Guest post

“The Complexity of the Teenage Experience”

About a dozen years ago, I brought the writer Tom Perrotta to the school where I teach. Tom’s novel Little Children had just been published to much acclaim so, in addition to assigning the work to my eleventh graders, I offered to lead a book group with parents. Since I work at an independent school, I’m fortunate enough to have the freedom of teaching contemporary literature in addition to inviting authors to visit my classes. Some fairly controversial works have entered my syllabus, but I was very surprised at some of the parents’ reaction to Little Children. They were agitated by the extramarital affairs in the novel and questioned whether the book should be read by their own (not so little) children. I realized that since this novel was set in a community not unlike ours, it hit a bit too close to home. I asked Tom to address the parents, and he offered them the story of his own reading life and how, by tackling challenging fiction, he was able to develop a relationship with his own mind. He didn’t defensively argue that most internet-fluid teenagers had access to far racier material. Instead, he highlighted the benefits of thoughtful art to young minds.

As a teacher and a writer, I think often of Tom’s talk. We are in such a fearful and reactionary time that I worry that complex and challenging reading can be easily reduced to trigger warnings or quotes pulled out of context. Many people don’t give the young mind the benefit of the doubt and allow apprentice readers to decide if a book is right for them. In my twenty-five years of teaching, I’ve never seen a book do any harm. In fact, I’ve noticed how literature has ignited teenagers or connected to a voice deep inside a boy or girl. Every year, I teach Junot Diaz’s The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, and I usually get one or two parent complaints. I offer to meet with the parent to discuss Diaz’s novel and the possibility of assigning a different text only after the parent has finished reading Oscar Wao in its entirety. In the nine or so years I’ve been teaching Oscar, I have yet to have one of those meetings.

I’ve been thinking about this topic a lot since I wrote NICKEL. I really wanted to capture the truth around the characters of Coy and Monroe and not worry about trigger warnings or censorship. I have spent thousands of hours around teenagers and read tens of thousands of pages of their work, and I didn’t want to simplify or diminish the complexity in the teenage experience. Not all of the thoughts, words, and actions of any individual are safe, harmless, or politically correct. We need to look at the whole of any book the same way we look at the whole child. Anything less would be detrimental to their identity and our own understanding of the world.

About the Book: A STORY ABOUT LOVE, LOSS, AND LOYALTY. Being a teenager is hard enough without your mother in rehab and your slightly inept stepfather doing his best not to screw things up. But at least, Coy has Monroe. Coy is a quirky teenage boy and his best friend Monroe is a girl who is just as odd and funny and obsessed with 80’s culture as he is. So when Monroe comes down with a mysterious illness, his inner turmoil only grows. As Monroe gets sicker and Coy gets a girlfriend from another social crowd, the balance tips and Coy has to figure out how not to give up on his friend, his family, or himself. Nickel is a hilarious, heartbreaking and honest portrayal of the complicated world of being a teenager today.

About the Author: Robert Wilder is the author of two critically acclaimed essay collections, Tales From The Teachers’ Lounge andDaddy Needs A Drink, both published by Delacorte Press. His young adult novel, Nickel, was published by Leaf Storm Press in 2016.

A teacher for twenty-five years, Wilder has earned numerous awards and fellowships, including the inaugural Innovations in Reading Prize by the National Book Foundation. He has published essays in Newsweek, Details, Salon, Parenting, Creative Nonfiction, plus numerous anthologies and has been a commentator for NPR’s Morning Edition. Wilder lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Website. www.robertwilder.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RobertTWilder/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/RobertTWilder
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/robert.t.wilder/

Thank you Robert for this post on respecting the teenagers in our life!

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“How a Novel Can Save Our World”

I was scrolling through my newsfeed recently and caught an article about gymnast Gabby Douglas. She’s a beautiful example to so many young women in our world—at twenty-years-old, she’s barely out of her teens, yet she’s an Olympic hero. Which means she’s in the limelight. This is a cause for celebration, but it’s also a moment to take cover, because people facing that much publicity will oftentimes also be hit with a wave of judgment and scrutiny. I won’t even get into the comments I’ve read about her physical appearance, how so many people have suggested that she change aspects of her beautiful self. That part is so crazy, I suppose I shouldn’t have been surprised to see the haters getting worked up over Gabby’s stance on the podium as she stood with her teammates to accept the gold medal in the 2016 all-around competition. But I was surprised. Shocked, even. All of this makes me wonder who we have become as a society, why so many of us are so quick to judge.

Gabby might not have been smiling through every moment of the National Anthem, and she may not have stood at attention with her hand on her heart for the duration, but that young lady deserves respect and honor during one of the greatest moments of her lifetime. None of us—not one—know what was going on in her mind as she stood up on that podium. She was probably exhausted. She was likely overwhelmed. She may have been thinking of someone she’d lost, wishing they were there to see her shine. Her mind was probably in a million different places as she stood alongside her teammates. And none of us will ever understand. We are walking our own individual paths, different from that of Gabby Douglas, and we all need to show some compassion, some loving kindness, and give it a rest.

This is a motto that I’ve tried to live by for years now. I’m human, after all. I judge, too. At times, it’s a gut-level reaction. If I like something, I label it good. If I don’t, it’s bad. The thing about this, though, is that most of us don’t like things that we fear. And we often fear things simply because we don’t fully understand them. This can cause unrest and friction where peace and harmony might exist if only there were a more mindful approach. If those haters in the Twittersphere had calmed their itchy fingers long enough to think—really think—about what it might feel like for Gabby Douglas to stand up on that podium, to consider her youth as well as all that she had gone through to get to that moment, they might have experienced the appropriate reverence and awe.

This line of thinking helped drive the plotline and character development in my latest novel, A Million Times Goodnight. I wanted to showcase a character who was the target of hatred within his community, a character who had been shunned for something only he truly understands, someone who would push my main character to her limits and cause her to look at the world from a whole new perspective.

Hadley Miller’s best friend Penny was killed in a tragic accident just one year ago. On the anniversary of Penny’s death, Hadley goes to The Witches’ Tower to visit Penny’s memorial, and she runs into Josh Lane. Josh is an outcast, shunned by all for his role in Penny’s death. He was the only one present the night she died, which means he’s the only who really knows what happened. Yet everyone blames him. It’s the easiest choice, after all, a nice, tidy ending to a horrific event. Except that nothing’s ever that easy. Josh has secrets. And the story of Penny’s death has more layers than anyone could possibly imagine. As the book progresses, Hadley is forced to learn the true story, as well as face the emotions that arise when she realizes the part she played in the rejection Josh has faced since that fateful night.

So many books offer this type of twist, one in which a reader believes they understand a character, but soon learn they had only been scratching the surface, that there are hidden truths that explain and motivate everything a character thinks, says, and does—the good, the bad, and the ugly.

I think of Hannah Baker in Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher, Kirby Matheson in Violent Ends by Shaun David Hutchinson (and a whole slew of other YA authors), Melinda Sordino in Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson, Margo Roth Spiegelman in Paper Towns by John Green, Auggie Pullman in Wonder by RJ Palacio, and so many others.

This is true in life as well. We only know a person as well as they allow us to know them. And then, we only know them through our own lens, using the one-of-a-kind perspective that we bring to the table based on the collective experiences we, as individuals, have amassed over the course of our lifetime. Something that I label as good could very well be viewed as bad in the eyes of many others. It’s this universal truth that so many of us forget as we walk through our days, interacting with others. Very few things are completely black or white, good or bad, right or wrong.

If it were possible for everyone’s life story to be known and understood in the flash of time that it takes for two people to lock eyes, there wouldn’t be so much hatred in the world. If we really took the time to know one another, we might just understand the things we fear, and then we might offer a compassionate hug instead of barbed words.

As teachers, we prepare many lessons. If we can add just one more—a life lesson about humanity—it would be amazingly powerful. It’s kinda sweet to think that this can be accomplished through the use of books. This won’t require slaving over a new unit, I promise. As you introduce your next class read, simply ask your students to keep track of the judgment they feel for each character. Then ask them to note how those judgments change as they move through the beginning, middle, and end of the book. How did those judgments change as they uncovered the truth of who those characters really are, deep down. Focus a discussion on what motivated the shift in perspective, and how this can be applied to the people who surround them in their every day lives. Through the analysis of a novel, using a fictional character to exemplify the layers that every human is made of, you might just help save a life, a community, or possibly, our world.

About the Book: A teen Sliding Doors. One choice creates parallel dual narratives in this romantic contemporary mystery-thriller perfect for fans of Just Like Fate and Pivot Point.

One Night. Two Paths. Infinite Danger.

On the night of the big Spring Break party, Hadley “borrows” her boyfriend Ben’s car without telling him. As payback, he posts a naked picture of her online for the entire senior class to see.

Now Hadley has a choice: go back to the party and force Ben to delete the picture or raise the stakes and take his beloved car on a road trip as far away from their hometown of Oak Grove, Ohio, as she can get.

Chapters alternate to reveal each possible future as Hadley, her ex-boyfriend, Josh, and her best friends embark on a night of reckless adventure where old feelings are rekindled, friendships are tested, and secrets are uncovered that are so much worse than a scandalous photo.

About the Author: Kristina McBride has published three novels for young adults – The Tension of Opposites, One Moment, and A Million Times Goodnight.  Her fourth novel, The Bakersville Dozen, will be released July 2017. Kristina is a former high school English teacher and yearbook advisor, as well as an adjunct professor at Antioch University Midwest and Wright State University. Kristina has a thing for music, trees, purses, and chocolate. You might be surprised to learn that Kristina was almost kidnapped when she was a child. She also bookstalks people on a regular basis. Kristina lives in Ohio with her husband and two young children. You can learn more at www.kristinamcbride.com.

Thank you to Kristina for this very thought-provoking and important post!

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**Thank you to Cheryl at Skyhorse Publishing for setting up the guest post!**

“Stepping Back Into History: From 9/11 to the Cuban Crisis in the Second World War”

Today is the fifteenth anniversary of September 11, one of the most horrific days in the history of the United States.

Where were YOU that morning?

What were YOU doing when the planes hit the towers? Or the Pentagon? Or that field in Pennsylvania?

Those of us who can answer those questions likely do so with a catch in our throats and a twist in our guts. It’s hard to view events of intense personal significance as “history”, but that’s exactly what they are for our young learners.

History.

Middle grade students are too young to have direct memories of this day as a lived experience, and yet it shaped the world in which they live.

Donalyn Miller wrote a sensitive and insightful post about using picture books, novels, and nonfiction titles to provide young readers with visceral experiences that can make history come alive and lend some context to their current reality. If you missed her post on Nerdy Book Club on August 21, take the time to read it, please.

Link: https://nerdybookclub.wordpress.com/2016/08/21/its-a-wide-world-by-donalyn-miller/

Nonfiction and academic texts convey facts, but picture books and historical novels can serve as portals to the past, time machines that allow young people to step into a virtual/personal experience of events beyond their lives.

Established readers respond eagerly when picture books are read aloud, and the right book can provide an intense shared experience to launch further readings, even with difficult topics. Then literature groups can choose from a range of well-written historical novels, providing young learners with a deeper and wider world-view.

Such visceral engagement through books can transform history from dry facts into recognition of ourselves in other people’s lives and loves and longings. As Ricki noted in her August 11 review of The Memory of Things, by Gae Polisner, these are books “about being human.”

Books offer similar connection and impact even when the past is more distant. Events from history move beyond campaign rants or score-keeping video games when books create a virtually-lived memory.

During the current political campaign the phrase “finger on the button” as been used in discussing both presidential candidates’ suitability for office. Reading Gayle Rosengren’s Cold War on Maplewood Street allows readers to experience the minute-to-minute-terrifying threat of an all out nuclear war through the eyes of a young girl and her family. Today’s uncertainties may center on potential terrorist threats, but the internal processing of those equally real anxieties surrounding the Cuban Missile Crisis are similar.

Picture books work well to introduce an even more distant era, World War II. The nonfiction picture book Irena’s Jar of Secrets written by Marcia Vaughan and illustrated by Ron Mazellan, depicts a remarkable woman, Irena Sendler. At only 29 years old she took daring risks in Polish ghettos, saving nearly 2,500 Jewish children from death camps and eventually reuniting them with surviving relatives after the war’s end.

One Thousand Tracings: Healing the Wounds of World War II, written and illustrated by Lita Judge, is a post-war story based on real events. It depicts a young American girl whose family worked to provide shoes for survivors and displaced persons in Europe when millions were facing destitute conditions. This might well spark projects by readers aimed at assisting modern refugees and displaced persons through a school-based project of some kind.

Novel study groups have many quality options but should certainly include Lois Lowry’s remarkable Number the Stars for those who have not yet read it. Its success has allowed obscure facts about brave Danes helping thousands of Jews escape to neutral Sweden to become more widely known.

The stories of the German occupation of Norway, despite its claim of neutrality, are even less well known. Snow Treasure, by Marie McSwigan, has remained in print since it released in 1942 and continues to be a popular read-aloud. Brave resistance and survival during those oppressive years in Norway are portrayed in Mary Cassanova’s The Klipfish Code and Margi Preuss’s Shadow on the Mountain.

After writing Odin’s Promise (2014), which is set in Norway during the first year of the long German occupation, I began hearing from readers who all but demanded a sequel to learn what happened to Mari and her family during the ensuing years until the war ended.

That’s exactly what historical fiction is meant to accomplish. Readers far removed from that time and place became invested in the history and the fictional characters. Even though it was written as a stand alone title, I had no choice but to dive back into research, interview people who had lived through those times, and explore what would be in store for Mari, her family, and her village. Their journey spanned four more years, so their stories became a trilogy.

And now book two, Bjorn’s Gift will release on October 5. In the second and third year of the occupation Mari confronts greater challenges and threats, many from escalating war but some from her own internal struggles. She faces timeless questions about why friends change, who can be trusted, and how to make choices when right and wrong no longer feel as clear cut as they have been in the past.

Whether it comes to recent events or ancient history, picture books and novel studies invite us to walk through open doorways to the past, allowing readers to view their own questions and experiences through the eyes of other times, places, and points of view. They remind us, as Ricki said, that we’re all human.

Cold War on Maplewood Street by Gayle Rosengren

Irena’s Jar of Secrets by Marcia Vaughan

One Thousand Tracings by Lita Judge

Number the Stars by Lois Lowry

The Klipfish Code by Mary Casanova

Shadow on the Mountain by Margi Preuss

Snow Treasure by Marie McSwigan

Odin’s Promise by Sandy Brehl

Bjorn’s Gift by Sandy Brehl

 

About the Author: Sandy Brehl is a retired educator and active member of SCBWI (Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators). When she’s not reading and writing, she enjoys gardening. She lives in the Milwaukee area and invites you to visit her website (www.SandyBrehl.com) to learn more about ODIN’S PROMISE and BJORN’S GIFT. Sign up for quarterly newsletters to stay informed about future releases (including MARI’S HOPE), and special events and offers. Twitter: @SandyBrehl, https://www.facebook.com/sandy.brehl

Contact: Sandy@sandybrehl.com

Sandy shares a blog about middle grade historical novels with three other authors: http://TheStoriedPast.org

Also blogs about picture books at http://UnpackingPictureBookPower.blogspot.com and @PBWorkshop on Twitter

About the Book: Bjorn’s Gift is the second book in the Odin’s Promise middle-grade historical novel trilogy set in Norway during World War II.

In Bjorn’s Gift, young teen Mari faces growing hardships and dangers in her small village in a western fjord during the second and third years of German occupation, as German troops and local Nazi supporters move closer into her family’s daily life, and her classmate Leif becomes active in the Norwegian Nazi youth party.

Mari struggles to live up to her brother Bjorn’s faith in her as she becomes more involved in risky resistance activities, trusting only her family and a few close friends.

Across Norway, oppressive laws are imposed in the months from Fall 1941 to early 1943, with dire local consequences.

Difficult decisions force Mari to admit that many things in life are not easily sorted into good or bad, and she is forced to wonder if Hitler will ever be defeated . . . and whether the occupation of Norway will ever end.

The series is ideal for dog lovers, for Norwegian Americans and other European-Americans whose ancestors were involved in resistance movements in World War II, and for all who enjoy reading stories about World War II history.

Bjorn’s Gift releases on October 5, 2016. Advance sales begin in September. Book three, the conclusion of the trilogy, is Mari’s Hope, scheduled to release in 2017.

Odin’s Promise, the first book in the series, was published in 2014.

Crispin Books, an imprint of Crickhollow

http://www.sandybrehl.com

Follow Bjorn’s Gift on the Tour!:

September 1           Interview with Todd Burleson at GROG blog: http://groggorg.blogspot.com

September 7           Review: Stephanie Lowden at golowd, a blog about teaching and books https://golowd.com

September 11         Guest post Unleashing Readers (Ricki and Kelley) https://www.unleashingreaders.com

September 14        Review by Erik at This Kid Reviews Books, https://thiskidreviewsbooks.com

September 19        Review, Suzanne Warr, at Tales from the Raven, for MMGM: http://suzannewarr.com

September 20       Olivia and Oscar- review of ODIN’S PROMISE at Kid Book Reviewer: http://www.kidbookreviewer.com

September 27        Olivia and Oscar- review of BJORN’S GIFT at Kid Book Reviewer: http://www.kidbookreviewer.com (reminder- giveaway ends Sept. 30.

September 29        Alex Baugh review at The Children’s War https://thechildrenswar.blogspot.com

October 3                 Jenni Enzor MMGM with review and interview http://jennienzor.blogspot.com

October 5                 MomReadIt- Review by Rosemary https://momreadit.wordpress.com

October 7                 Trisha P at Mindjacked http://trishap00.blogspot.com

October 11                Guest post Rochelle Melander http://writenowcoach.com/blog/

Thank you, Sandy, for this wonderfully researched and insightful post!

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“Courting the Reluctant Writer”

Disclaimer: I am not a certified teacher. In fact, I am in awe of anyone who can teach classes of students every single day. I lack the patience, training, and wherewithal to do the work you do. Thank you!

I have the good luck to instruct young writers through workshops in schools, bookstores, libraries, and writing clinics. I love helping young writers discover their voices and tell their stories. To that end, I’ve collected a bag of tricks to help draw out reluctant writers. To help you court reluctant writers, I’m sharing three:

Spelling, grammar, and punctuation don’t matter.

Students with ADHD, ASD, dyslexia, and a slew of other challenges, often feel throttled by proper spelling and grammar. Take away the mechanics of grammar, and you’re left with story.

So let go. Not forever, but for now. Removing those restrictions lets students write freely. It helps them find their voices and the stories they’re eager to tell.

I know grammar is important. (Full disclosure: Grammar may be my first love.) But while I’m nurturing young writers, I tell them to forget that “stuff.” Ignore the mechanics. Save grammar for another week. Every writer needs a copyeditor, anyway.

Show—don’t tell—teens that their voices are unique.

I use this every time I host a writing workshop for teens or tweens. After talking a little about voice and perspective, I explain that talking about writing gets you nowhere. You have to write.

I assign a scene—the same scene—to every student. The exercise is short and sweet—7-8 minutes of writing—and I write along with them. When time’s up, students share, and I respond with positive comments about how each piece is unique.

Reluctant writers aren’t the first to share, but after three or four students read their scenes, everyone gets the picture: you are unique. No one can write from your perspective.

This is especially effective if I read my own piece and cite details students included but I neglected or forgot. Never underestimate the power of being wrong.

Fan fiction is your friend.

This is my very favorite trick. I preface this exercise with a disclaimer about plagiarism. Nothing—nothing—is more freeing to a reluctant writer than writing in a world he already loves.

Hogwarts is already a fully-imagined school, complete with hidden passages, secrets, and hundreds of interesting students. Imagine you, a muggle, woke up in Harry Potter’s dormitory and had to fake your way through potions with Snape.

What if you had boarded Eleanor & Park’s yellow school bus as a fellow student? Show me their relationship and your bus ride through your own eyes.

If you were Trunchbull, how would you next thwart Roald Dahl’s Matilda? (This is particularly fun for late elementary school writers.)

Instead of struggling to imagine a scene, students start with Hogwarts, Rainbow Rowell’s vivid characters, or the evil Trunchbull’s avarice. Fan fiction is freeing, because the hardest work is done. Using a scene, character, or setting from a beloved book, students also come to writing with passion.

I love working with students to build characters, find their stories, or strengthen their prose. But those workshops—all of them—are infinitely easier if students are passionate. If they’re bought in, they’re digging deeper, focused, and ready to tell the best versions of their stories.

And then, eventually, I ask them to do more.

The thing is, the Harry Potter saga is (mostly) over. Roald Dahl has been dead more than 25 years. Eleanor & Park are good to go…but who is this new character my student has created on Eleanor & Park’s bus? Why is he watching Park court Eleanor instead of focusing on his own interests? What’s happening at his house?

That student has created a new character, sparked by fan fiction. What’s more, the spark and the passion will stay with that student. Insert that new character in a new scene, and the passion is still there. What’s more: sharing their passions will ignite new passions in their peers—inside the classroom.

Everyone wins.

I’m on the lookout for more tricks, but these three consistently inspire students to write; I hope one of them resonates with you.

*with great thanks to Jo Rowling, Rainbow Rowell, and Roald Dahl

About the Author: Michele Bacon writes contemporary fiction for adults and young adults. Most of her stories begin as ideas scrawled on random scraps of paper, stuffed into pockets or joining her computer-bag detritus. Life Beforeis her debut novel. Michele lives in Seattle, Washington, with her husband and three small children.

Life Before

About the Book: Seventeen years is a long time to keep secrets, so Xander Fife is very good at it: everyone believes he has a normal family. If he can just get through this summer, he’ll start his real life in college with a clean slate–no risk, no drama, no fear.

Xander’s summer plans include pick-up soccer, regular hijinks with friends, an epic road trip, and—quite possibly— the company of his ideal girlfriend, the amazing Gretchen Taylor.

Instead of kicking off what had promised to be an amazing summer, however, graduation day brings terror. His family’s secrets are thrust out into the open, forcing Xander to confront his greatest fear. Or run from it.

Armed with a fake ID, cash, and a knife, Xander skips town and assumes a new identity. In danger hundreds of miles from home, one thing is clear: Xander’s real life is already in progress and just getting through it isn’t enough.

Thank you, Michele, for this post, and thank you, Cheryl, for connecting us with Michele!

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