From my earliest recollection, I heard stories about how my father had been tormented at school as a child. Every day without fail he was the first one out of his classroom, racing with all his might to get home. He had to be. Being slow meant a severe beating or maybe worse. So he ran. Outdistancing his tormentors, he dared to find safety racing along the dangerous cliffs that outlined his small island as the other children threw stones at him.

This image haunted me, ingrained permanently in my mind. I could taste the salt in the air as he sweated, desperate to outpace his adversaries. Listening to these stories, the same question always popped in my head: Why? Why did these brutes attack him? Where were his parents? Why didn’t a teacher or someone step up?

Where was justice?

My father was one of those very few who survived. He was part of the only Jewish family that remained on the island, while witnessing his aunts, uncles, cousins all shipped off to their deaths. They were saved by a falsified baptism certificate and a lone Nazi officer who didn’t follow orders. That is why I’m here today. But my father’s story has a happy ending. After the war, he relocated with his parents to a refugee camp in Italy (not a comfortable place). There he waited six years for the opportunity to migrate to the United States. Arriving with his mother, he worked and studied to ultimately become his high school’s Class Valedictorian and then earn a Ph.D. in Sociology.
           
Significantly, he also had a daughter. A daughter who liked to make up stories and draw pictures and was always asking “why?”.
           
So I have this very real and very troubling family history. It is completely factual and, as we know, reality is sometimes harsh. While hearing these stories, I started filling in the gaps with the what-ifs. What if it wasn’t a boy? What if it was a girl, and someone I identify with? She could be someone tough and beautiful, but by no means an average girl who bends to someone else’s will. Instead, she’s a fighter, who’s smart enough and brave enough to use whatever tools she has at her disposal—even drawing inspiration from her enemies’ own legend in order to survive.
           
This unique character deserved a unique name. And thus, Oriana was born.
           
How would someone like Oriana, set apart from the other subservient girls, fit in with her own people? She lives on a small island that doesn’t even have electricity, where she collects water every morning from a well. She comes from a culture where girls don’t speak out, let alone act out. Everything about Oriana stands out.
           
But I still needed to flesh her out. What if, unlike my father, she struck back when attacked?
           
Maybe it’s not even herself she’s protecting but others that need help. Perhaps she finds wounded animals in the island and heals them.
           
How would she do this? Would someone help her? No, she’ll have to help herself and make her own rules, which will only get her into more trouble.
           
Next I added elements of my grandmother and grandfather’s love story. My grandmother Eleonora was considered the most beautiful girl on the entire island. After WWI, my grandfather, a handsome Italian soldier, arrived and fell desperately in love with someone he had no business to claim. Theirs was a mixed marriage between a Sephardic Jew and a Catholic. Oh, no. The forbidden. Intriguing, right? 
           
This bit of history became Ezra Mercer in my story: a complete stranger who Oriana at once considers to be the enemy, as she should. Yet this mysterious, dashing boy turns out to be the only one brave enough to offer Oriana his hand. He comes from the supposedly rich Hugganoff family from the mainland. He has no business in the small island of Madera, let alone selecting a wife from the Outcast population.
           
I transposed reality into fantasy. I mean, that is how my grandparents got together. An impossible match, made possible through true love. But more importantly, I used reality to give a heartbeat to a fictional story. Because now Oriana believes that love is possible for a girl known as NELIEM. Which means this fierce, self-effacing fighter suddenly has something to lose.
           
Drawing seeds from my family’s stories, I gradually grew my own small garden. Loosely based on actual events, I reimagined history with ancestral ghosts, magical traditions, and thus an endless source of new possibilities. In creating two distinct and conflicting cultures, one based on Judaism and the other paganism, I took reality and remolded it, challenging the norms while creating a vibrant, exciting world.
           
​I took something old and made it new. 

After reading NELIEM, have your students and young readers contrast nonfiction and fantasy inspired by personal history with the following prompts:
 

1. Discussion Prompt: Create a T-chart to compare and contrast the real events on Rhodes with the events in NELIEM. When and where does real history show up in the book? How is reading NELIEM similar to and different from reading a traditional history book? What do you gain from reading a fiction story based on history, compared to what you gain from reading a historical narrative from a person or textbook?
2. Creative Writing Prompt: Briefly describe a story from your family history or a historical event. Take the main “characters” and events and imagine how it could have gone differently if it happened to a different person or in a different world. Write a page describing this new situation.
3. Genre Discussion Prompt: Take something that happened to you recently that had an emotional impact, and write it down in 2-3 sentences. Now, re-write those sentences happening in a fantasy setting. Now re-write it happening in a historical fiction setting. What had to change? What stayed the same?

 
Thank you so much for having me on the blog. I look forward to the Educational Summit next week.

Until next time! Or, maybe I will see you at the summit.

  A little over a year and a half ago, I meet Jon McGoran at the KidLitCon 2017 in Hersey Pennsylvania.  I  can't believe it has been that long. i enjoyed meeting Jon and I loved hearing him talk about his book, Spliced. i knew that I had many students while I was teaching that would have loved this book. I have been meaning to feature Jon during one of my special author editions of Dr. Bickmore's YA Wednesday. Well, here it is at last. Thanks, Jon for waiting.

If you love books. I hope you get a chance to attend a KidLitCon event. They are fantastic. I meet several fantastic authors. A couple more will be featured on this blog eventually. Please be patient. I also meet Phil Bildner, who has connected me to even more authors and he will be one of the featured authors at the 2019 Summit on Teaching YA Literature at UNLV. See the link at the bottom of the page.

 Jon is one of the guys who writes in a variety genres. Jon also has a series of ecological thrillers written for the mainstream adult market. If you are true fan of the thriller, you should check out his website. You find descriptions of the rest of his books and short fiction as well. 

Jon is relative new to the YA classification. As I mentioned I know students who will love Spliced and the good news for them is that the sequel, Splintered, is officially out this week (May 15, 2019). 

Science and YA literature provide an opportunity for those students interested in science, experiments, and general exploration to find something books that explore the things they are interested in fiction. Too often we seem to force them to read within genres that don't match their interests.

To capture their interests, you might have your students explore Jon's Splice Yourself Page.  There they can explore mixing species. They might even find an example of what they might look like mixed with their favorite animal.

Until next time.

I know that I say this a  lot, but I love it when a guest contributor supplies a post about which I know all most nothing. This week Briana Asmus returns with a post about Manga. While I have read a few, I have nothing important to say. Briana does.

A little over a year ago Briana contributed a post about YA books that consider how we define a border. It was informative and well done. Our issues with border and people who want to cross the border remain. These are human issues and some of prepare teachers who work with students who live in the realities of border crossing and undocumented existence. It is worth reading again. (Find it here)

Briana Asmus is Assistant Professor and Director for ESL and Bilingual Programs at Aquinas College in Grand Rapids, MI. She can be contacted at bma004@aquinas.edu. ​

Until next time.

One of the great perks of working on this blog is the opportunity to read and think about what my colleagues are thinking. Many of my colleagues are doing a variety of interesting things. I like reviewing their pedagogical activities, their theoretical ideas, and their fresh take on old practices. Most of us who teach young adult literature do some sort of book talk activity. Many of us include self-selected book picks. It is unlikely that we all do them the same way. I am constantly amazed by the creative and engaging ways my colleagues teach. More often than not, I find myself modifying my own practices. 

This week, Mary Warner talks about using book talks to helps students choose their reading selections and then how they go about discussing and then identifying their favorites.  I always enjoy Mary's contributions. You can find her previous post here, here, and here. Go ahead and click on those previous links. You won't be sorry.

​This blog addresses multiple topics under the umbrella of one of the overarching goals in my YA Literature course (designed primarily for upper division English prep for teaching majors, but including majors in literature, creative writing, and professional/technical writing) -- to introduce students who are future teachers and writers to as many newer YA authors and books as possible.  The definition of newer here includes books published since 2013, though occasionally dominant books like The Book Thief or Deadline make the list. Typically, students coming into my YA course have a limited sense of the range and potential of YA lit.  They know of The Hunger Games, The Harry Potter series; they frequently have been turned off by chick flick or romance novels.  Thus, strategy number one the Book Pass expands their knowledge of the range, genres, and potential topics “trending” in YA.  

​I do the Book Pass in the second week (or second class session) of the semester – prior to describing the Book Talk assignment.  Students need to have paper ready to record titles that attract their attention, tap into their favorite genres or challenge their assumptions – and capture their interest as a book they might use for the Book Talk. The procedure is simple; though I model with a novel what they need to do in the 1-2 minutes for review: 

I come to class with 60-80 books (more if I can manage) – here’s where my ALAN workshop treasures and ARCs get their greatest advertising.  I give every student a book, face down, until everyone has a book and then start the “timer.”  Every 1-2 minutes, I simply say “pass”; students give the book to the student on their left, and the process continues for 40 – 45 minutes, giving the opportunity to see at least 20 books.  Yes, students could simply be given a list and go to author’s websites, but the Book Pass allows for the actual not the virtual.  Many times, students comment that their interest in and desire to read a book only happened because they “saw” and handled a book during the Book Pass or because of comments I might offer about the books.

The Book Talk assignment provides one venue for getting students reading and promoting their favorites.  Each semester I provide a list of options from which they select.  They can’t take a book they’ve read previously – the goal is to expand the YA reading list! No two students can do the same book either – again learning of more books and authors is our aim. The book selection list for the Spring 2019 class can be found at this link the specific handout is “Choices for Book Talks.”
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At the same link, the “Elements of Book Talks” handout details the requirements for the oral and written components of the assignment.  The heart of the matter for the written component – here’s another central insight I want future teachers to consider – is the choice of three quotes that convey the significance of the novel.  The Book Talk assignment should take presenters and listeners far beyond trivia; identifying three essential excerpts and explaining their importance demands a careful and thorough reading.  

​My students email an e-copy to be uploaded to my webpage and displayed as they do their oral presentations.  Book Talks from Fall ’17, Spring ’18, Fall ’18, and Spring ’19 (a glitch is preventing the Fall ’16 book talks from displaying) are on the Students page of my website.

The next “step” in identifying the “winners” – those books chosen in multiple semesters – led me to compile a list of the student choices in Fall ’16, Fall ’17, Spring ’18, Fall ’18, and Spring ’19.  (A disclaimer: the books reviewed during the Book Pass in a given semester definitely affect the selection.  I only acquired some works like Len Vlahos’ Life in a Fishbowl Cath Crowley’s Words in Deep Blue or Adam Silvera’s History is All You Left Me in the last year.) Enjoy the list – see if the selections match what you might share with students.

​Book Talk presentations take place over the course of the semester – seldom more than five presentation in a single class.  During the presentations, my students complete a Response Guide, specifically noting “Response to the Book or to the Presenter/Presentation” and “Ideas to Remember.”  After a significant number of presentations, I have a part of the Sustained Silent Writing prompt asking students to “Describe 3 of the book talks presented to date. Discuss what you liked about the presentation or why you’d like to read the book.”  From Fall ’18 and Spring ’19, the following books emerge as the ultimate “winners.” For several of the books appearing as favorites, the book talk presenters simply “sold” the book well.

Cath Crowley’s Words in Deep Blue
Frances Hardinge’s A Face Like Glass
Brendan Kiely’s The Last True Love Story
Jennifer Niven’s All the Bright Places 
Erika Sánchez’s I’m Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter
Adam Silvera’s History is All You Left Me
Angie Thomas’s The Hate U Give
Len Vlahos’ Life in a Fishbowl

Until next time.

This week's post will be short. I want to talk briefly about teaching poetry and remind everyone about the 2019 Summit on Teaching YA Literature.

First, over a month ago Sarah Donovan invited people to write a poem a day during the month of April. I though about it, but just knew I couldn't (wouldn't) do it. Writing poetry can be daunting. It has always made me uneasy. I get it when students are reluctant to write poetry. 

I thought about the invitation. I kept asking myself what can I do to think about poetry more frequently during April. I really can't add much more to the blog posts that both Lesley Roessing and Padma Venkatraman have written for this space. A couple of weeks ago I wrote a post that referenced their work. (please see that post http://www.yawednesday.com/blog/a-poem-a-day-during-april-of-course) There are links to their posts and to several adolescent verse novels that I love. 

I decide that I could commit to posting a poem a day on my personal Facebook Page and then I shared it to my Dr. Bickmore's YA Wednesday Facebook Page. I generally avoided making any comment. Just the poem. 

I have really enjoyed reading and selecting all of these poems. Many have been favorites for a long time. Some are poems I revisit frequently: Hopkins' As King Fishers Catch Fire, Hughes' The Negro Speaks of Rivers, Yeats' Among School Children, Lowell's For the Union Dead, and Roethke's I Knew a Women.   

I didn't figure out everything to help my students when I was an AP literature teacher. I did find one discovery that helped with poetry. I hated the three or four week poetry unit. I dropped it. 

Instead, I started doing poetry every Monday. Usually, I would focus on a single poet and three to five poems. The primary reading for the week was for the student to read each poem at least three times. Of course, they were always in the middle of a longer work. It didn't matter, Monday was for poetry. We started by selecting one of the poems and then we waited for a volunteer to read it aloud. Then, without comment some else read it. After the second reading we could be discussing--structure, symbols, figurative language, etc.

I loved the reading. Many might think that students would resist this public reading. Remarkably, they took to it quite well. Most started reading them out loud to themselves over the weekend. They learned something about listening. 
They heard the beauty in The Solitary Reaper or in The Windhover. The students became better listeners. Because we looked at poetry all of the time, the idea of writing about a poem for the AP exam became less daunting.

I woke up and started doing the same thing with student who weren't in my AP class. Guess what? It worked. I should have done it sooner.

So my efforts aren't lost, I made a list with the links to the poems. I want to do it again next year. For your enjoyment here is the list.

Now a bit about the 2019 Summit on the Teaching of Young Adult Literature. Please come and join the fun. It begins four weeks from today. It is going to be fun. The Weekend Picks between now and then will feature books by the visiting authors. Make sure to check them out.

You may not know it yet, but you really do want to hear the keynotes speeches by Phil Bildner, Padma Venkatraman, and Meg Medina. 

The breakout presenters are all handpicked for their expertise and their ability to guide teacher towards better, more meaningful engagement with students. Go to the 2019 Summit page, Read the bios and look at the current draft of the program for an abstract of each presentation. It will be an enriching experience.

Until next week.

This week we turn the posting duties over to Melanie Koss. Melanie and I have been acquainted with each others work for more than ten years. She is a fine scholar and can always be found doing something interesting. A little over a year ago she wrote a post about her experience as the chair of the Michael L. Printz Award committee.  What an experience and she provides some insights into the process. You can revisit that post here. 

This week Melanie introduces and discusses a project that combines YA and Stem. I am more and more interested in how YA Literature can be used to make all kinds of cross-curricular connections. I have been focused on the Social Studies and Music. I found myself intrigued when Melanie mentioned that she was involved in a Stem Read Experience. Maybe more of us should be exploring these opportunities. Thanks Melanie,for showing us a model.

Picture a room full of 350 high school students, working together to solve puzzles, complete science and engineering challenges, compete in relay races, debate ethical questions, all while talking about a YA novel. The room is filled with cheering, hushed whispers, excited talk, and high energy. At times, students had their noses stuck in a book. Just about all of the students are engaged. This was the scene at the STEM Read: The Frankenstein Experience field trip event featuring YA author Kiersten White and her book, The Dark Descent of Elizabeth Frankenstein.       

Standards are a necessary component in teaching, for good or for bad. The ultimate goal of the different standards is to prepare students for college, careers, and overall life skills. Many of us are familiar with the English/Language Arts standards, and the different ways we are told to teach reading and literature skills in our classrooms. We all know that a key to future success is the ability to read and write. Another critical area of interest right now is STEM, as according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, jobs in STEM fields will be increasing to more than nine million by 2022. The Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) target STEM skills, including critical thinking and problem solving. I think we can all agree that the content in the standards is important. The question is what to do we do with them.
 
Looking at the standards, they are segregated out into different content areas, essentially turning learning into silos, something that isn’t aligned with the way of everyday life. Our teaching is also often segregated, with many of us focusing on only one curricular area. This is how education today is set up, but are there opportunities to work together? If we wish to create critical thinkers and meet all of the standards effectively, why not find ways to combine the standards into authentic learning opportunities.
 
The world and workforce in the 21st century need people who are able to think critically, solve problems, read complex texts over a variety of media, interpret data, and be creative and flexible. We need to teach our students that failure is ok, as long as they try again to solve their original problem using innovative ways of thinking and perseverance. YA literature is a great springboard into tackling many of these different skills.

When we find the right book for the right reader at the right time, and we set an authentic purpose for reading, we can encourage teens to read, even reluctant ones. There is little better than igniting curiosity and encouraging teens to read to connect to topics they find interesting or useful. And using what they read in high-energy, critical thinking activities is a combination for success.
 
High-interest young adult literature is a natural pairing to teach literacy and STEAM (science, technology, engineering, the arts, and math) concepts. Teachers are familiar with using literature and critical thinking techniques in teaching literacy, and using problem-solving activities to teach science, math, and social studies. Combining the two, and adding in problem-based learning activities, can create motivated and engaged students while learning STEAM and literacy concepts and skills. What more can a teacher ask for? This is where STEM Read fits in.

​You enter a large room. The lights are dim, eerie music is playing, thunder booms in the background, thick red velvet drapes fall heavily on both sides of a stage. On the stage sits a dead corpse draped in a bloody, white sheet, surrounded by body parts. Electric static lights glow purple light. Tables are set up with odd looking materials on them. A screen covered in lightning bolts projects the words Frankenstein: The STEM Read Experience with special guest Kiersten White.
 
Students file in, at first boisterous and chatty, and a hush falls as they take in the scene. Excited chatter follows as they are assigned a table and begin to explore the materials at hand. On each table, a small pile of money and red and gold tokens. These are the first to be examined.
 
The event begins with an introduction and instructions. Teams must complete challenges to earn money and morality points. For each challenge, teams can earn or lose money based on their successes. For each ethics challenge, teams must place a red or a gold chip into the morality chip bowl. The team with the most money at the end survives. The morality chip randomly chosen at the end of the field trip from the morality chip bowl determines whether Elizabeth lives or dies, so the ratio of the chips in the bowl matters.

Students are guided through the day by a moderator, introducing the author and experts, explaining challenges, and inviting students’ exploration of ethical constructs. The general structure is a read aloud of a passage from the book, often done by the author, followed by an expert presentation in the form of a video or in person, a related STEAM challenge, and lastly an ethical dilemma to debate. This cycle takes place several times during the course of the event, and the challenges target each of the STEAM curricular areas. All of the challenges relate to themes and topics from the books.

​Teachers are provided with additional activities and lessons aligned to the book, including writing prompts, debrief sessions, and research projects, and are encouraged to continue the literature exploration.
 
STEM Read is obviously an elaborate, large scale event that exemplifies ways literature can be used to spark STEAM activities. But this is just one example. Each of these challenges can take place over the course of a literature study unit, or in conjunction with multiple teachers and classes. Smaller activities based on a poem or short story can also be done. The idea is to make STEAM learning authentic and reading an essential component of authentic success.
 
If you’re interested in learning more about STEM Read, please visit www.stemread.com. The website is full of free resources on a variety of books, as well as blog posts, videos from authors and experts, and links to a podcast. 

Until Next Time.

To some it might seem that Dr. Bickmore’s YA Wednesday is not a friend to poetry when it sponsors primarily narrative fiction within the large classification of Young Adult Literature. Nothing is further from the truth; but is often difficult to figure out when to include a post on poetry. I also need to recruit scholars and teachers to write about it other than me. I am clearly not the expert, although I enjoy it and love the abundance of YA verse novels that have appeared over the last few years.

To be clear, if you have an idea for a post that includes poetry please suggest it; then, we can get you in line.

Lots of good stuff has been posted already. Many thanks to Lesley Roessing (find here and here), Padma Venkatraman (find here), and Sylvia Vardell and Janet Wong (find here). And, in many other blog post, poetry and verse novels are referenced. Browse around a bit through past posts listed on the contributor's page

As most readers know, April is poetry month. Many colleagues have posted notices and work about poetry on social media. Some have engaged in community practices about writing poetry during the month. You might check out the Facebook pages of Sarah Donovan, Lesley Roessing, Sylvia Vardell, and Janet Wong. I admire their work. I might it try to tune up a couple of my poetic efforts during the month.  

If you need a few suggestions to hold you over, here are some of my favorite YA verse novels. 

Jacqueline Woodson’s Brown Girl Dreaming, Virginia Euwer Wolff’s True Believer, Chris Crowe’s Death Coming up the Hill, Kwame Alexander’s The Crossover, Laurie Halse Anderson’s Shout, and Margarita Engle’s Enchanted Air.

One final author and book of note: Padma Venkatraman’s A Time to Dance. In a lucky turn of events, Padma Venkatraman will be joining the 2019 Summit on Teaching YA Literature.

My commitment for the month is to post a poem each day on my own Facebook page and on the Facebook Page of Dr. Bickmore’s YA Wednesday. I hope you check them out. Each day will feature a different poet and each poem will be a favorite of mine by that poet. To review this impulse to post a poem each day, I have written a few paragraphs about how I came to be more enthusiastic about poetry in college.

Who Brought me to Poetry?

—Well, the answer to that simple question is William Shakespeare. When I learned to understand the language, it was transformative for me. I was always a reader of narrative. Shakespeare combination of poetry and narrative spoke to me. Marshall Craig and Arthur Henry King guided me through the craftsmanship of Shakespeare’s language. The language lived and my ability to explore rhyme, rhythm, and structure grew.
​
This experience provided me with confidence and the poetry of other started to come a live for me. I discovered John Donne, Gerard Manly Hopkins, Walt Whitman, Emily Dickenson, Langston Hughes, Elizabeth Bishop, Robert Frost, William Wordsworth, Derek Walcott, Hart Crane, Robinson Jeffers, T. S. Eliot, Ezra Pound, Wallace Stevens, H. D., Maya Angelou, Sylvia Plath, and Robert Lowell.

Of course, there were others, but the poems of those above still creep into my mind at odd times. I am forty years away from my college graduation and slightly more and a dozen years from teaching AP literature courses. As a reluctant reader in high school myself, I loved slowing down and helping students ease into poetry. Every Monday was poetry day and over time it worked well. Students read three to five poems by the selected poet over the weekend. If they were on task they took the time to read them several times, to read them around, to consider the themes and symbols, and to explore their ability to figure out some literary devices—assonance, consonance, alliteration, anaphora, pentameter, metonymy.

Not every student joined in the spirit endeavor, but many did. I found that reading poetry every week bred familiarity and pushed out fear. Poetry became manageable and the terminology was no longer an obscure jargon that they only heard once a year for 2 or 3 weeks. My AP students slowly developed confidence that served them well. As a result, post AP test discussion were about how they manage the poetry prompt and not about how awful the experience was. Hurrah, success.
 
I hope you find a poem to love, a poem to share, and a poem that helps you see the world a new.

This week author Jo Schaffer talks about her work with teen authors through the Teen Authors Boot Camp (You can find go on Facebook and Twitter).  I met Jo a little over a year ago through Georgia McBride at Month9Books (thanks Georgia). Jo also came and presented at last year's Summit. Before attending, Jo also produced a blog post where she discussed writing historical fiction for teens. In that post we also talk about her books, provide an interview, and an brief link to the Boot Camp. Before I let her take over, we should talk about her books a bit. Last year she had just released her first book in the Stanley and Hazel series. Further good news--The second book in the series is now out Stanley and Hazel-The Winnowing.  You should be reading these books.

Right now our attention is on adolescents as writers and as people who are responsible for their own growth and learning. Before Jo talks about the Boot Camp, I would like to mention two ways other ways in which students will be front and center at NCTE 2019. First, once again, R. Bryon Stringer will be bringing students who will perform with the Toe Tag Monologues (see a previous post). Second, my friend, colleague, author, and frequent contributor to the blog, Sarah Donovan will be escorting a group of seventh graders to NCTE 2019 to talk about student inquiry. I am sure that both groups can use your support.

​Thanks Jo, take it away.

The Stories We Tell
Most of us assume that we own our ideas. But as the work of renowned psychoanalyst Carl Jung suggests... maybe ideas own us. In the creative world this can be a good thing. What else besides possession could compel an otherwise sane person to talk to multiple people in their head, write through the night, pace and rant and generally behave like a lunatic in order to finish an entire novel?

But this ability to be possessed by ideas is a double edged sword. Some that take hold of us can largely be the thoughts and viewpoint of influencers who pull the proverbial strings that make the culture dance. And sometimes that dance isn’t pretty. We’re not programmed to take in all the information but to find what reinforces the frame presented to us—whether it’s true or not.

We live in a time when critical thinking is…well, critical. It’s an intense time to be growing up. One of the best ways for young people to process and explore their own thoughts and ideas amid the noise is through the written word. Creative expression transcends regurgitated indoctrination. It encourages the authentic spaces of the mind to express themselves. Creativity dips into the truths within each of us. A truth necessary to navigate oneself through a sea of conflicting ideas.
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We need young writers and young people need to write. This can be facilitated by encouraging kids to find their voice, tap into creative flow, and by giving them opportunities to share their ideas and stories.

Why Creative Writing Needs Kids
Years ago, my writing group and I were discussing the particular dilemma of being a creative and sensitive teen. When we were young there seemed to be clubs and auxiliaries for so many kinds of interests—but what about that odd kid who likes to write? The flabby and faded curriculum of the English department of my youth was in no way dynamic or relevant to my encounter with the world. Where was the literature that spoke to me in my time? Was there a place for my stories?
 
It’s important to be familiar with the great works of the long dead which carry important themes and present timeless tropes. The 12th century author John of Salisbury said "We are like dwarfs sitting on the shoulders of giants. We see more, and things that are more distant, than they did, not because our sight is superior or because we are taller than they, but because they raise us up, and by their great stature add to ours."
 
But, not to rest upon our giants, an update is sorely needed. What better voice for the future than the future itself? Young people, when given the wisdom of the past and tools to express themselves are an important part of our combined cultural narrative as we move forward. 

Why Kids Need Creative Writing
 My writing group and I wondered how we could offer the support and skills teens would need to break through the framing and tap into their own ideas and stories?  We landed on the idea of creating a writing conference for teens and fostering a subculture for the young and book-inclined. We wanted to find those who have already discovered their inner bibliophile and to also get the marginalized and voiceless kids excited about books—whether reading them or writing them.
 
At our first Teen Author Boot Camp (TABC) event there were around 130 kids, which was great for a first time conference. This year we’re looking to hit almost one thousand attendees. Apparently, kids care about writing, especially when they have creative freedom and are empowered to feel they have something to contribute to the collective dialog.

​There’s a lot going on inside of kids that they don’t feel safe expressing in the real world. With anxiety, depression and suicide on the rise, writing allows kids to emote the feelings trapped inside. Author and podcast host Adam Grant said, “Expressive writing has also been linked to improved mood, well-being and reduced stress levels for those who do it regularly.”
 
Creative writing can help the medicine go down, but it’s also a good way to encourage critical thinking and foster a sense of empowerment. It prepares them to be successful communicators in times when effective communication is crucial.
 
Following are some things to keep in mind if you want to encourage creative writing in kids:

Finding Their Voice
 Actor and rapper Mahershala Ali says, “Social media has colonized what was once a sacred space occupied by emptiness: the space reserved for thought and creativity.”
 
For many kids, self-expression has been reduced to a status update. They’re expected to mimic one another in how they present themselves and what they think. Creative writing helps them to turn off that noise and the demand to mirror what’s outside and instead, reflect what’s inside.
 
Kids are still finding their voice. A class-like setting often sets up expectations to get it “right” or to do whatever it takes to get an “A”. There’s a lot to inhibit kids from participating freely and authentically. Kids need validation to be willing to reveal their inner world.
 
E.E. Cummings said, “Once we believe in ourselves, we can risk curiosity, wonder, spontaneous delight or any experience that reveals the human spirit.”
 
Kids yearn to know themselves. Have them take a quick personality quiz or the color code test and let them share the results with one another. They’ll identify some similarities and differences. Appreciating their uniqueness gives kids permission to speak their mind and interpret things their own way. They’ll realize they don’t have to sound like everyone else.
 
New York Times bestselling YA Author, Marie Lu in her keynote address at Teen Author Boot Camp encouraged kids to be fiercely themselves when they write. She told them, “Writing is your rebellion.” The loud applause after her statement testified to how much kids want their own voice.

​Creative Grow and Flow
There needs to be the proper environment for things to grow. Showing you care about what kids think and engaging with their questions and suggestions is like fertilizer. Allow them time to think and express themselves freely. How a mentor speaks to them can invite sharing, mutual respect and trust. You’re asking them to be vulnerable. As Ernest Hemingway aptly put it, “There is nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and bleed.”
 
Sitting quietly at a desk isn’t conducive to learning in auditory, kinetic and verbal ways. Let it get a little loud sometimes. Allow kids to move around, talk in groups and try some hands on activities.  Regardless of what you’ve prepared, let the kids riff a little. That’s when creativity happens.
 
In a creatively fecund environment and with a basic understanding and appreciation of their own voice, kids are primed to tap into their own stories. Let them think for themselves and pose their own questions. Resist imposing your voice on them. Allow the differences—this isn’t math!

As past TABC keynote Author Brandon Sanderson has said, “The purpose of a storyteller is not to tell you how to think, but to give you questions to think upon.”

Allow kids to “flow write”. Tell them not to worry about edits at first. Give encouraging feedback and then show them how to identify their own weaknesses before you point them out.

Freedom to improvise allows creativity to grow, but so do limitations. There are many games and activities that give structure while offering freedom to think around the rules.
​
Writing prompts are a “limitation” that will spark the imagination. They can be pictures, music, scene suggestions, dialog, or a question to get their minds going. Writing games and the opportunity to share results get kids excited to tell stories and help them recognize there are countless possibilities in the telling.

​Create Opportunities
 Everyone likes recognition. Incentives and opportunities to shine are a great motivators. Writing contests and prizes encourage kids to create and achieve.
 
In addition to a yearly First Chapter Contest, Teen Author Boot Camp has recently partnered with Owl Hollow Press. Kids submit short stories that may be chosen to be published in an anthology. Teens have the chance to share the spotlight at the TABC book signing with some New York Times bestselling authors. This is the ultimate validation and encouragement for kids who love to write!
 
Run a writing contest where the winning pieces are featured in a blog or newsletter. Any kind of reward helps some kids to reach inside themselves and pull out some incredible words.

Share
 Both the students and teacher need to be willing to be known. Let them share what they have written. Read them things that resonate with you and tell them stories from your personal experiences. Pull out your embarrassing, old manuscripts and poems so they can enjoy your mortification. When you allow them to see your mistakes they’ll feel safer making their own.
 
Do writing prompts and activities along with them. If you offer feedback and rewrite suggestions- allow discussion and even disagreements. Some things they’ll have to learn over time or the hard way. Just get them writing and enjoying the written word.
 
Writing helps kids feel that they belong. It lets them join the conversation between the generations and contribute to the collective narrative. No matter the subject, topic, time, or place, writing can be relevant to kids in the world they live in now.
F. Scott Fitzgerald said, “That is part of the beauty of all literature. You discover that your longings are universal longings, that you're not lonely and isolated from anyone. You belong.”

Everyone belongs. Imposed ideas are unnecessary battle grounds that lead to isolation and discord. For communication to cross the generational and cultural gaps we have to know how and what kids think. We need to help them find their voice—not learn to echo ours. Creative writing builds communication bridges and fosters individualization and lifelong learning. When a young person finds their voice, they become more eager and engaged in the conversation. More inclined to read what other voices say and ultimately own their ideas and unique view of the world.

The success of Teen Author Boot Camp has been encouraging. If more mentors support young people in their desire to creatively express themselves and provide them with the tools and an outlet for their voice, it will enrich their present and gift our future as a society.

 “One of the biggest indicators of a youth’s future success is their ability to read and write well. In the years since it was started, Teen Author Boot Camp has become one of the best teen writers’ conferences in the country. I’ve been extremely impressed by the quality of the classes, teachers, and writing contest. This is the total package. Teen writers come away inspired to polish their writing skills as well as being excited to read more.” Author, J. Scott Savage.

Until next week.

Some people impact your life everyday. Melanie Hundley is one of those people. We shared office space in graduate school. She cheered me up when times were tough. She could poke fun just enough that I felt good about my efforts. And boy, is she a reader. I just wish I could keep pace with her efforts. Later, when we both had jobs, Jackie Bach and I recruited Melanie to be part of an editorial team. Together, we made naive plans to apply as editors of The ALAN Review. I just knew that Melanie's attention to detail and her subtle, but appropriate prompting to do everything just a little bit better would help. Well, strange forces prevailed--we got the gig. We spend five wonderful years learning how to do the job and getting to know a host of wonderful people.

In graduate school I loved hearing about Melanie's experiences as a teacher. I especially loved hearing about how she taught Shakespeare. In this posts she gives us just a hint of her expertise. Do Shakespeare and YA belong together? You bet. 

The students in the afterschool reading group are like me, coming to Shakespeare a bit sideways, through stories and quotes and young adult novels. Young adult authors have embraced Shakespeare and his plays—from appropriations to retellings, Shakespeare is alive and well in contemporary young adult literature.  Marsden’s Hamlet (2009) and Lester’s Othello (1998) retell the plays in prose form, adhering closely to the original plot.  North’s (2016) To Be or Not to Be and Romeo and Juliet take Shakespeare’s plays and turn them into choose-your-own-adventure stories.  Shakespeare’s plays have not escaped the incorporation of vampires and zombies as seen in Gabel’s (2010) Romeo & Juliet & Vampires, Jay’s (2011) Juliet Immortal, and Marion’s (2010) Warm Bodies, a zombie retelling of Romeo and Juliet. These novels can serve as introductions to Shakespeare, companion texts to the classroom teaching of Shakespeare’s plays, or as stand-alone novels.  They are similar to the storytelling that happened on the porch of my childhood, a way for contemporary adolescent readers to be exposed to one of the great playwrights.  

Ophelia says in act four of Hamlet that “we know what we are, but not what we may be.” This line stands out to me as I think about the multiple ways in which young adult authors have appropriated, retold, and reimagined Shakespeare plays for contemporary adolescents.  We know, as English teachers what these plays are but we don’t know what they can become in the hands of talented writers. Some authors choose to focus on characters who are marginalized or misunderstood; for example, Klein (2007) reimagines Hamlet but from Ophelia’s point of view in Ophelia. Ophelia is the central character, acting instead of reacting.  Will she choose to continue her relationship with Hamlet? Will she choose to leave Elsinore?  This shift empowers Ophelia and provides opportunity for her character to grow and develop.  Ray (2011) reimagines Hamlet and Ophelia in Falling for Hamlet set in an exclusive high school for the rich and famous; all the same deaths and problems but add the paparazzi to really make events vivid.

​Two of my favorite reimaginings of Shakespeare’s work are Exit, Pursued by a Bear and The Steep and Thorny Way. These novels take the plays they are based on and provide contemporary settings in order to develop a story that incorporates elements from the play but also critiques issues of gender and power. Johnston’s (2016) Exit Pursued by a Bear is a retelling of A Winter’s Tale.  Hermione is raped at cheerleading camp, and what is genuinely powerful about this text is the ways in which she is supported by her parents, her church, her friends, and the police.  Her best friend Polly is the best friend we all want—funny, sarcastic, strong, caring, and supportive.  Her parallel in the play, Paulina, plays this role as well as she tries to convince Leontes that Hermione is innocent of the charges against her.  Polly is a vocal advocate for Hermione, pushing against victim-shaming, and challenging those who would try to condemn Hermione for her choices when she learns she is pregnant.  The friendship between the two characters, Hermione and Polly, is the backbone of the book, pulling the focus of the story from the king who wrongly accused his wife of infidelity to the women whose friendship will help them survive violence and sexual assault.   

The young adult authors who create narratives that connect to and reimagine Shakespeare’s plays provide them access to the stories that have shaped so much of Western literary culture.  Allowing adolescents to take a sideways path to Shakespeare by reading texts that build on, connect to, or retell Shakespeare’s plays provide multiple entry points to these cultural texts. I look at the students in the book group.  They know who they are as readers now but they do not yet know who they may become. Hopefully, these novels help them become the readers they want to be.

Bibliography
 
Jay, S. (2011). Juliet immortal. New York: Delacorte Press.
Johnston, E. K. (2016). Exit, pursued by a bear. New York: Dutton Books for Young Readers.
Klein, L. (2007). Ophelia. New York: Bloomsbury USA Children’s Books.
Lester, J. (1998) Othello. New York: Scholastic Paperbacks.
Marion, I. (2010). Warm bodies. New York; Atria/Emily Bestler Books.
Marsden, J. (2009). Hamlet: a novel.  Summerville, MA: Candlewick Press.
North, R. (2016). Romeo and Juliet.  New York: Riverhead Books.
North, R. (2016). To be or not to be. New York: Riverhead Books.
Ray, M. (2011). Falling for Hamlet. Lebanon, IN. Poppy, an imprint of Hatchette Book Group.
Shakespeare, W., & Gabel, C. (2010). Romeo & Juliet & vampires.  New York; Harper Teen.
Winters, C. (2016). The steep and thorny way. New York: Amulet Books, an imprint of Harry N. Abrams.

Until Next time.

it has happened. April has arrived and with it a month dedicated to Poetry. One are you going to do with it? I know people try to write a poem each day? Other read a poem to their students each day? I think I will read an old favorite each day. I woke up not long ago thinking about W. B. Yeats' Among School Children. When I first read that poem in college over forty years ago, I never imagined, that I too, would be a sixty year old public man. I read the poem with renewed interest. Shortly afterwards, I also reread Frost's Birches. ​Both poems were important when i first encountered them.  Upon reading them again I was struct with how powerful they remain. I enjoyed teaching them over the years as a high school teacher. 

​Today, my colleague and friend Lesley Roessing adds to a post she wrote a year ago. She suggests, and I agree, that more of need to be better acquainted with the YA verse novel. You really should revisit the older post and then enjoy the new books she adds this time around. Lesley is a frequent contributor to Dr. Bickmore's YA Wednesday. She has too many to list her, but it is well worth your time to browse the contributors 'page.

Perhaps another activity for April would be to introduce your students to a variety of verse novels of the course of the Month.

“I read a 300-page book!! Of course, the pages weren’t filled, but I. Read. A. 300. Page. Book!” Michael’s excitement filled the room. Some other boys nodded. This was not a class; it was an activity period group of book clubs. Participation was voluntary, and no grades or credit for their ELA classes was given. The boys were motivated in part by snacks and the promise of an outing as a reward for attending and actively taking part in every Thursday meeting. However, no one could force them to read. These twelve 6th-8th grade boys had been fake-reading all their lives. They were reluctant readers; students who could read, but chose not to. Michael admitted that he had never actually read a whole book before, other than picture books when he was younger.
​
So what was this magic book that Michael read (actually 304 pages)? The novel was K.A. Holt’s House Arrest, an arresting story in its own right, but one reason Michael felt he was able to read the whole book was that the text on each page was less dense. This is a verse novel. In fact, all the choices for these book clubs were verse novels—those by K.A. Holt and Kwame Alexander. And all the boys read two entire books in the eight weeks, and many read three. I wrote about this group of boys in “30+ MG/YA Verse Novels for National Poetry Month”, but I thought it worthy to repeat for those who had not read last year’s blog as it illustrates the immense power of verse novels.
 
And verse novels aren’t only appealing to reluctant readers. Verse novels can be more lyrical than prose, and proficient readers are engaged by the words, the spacing—sometimes creatively designed, and are intrigued by the effectiveness of the line breaks which nuance the author’s or narrator’s message. Samuel Taylor Coleridge said, “Prose, the best words; poetry, the best words in the best order.”
 
Many verse novels are actually multi-formatted novels including an assortment of free verse, rhyming verse, graphics, and prose or are written in a variety of poetic forms, introducing readers to new forms and teachers to new mentor texts for teaching writers.
 
Below are the 33 verse novels I recommended and reviewed last year.
​After the slideshow I share 10 more, in no particular order:

Alexander, Kwame. Rebound. HMH Books for Young Readers, 2018.
 
“I want to be the hero in my story.” (339) The year Charlie Bell turned twelve many good things were supposed to happen, but his father died suddenly, and Charlie began to lose his way. His dad was “a star in our neighborhood” but on March 9, 1988, Charlie’s “star exploded.” A good kid, with his best friend Skinny, he starts making bad decisions—skipping school, taking part in stealing an elderly neighbor’s deposit bottles. Even his smart friend CJ, a girl who might become more than a friend, can’t keep him on track. And his life began to revolve around his comics.

Then his mother sends Charlie to spend the summer with his grandparents on their “farm.” Through his grandmother’s love and his grandfather’s work ethic, and most of all, through his cousin Roxie’s obsession with basketball, the re-named Chuck discovers a love for basketball, and he learns to “rebound on the court. And off.” (2)

I became immediately caught up in the rhythm and rhyme of the free verse, and font size, style, and spacing were effectively employed throughout the narrative. However there were a lot of pages devoted to couplet dialogue that broke the rhythm and became somewhat monotonous. Many readers will be engaged by the graphics, comic book style, that are scattered throughout. One disappointment was many erroneous cultural references, pointed out by those reviewers more in tuned with the 80’s than I.

However, I fell in love with Charlie/Chuck and all the other characters, especially granddaddy Percival Bell and cousin Roxie Bell. In fact, I would love to see a novel featuring the young Miss Bell herself. This was definitely a character-driven novel.

A prequel to the popular verse novel The Crossover—Charlie is the twins father—this book would serve as a companion reading but can stand on its own, although I am not sure that the last section, set in 2018, would make sense to those who had not read The Crossover.

Holt, K.A., Redwood and Ponytail. Chronicle Books, 2019.
 
I love all the KA Holt’s novels I have read; Timothy from House Arrest is one of my favorite characters ever. I even have a place in my heart for Rhyme Schemer’s troublemaker-poet Kevin, and I was happy when Levi (House Arrest) grew into his own novel, Knockout (all verse novels) and makes an appearance in this new novel.
 
Tam (Redwood) and Kate (Ponytail) come from two different worlds.
Kate’s mom puts helicopter parents to shame. She has orchestrated Kate’s entire life so that in 7th grade she will become cheer captain and she will follow her mother’s life—unlike her much older sister who joined the Navy at 18. She lives in the perfect house, which is always being perfected, and her daughter certainly isn’t gay.
 
Tam’s mother is the opposite. Open and accepting and prone to trying out the adolescent lingo (and providing many of the laughs in reading this book). Tam is also looked after by neighbor Frankie and her wife. Frankie, it appears, is full of advice, based on experience trying to fit the stereotype. Tam is an athlete, tall as a redwood, ace volleyball player, who everyone high-five’s in the hallway, but she realizes she only has one good friend, Levy.
 
On the first day of school, Tam and Kate meet and, as they quickly, mysteriously, develop deep feelings for each other, they find each not only different from the stereotypes everyone assumes, but, opposite though they seem, opposite though their lives and families may be they each discover they may be a little different than they thought they were and more alike than they thought. Does Kate actually want to be cheer captain or would she rather run free in the team’s mascot’s costume? Does she really want to have lunch at her same old table or would she rather sit with Tam and Levy which is much more fun? Does Tam really want to beat Kate for the school presidency? Or is she punishing Kate for not being able to admit what their friendship may be? As their relationship experiences ups and downs, and they each try to define their attraction, they also find that others may not be as critical and narrow-minded as they assumed.
 
Written in my favorite format, free verse with some rhymes thrown in for rhythm, the author takes the form to another level with parallel lines and two-voice poetry. I would suggest that the reader have some experience with verse novels before reading. I also loved the Greek chorus—Alex, Alyx, Alexx—who comment on the action and keeps it moving along.

Frost, Helen. Hidden. Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2011.
 
A few years after I graduated from college, I was talking to a friend who had become a social worker. I asked her about her job. “The hardest thing is to have to take a child from his parents,” she said. “No matter how neglectful or abusive the parents are, children don’t want to leave their family or have family members leave them.”

Confusing feelings, complex relationships, and speculative blame develop from a simple plot in Hidden—even though both girls were there.

When she was eight, a man ran from a botched burglary and stole Wren’s mother’s car. Wren was in the back, hidden. West didn’t know she was there until he hid the car in his garage and Heard on the news that a child who was in a stolen car was missing, West’s wife and daughter, although threatened and hit by West, try to find her, and eight-year old Darra leaves food in the garage just in case the girl is there. Wren escapes, and West is caught and sentenced to a jail term, and Darra grows up with ambivalent feelings for the girl who took her “Dad” away.

Six years later the two girls meet at camp. They aren’t sure how they feel about each other, but they agree to avoid each other and not discuss the incident. Until one day they are placed together for a life-saving class event and finally realize that they are the only ones that can discuss the past, and they begin to listen to each other’s side of the story “and put the pieces into place” (124). Darra reflects, “Does she think you can’t love a dad who yells at you and even hits you?”(120). When Wren reveals that she wasn’t the one who turned West in, Darra thinks, “Everything is turning upside down.” And reassures Wren “None of what happened was your fault” (124). Together, they become “stronger than we knew.” (138)

Hidden is written in different styles of free verse. Wren recount her past and present stories in the more traditional style of short lines and meaningful line breaks in combination with meaning word and line spacing. Darra’s narration is crafted in a unique style of long lines and shorter lines, the words at the end of each long line, read vertically, tell Darra’s past memories of her father and explain her love for him. I am glad I happened to read the author’s “Notes on Form” at the end of the story that explained the format or I would have missed the effectiveness of this creative format, although the reader could return to the text for the message.

Bingham, Kelly. Shark Girl. Candlewick Press, 2007.
 
This multi-formatted novel— newspaper clippings, phone conversations, letters, internal dialogue, and mostly free verse—chronicles 15-year-old Jane Arrowood’s life during the year following a shark attack, an attack that took her right arm.

“Where can I find that line to stand upon,
step into the stream of humanity,
the place that is mine.” (112)

A high school junior, Jane has won the art contests every year and planned to become a professional artist. Little did she know when she went to the beach that day, her life and her aspirations would dramatically change. The novel, although fiction, has the feeling of a true story of an actual person. The reader experiences Jane’s ordeal from her perspective, even when she argues with her negative inner thoughts.

Through most of that year, Jane journeys through numerous emotions, the majority negative and despairing. She feels the tingling, throbbing, ache of the phantom limb and the frustration of using a prosthesis. She is not encouraged by the cards and presents sent by strangers—Pity Bears—a result of the video of the attack that someone posted. “Those people who write to me. They tell me they love me. / They don’t even know me.” (71)

Her therapist tells Jane that is natural to be depressed. “Allow yourself to feel as bad as you want. / The sooner you do this, / the sooner you will be able to move on.” (25) and then moves her beyond, a step at a time. “’Time to think about the smaller picture,’ / Mel says. ‘Like getting through one day. / Not your whole life, not forever / one day. / Sometimes we can only look at one hour / or one minute.’”

However, she is supported by family (particularly her brother who rescued her and whose quick-thinking saved her life) and friends, and Jane is greatly inspired by Justin, a little boy who lost both legs but retains his optimism.

In the fall she goes back to school, facing the hurdles of being the Shark Girl, some days bad but some good, support coming from unexpected places and people. “’We’re all just trying to help.’ / [Angie] shifts. ‘I don’t want to see you get hurt again.’” (264)

Although she struggles to train herself to draw with her left hand, Jane begins to reflect on the encouragement she received from hospital staff members (and on those who were unsupportive and unfriendly), and she realizes the difference a person can make. She begins to look into careers in the medical field—physical therapist, art therapist, nurse, doctor, gaining a new goal and purpose. “I’m going to start living again, / only differently.” (265)

This story is truly a mirror and a window that will develop empathy for those who have to navigate life “differently.”

Engle, Margarita. Soaring Earth. Atheneum Books for Young Readers, 2019.
​
I have written before that I find the most effective way to share and discuss any historical event, and the nuances and effects of those events, is through novels—the power of story. I credit what knowledge and understandings I have of the history and people of Cuba to Margarita Engle’s many verse novels and her first memoir Enchanted Air; reading this memoir was the first time I understood the Cuban Missile Crisis.

I read Engle’s new memoir, a continuation of Enchanted Air, which covers the years 1966-1973. This was more reminiscing, than learning, about the lifestyle and events. As a reader of about the same age of young adult Margarita and possibly crossing paths at some point, I am quite familiar with that time period.

Engle depicts a feeling of duality as she longs for Cuba, home of her “invisible twin,” now that travel is forbidden for North Americans.

Readers witness firsthand the era of hippies, an unpopular war, draft notices, drugs, and Martin Luther King’s speeches and assassination, riots, Cambodia, picket lines, as they follow 17-year-old bell-bottomed Margarita from her senior year of high school to her first university experience, fascinating college courses, books, unfortunate choices of boyfriends, dropping out, travel, homelessness, homecoming, college, agricultural studies, and finally, love.

At one point young Margarita as a member of a harsh creative writing critique group says, “If I ever scribble again, I’ll keep every treasured word secret.” (31). Thank goodness she didn’t. This beautifully written verse novel shares her story—and a bit of history—through poetry in many formats, including tanka, haiku, concrete, and the power of words.

Bryant, Jen. Ringside, 1925: Views from the Scopes Trial. Knopf Books for Young Readers, 2008.
 
I have always been fascinated by the Scopes “Monkey” Trial; I think much of America has—whether it be about religion vs science, text book and curricula decisions, the role of law and government in education, William Jennings Bryan vs Clarence Darrow, or Spencer Tracy vs Fredric March (Inherit the Wind).

Most of us know the Who, What, Where, When, and believe we know the Why – but do we? How often do we know the true story of historic events—and the stories behind the story, and the different perspectives on the story. Jen Bryant’s historical novel grants us the chance to observe the events of the Scopes Trial close up and personally.

Through this novel, written in the voices of those who had a ringside seat to this trial, readers secure a ringside seat to the trial, the people who participated in it, and the town that hosted it.

As the reader views the controversy and the trial from the point of view of nine fictitious, diverse characters (plus quotes from the real participants), each character develops more as the story progresses. My favorite are the teenagers of Dayton, Tennessee, because, through meeting those on both sides of the issue and closely observing them and the the trial, it affects them, their relationships, and their futures. Peter and Jimmy Lee, best friends become divided by their beliefs; Marybeth is a young lady who finds strength to stand up to her father’s traditional view of the role of women in society; and my favorite character, Willy Amos, meets Clarence Darrow and dares to believe what he can attempt to achieve. “’Well,’ I pointed out, ‘there ain’t no such thing as a colored lawyer.’”…”Do you plan to let that stop you?” (210)

The novel is powerfully written in multiple formats—free verse in a variety of stanza configurations and spacing decisions, a few rhyming lines here and there, and some prose. And the messages are powerful: Peter Sykes—“Why should a bigger mind need a smaller God.” (11); Marybeth Dodd—“I think some people can look at a thing a lot of different ways at once and they can all be partly right.” (131); and Constable Fraybel—“[Darrow] claims [his witnesses] are anxious to explain the difference between science and religious faith and how they made places in their heart and minds for both.” (143)

An epilogue shares the aftermath and the lasting effects of the trial. Every American History/Social Justice teacher and ELA teacher should have copies of this novel.

Bryant, Jen. The Trial. Knopf Books for Young Readers, 2004.
 
Our students can learn more about history from novels than textbooks, and, more importantly, stories help them understand history and its effects on the people involved. Familiar with aviator Charles Lindbergh, I was not as knowledgeable about the 1932 kidnapping of his son and the resulting trial of Bruno Richard Hauptmann, but the most effective way to learn about it was through the eyes, and words, of seventh-grader Katie Leigh Flynn.
 
Katie is a resident of Flemington, New Jersey, a town where “nothing ever happens.” (5). Katie’s father left her and her mother years ago, and both Katie and her mother are compassionate about the plight of others. The Great Depression has begun; Katie donates food and clothing for less-fortunate children and, when the hotel’s assistant chef is caught putting food in his pockets, her mother says she will “find him an apron with larger pockets.” Katie supports her best friend Mike who “is not like / the other boys I know…he’s not / stuck-up or loudmouthed or silly” (10) and lives with his father, a drunk.
 
Katie, nicknamed “Word Girl” by the local newspaper editor, plans to become a reporter and keeps a scrapbook of news clippings and headlines, especially about Colonel Lindbergh and the kidnapping. When the Hauptmann is arrested and the trial comes to the local courthouse, her reporter uncle needs a secretary to take notes, and she takes six weeks off school to help. Thus, readers experience the 1935 trial through Katie.
 
During the trial, readers meet the Lindbergs; the judge; the defendant; the alcoholic defense lawyer who hasn’t won a case in years; prosecutor Wilentz; Anna Hauptmann who swears her husband was at home with her and their baby that night; a witness (paid by the prosecution); and Walter Winchell and other celebrities who come to town for the trial.
 
The story reminds us that at this time Hitler is in power and discrimination and his persecution has begun in Europe. But Americans are just as prone to prejudice and discrimination. The German bakery changes its sign to “Good American-Baked Bread and Desserts.” [Katie’s] “Mother shrugs, ‘Everything German is suspicious these days.’” (96) And Hauptmann is a German immigrant.
 
Prejudice is not limited to Germans. People talk about Katie’s friend Mike. “They say: ‘Kids like Mike / never amount to much.’” (24) He is accused of vandalism but when Katie wants to tell who really was responsible, he tells her,
“I’m a drunkard’s son.
You’re a dancer’s daughter.
Bobby Fenwick is a surgeon’s son.
His mother is on
the School Board,
the Women’s League,
the Hospital Auxiliary,
the Town Council,
If you were Mrs, McTavish,
[who is a member of
the School Board,
the Women’s League,
the Hospital Auxiliary,
the Town Council, (110)]
Who would you believe?” (112)
 
Truth moves to center stage for Katie (if not for anyone else). Thinking about the conflicting testimonies and absence of evidence, she reflects, “Truth must be … like a lizard that’s too quick to catch and turns a different color to match whatever rock it sits upon.” (126) She is careful to write down every word of testimony. “I say, ‘But when a man’s on trial for his life / isn’t every word important?’” (84)
 
The search for truth is the heart of Jen Bryant’s novel told in free verse. After her experiences, Katie is disillusioned with the American Justice System and says that “…everything used to lay out so neatly, / everything seemed / pretty clear and straight. / Now all the streets run slantwise / and even the steeples look crooked.” (151)
 
As in Ringside 1925, the novel ends with an epilogue and a reflection on “reasonable doubt,” media, and “the complexities of human behavior” and will lead to important classroom conversations, not about the trial, but about justice.

Polisner, Gae. The Memory of Things. Wednesday Books, 2017.
 
An engrossing, insightful story about the effects of the events of September 11, 2001. One reason we read is to understand events we have not experienced and the effect of those events on others who may be like ourselves. After witnessing the fall of the first Twin Towers on 9-11, teenager Kyle finds an adolescent girl, wearing wings, poised on the edge of the Brooklyn Bridge. She is covered in ash and has no memory of who she is. He takes her back to his apartment hoping that his father, who is working at Ground Zero, can discover who she is and what she was doing on the bridge. And how she may be connected to, or have been affected by, the events of 9/11.
 
The Memory of Things is told in alternating narratives—Kyle's in prose, the girl’s perceptions are conveyed through free verse—the two characters sharing their stories and perspectives, introducing adolescent readers, who were not alive during 9/11, to the uncertainty and immediate, as well as lasting, effects of this tragedy.

Nelson, Marilyn. American Ace. Dial Books, 2016.
 
A story about identity, family, and pride, this short verse novel was written by award-winning poet and novelist Marilyn Nelson.
 
Connor Bianchini is an Italian-Irish-American adolescent, of 100% Italian heritage on his close-knit father’s side—or so he thinks. When his grandmother dies, she leaves behind the revelation that Connor’s father’s biological father was an American killed during the war.
 
The family reacts in different, primarily positive, ways to the news. “’It’s funny to think about identity,” / Dad said. ‘Now I wonder how much of us / we inherit, and how much we create.’” (19) Uncle Father Joe says, “You’re as much a Bianchini as I am” and Aunt Kitty although “shocked,” admits “…but I’m glad to know Mama had a Grand Romance! / Tony, nothing makes you less my brother!” (25) Only Dad’s older son Carlo objects to the family announcement, “His says bad news should be told privately.” (79)
 
As Connor tries to discover more about his grandfather, nicknamed Ace, he has two clues: a class ring engraved with two initials and the term “Forcean” and a pair of pilot's wings. “Forcean” leads him to the Class of 1939 yearbook of Wilberforce University, an historically black university. Surprised to learn that his grandfather was African-American, “I felt like a helium-filled balloon / only the helium was the word ‘wow.’” (71) Connor’s father has his DNA tested and finds his ancestry is so much more than Irish and Italian. “So Ace connects us to the larger world!” (75) Connor embraces his mixed heritage, “It’s like having more teams you can cheer for! / I’d become a citizen of the world.” And “I walked the [school] halls in slow motion. … Little things I hadn’t noticed before: the subtle put-downs, silent revenges.” (75)
 
Realizing that this grandfather, a pilot, may have been a Tuskegee Airman, Connor researches and learns as much as he can about the Tuskegee Airmen and welcomes this part of his heredity with openness and pride. He can retain his bond with his family while amplifying his own identity and appreciation of who he is. “Inside I’m both the same and different. / I’m different in ways no one can see.” “I fee there is a blackness beyond skin, / beyond race, beyond outward appearance. /  A blackness that has more to do with how / you see than how you’re seen. That craves justice / equally for oneself and for others. / I hope I’ve found some of that in myself.” (117)
 
A blend of narrative and informational text (the information Connor finds on the Tuskegee Airmen), this is yet another book for learning about people and times in our history, written by the daughter of one of the last Tuskegee Airmen and author of a verse memoir, How I Discovered Poetry.

Anderson, Laurie Halse. Shout. Penguin Young Readers Group, 2019.

When I think of Laurie Halse Anderson, writer, I think of well-told important stories—whether contemporary or historical, memorable characters, critical messages. When I think of Laurie Halse Anderson, person, I think of hugs, compassion, empathy, attention, and action. Now when I think of Laurie Halse Anderson, poet, I will ruminate on the power of words, the rhythm of words, the lyricism of words.
 
It is hard to believe that Shout is Anderson’s first free-verse writing. I was swept away in the unexpected word choices, startling word combinations, thoughtful line breaks, and subtle alliterations.
 
[As a child,]
I learned then that words
Had such power
Some must never be spoken
And was thus robbed of both
Tongue and the truth. (16)
 
In this memoir Anderson generously shares her life—the bottomless depths and the highest peaks—all that made her the force she is today. A challenging family life and the rape that “splits open your core with shrapnel,” clouds of doubt and self-loathing…anxiety, depression, and shame,” leaving “untreated pain / a cancer of the soul / that can kill you.” (69)
 
But also there were teachers, librarians, and the tutor who taught “the ants swarming across the pages” to form words and meaning, the lessons learned from Greek mythology, the gym teacher who cared enough to inspire her to shape-shift from “a lost stoner dirtbag / to a jock who hung out with exchange students, / wrote poetry for the literary magazine / and had a small group of …friends to sit with at lunch.” (88) and her home in Denmark which “taught me how to speak / again, how to reinterpret darkness and light, / strength and softness…redefine my true north / and start over.” (114)
 
She describes how the story of her first novel Speak found her and the origin of Melinda, “alone / with her fear / heart open, / unsheltered” (162)
 
Part Two bears witness to the stories of others, female and male, children, teens, and adults, connected through trauma and Melinda’s story, the questions of boys, confused, having never learned “the rules of intimacy or the law” (181) and the censorship, “the child of fear/ the father of ignorance” which keeps these stories away from them. Anderson raises the call to “sisters of the march” who never got the help they needed and deserved to “stand with us now / let’s be enraged aunties together.” (230)
 
And in Part Three the story returns to her American birth family, her father talking and “unrolling our family legacies of trauma and / silence.”
 
Shout is a tale of Truth: the truths that happened, the truths that we tell ourselves, the truths that we tell others, the truths that we live with; Shout is the power of Story—stories to tell and stories to be heard.

And a bonus—The 2018 National Book Award Winner for Young People’s Literature, a novel about verse, rather than a verse novel
Acevedo, Elizabeth. The Poet X. HarperTeen, 2018.

The power of words – to celebrate, to heal, to communicate, to feel.

Fifteen-year-old Xiomara grabbed me immediately with her words. She sets the scene in “Stoop-Sitting”: one block in Harlem, home, church ladies, Spanish, drug dealers, and freedom that ends each day with the entrance of her Mami.

Xiomara feels “unhide-able,” insulted and harassed because of her body. We meet her family—the twin brother whom she loves but can’t stand up for her and a secret that he is hiding; her father who was a victim of temptation, and now stays silent; her mother, taken away from the Dominican Republic and her calling to become a nun and forced into a marriage that was a ticket to America; and Caridad, her best friend—only friend—and conscience,

Bur Xio fills her journal with poetry and when she discovers love, or is it lust, she finds the one person with whom she can share her poetry.
“He is not elegant enough for a sonnet,
too well thought-out for a free write,
Taking too much space in my thoughts
To ever be a haiku.” (107)

Aman gives Xio the confidence to see what she can become, not what she is told she can be, and to appreciate, rather than hide, her body. “And I think of all the things we could be if we were never told out bodies were not built for them.” (188)

She also begins to doubt religion and defy the endless rules her mother has made about boys, dating, and confession. With the urging of her English teacher, Xio joins the Poetry Club and makes a new friend, Isabelle “”That girl’s a storyteller writing a world you’re invited to walk into.” (257) and with the support of Isabelle, Stephan, and Chris “My little words feel important, for just a moment.” (259)

When her mother discovers that Xio has not been attending her confirmation class, things come to a climax; however, even though her obsession with poetry has destroyed relationships in her family, it also, with some “divine intervention,” becomes the vehicle to heal them.

As I read I wanted to hear Xio’s poems, but when I finished the book, I realized that I had. A novel for mature readers, The Poet X features diverse characters and shares six months’ of interweaving relationships built on words.

Lesley Roessing taught high school and middle school English-Language Arts/Humanities for 20 years before becoming Founding Director of the Coastal Savannah Writing Project and Senior Lecturer in the College of Education of Armstrong State University (now Georgia Southern University) for 9 years. She currently serves as literacy consultant for a K-8 school.
 
Lesley has published four professional books for educators: The Write to Read: Response Journals that Increase Comprehension; Comma Quest: The Rules They Followed—The Sentences They Saved; No More “Us” and “Them”: Classroom Lessons & Activities to Promote Peer Respect; and Bridging the Gap: Reading Critically and Writing Meaningfully to Get to the Core. She contributed chapters to two anthologies, Young Adult Literature in a Digital World: Textual Engagement though Visual Literacy and Queer Adolescent Literature as a Complement to the English Language Arts Curriculum.
 
Her newest book, Talking Texts: A Teacher’s Guide to Book Clubs across the Curriculum (Rowman & Littlefield, 2019) features many of these novels, as well as many of those in her 2018 guestblog “30+ MG/YA Verse Novels for National Poetry Month” plus other verse novels in her section on planning book clubs by genre or format and for poetry clubs.

Until next time.