in popular media, the hero is big, tough, infallible, and would never even entertain the thought of not meeting the moment; like most summer blockbuster action heroes, for example. But these larger-than-life types have a way of sucking all the air out of the balloon, leaving no room for growth or change.

Thankfully, that isn’t the only type of hero. Some are less tough, less sure of themselves, less obvious. Often, these characters want nothing to do with this hero stuff in the first place. That’s what makes them so much fun!

When I set out to write The Accidental Warriors, I knew heroism would be at the center of the story overall and also at the heart of the route traveled by Jalen, the main character. At the outset, he’s brash and confident to a fault. In fact, early on you could say he’s more like the first type of hero. That, however, is a front he uses to camouflage some serious insecurities.

As Jalen makes his physical journey — trying to find his way back to his familiar home from a magical, mysterious land he reaches by way of a portal — his internal journey forces him to confront his fears and doubts, of which there are many. And despite the story’s title, Jalen’s ultimate heroism results from him using his wits more so than in ways typically associated with a warrior.

Jalen isn’t the only hero in The Accidental Warriors. Heroism, in all of its forms, is on display throughout the story. Ram, Jalen’s best friend who is Autistic, shows courage in the face of danger and won’t let Jalen retreat from his destiny. The kids in village show heroism beyond their years in standing up to the local nemesis.

We love heroes because they give us someone to cheer for, but a hero without a journey can easily become a character with little dimension, and therefore easily forgettable. However, a hero on a journey speaks to the growth and self-discovery that we experience ourselves and becomes the kind of character that can live in a reader’s mind for a lifetime.

Exercise 1 The Hero’s Journey consists of twelve steps. Have students identify steps of The Hero’s Journey evident in The Accidental Warriors. (For example, Jalen’s call to adventure comes when his karate instructor’s daughter is kidnapped by a monster who escapes through a portal. It is at the insistence of his instructor that Jalen pursues, albeit reluctantly. He initially refuses the call, another of the 12 steps, choosing to focus on finding his way back home.)

Exercise 2 How many heroes are there in The Accidental Warriors? Is Jalen a hero? What about Ram? The villagers? Cyrus? The ancient magicians? If yes, explain what makes each of these characters heroic. If no, what could they do to show heroism?

Bonus Exercise While not necessarily a hero in The Accidental Warriors, what are some ways in which Jalen’s father could turn out to be a hero?

Published October 12th, 2022

About the Book: Jalen Banneker has a confidence problem … as in, too much of it. But what no one knows is that it’s all an act, hiding years of self-doubt.

But when an evil monster kidnaps his friend, Jalen must overcome his fears as he travels to a mystical world where he’ll have to defeat the monster, break an ancient curse, save his friend and find his way back home in time for dinner.

With an engaging story and vivid illustrations, this book will have readers ages 7-10 turning the pages right up until the end. The Virginia Library Association said “these fun and exciting reads that have a good mix of characters are the kinds of novels we need more of,” while BookLife Reviews says it’s filled with “lightning-paced transitions and supercharged magic!”

About the Author: Karl Fields is an army brat who spent much of his youth in places like Germany, Spain, and Okinawa. Away from American television and no such thing yet as social media, he developed a love for reading that continues to this day and that also led to his desire to be a storyteller himself. He has written several books for children and adults, including the Kate Albertson mystery series. He currently resides in Los Angeles, California. The Accidental Warriors is his first graphic novel. Find him online at www.facebook.com/karlfieldsbooks and @writerkarl on Blue Sky.

Thank you, Karl, for this insight into your transformation of the hero’s journey for The Accidental Warriors!