Reflection

I feel that this project has helped me in a number of ways. Throughout high school and until this point in college, I was not exposed to young adult literature, thus it was an excellent opportunity to read young adult books. This project gave me the opportunity to consider books for my future students and what I feel I will be comfortable exposing my students to. While I enjoyed nine of ten of my books, I would only teach half of my books as whole class reads. This is not a testament to the books, but instead to my own comfort level, thus this may change as I gain experience as a teacher. Either way, I would recommend nearly every one of these books as individual reads, and I would happily pair a few of these books together, such as “The Truth About Forever” and “Twilight.” After gaining exposure to a number of young adult novels, I am eager to read more and fill my classroom with these books so that my students have constant access, regardless of what we are reading as a whole class.

“The Bluest Eye” by Toni Morrison

Toni Morrison’s “The Bluest Eye” is a truly heartbreaking story. The story of Pecola Breedlove is told by both Claudia, a young girl in Lorain, Ohio, and an omnipresent third person narrator. Claudia and her sister Frieda friend Pecola when she is forced to move into their home after Pecola’s father burns down their house. Claudia and Frieda look at Pecola lovingly, yet without truly recognizing Pecola’s personal agony. Pecola is the daughter of Cholly and Pauline, two parents who recklessly abuse one another and their children. Cholly convinced Pauline to move to Ohio, yet lost interest in her once they arrived, and instead became an alcoholic. Pauline, desperate to fill this void became pregnant with two children that she despised from birth. While Pecola’s older brother plays nearly no role in the novel, Pecola constantly prays for blue eyes so that she may be loved by her parents. While living with Claudia and Frieda, Pecola compulsively drinks from Frieda’s Shirley Temple glass in order to longingly stare at the little girl with blue eyes. During a drunken night, her father comes home and rapes Pecola, leaving her pregnant and ultimately unaware of her surroundings. She goes to the local self-proclaimed medicine man in an effort to seek blue eyes, only to become more deceived by his greed. He pities her supposed ugliness and convinces her that poisoning his land lord’s dog will grant her blue eyes. From this point on in the story, Pecola walks about town in a haze, suddenly convinced that the townspeople are jealous of her blue eyes and beauty.

I feel that there is an infinite amount of analysis that can be completed in relation to this novel. Pecola and her family’s self hatred is all derived from a belief that as African Americans, they can not be beautiful or fully loved. I would like to teach this as a whole class read, yet I might face controversy as “The Bluest Eye” is among "55 books that parents in Fayetteville, Arkansas are petitioning to have removed from school libraries. The parents, who formed Parents Protecting the Minds of Children, object to the profane language and depictions of sexuality in many of the books and have accused the librarians and other opponents of their efforts of promoting a ‘homosexual agenda’. PPMC also objects to these novels because of their profane language and depictions of sex & violence" (Banned Books Week Handbook Online). Regardless, I feel that this would be an invaluable book to teach to my future students. This was the one book that I chose to repeat after reading it once in high school, and I think that there are an infinite amount of lessons that can be planned around this particular text. I think that it would be valuable to tie in background information when teaching this text and I would certainly like to discuss self-image and how this has been modified over the years. It is valuable for students to recognize the way that beauty is portrayed within their society, and this is an excellent jumping point for this discussion.

“Speak” by Laurie Halse Anderson

“Speak” is a novel from the perspective of a freshman in high school who has just been alienated by all of her friends. While at a party during the summer before her freshman year, Melinda was led off into the woods and raped by a senior at her high school. In a panic, Melinda called the police from the party, only to freeze while on the phone with the operator. Friends entered the room and grabbed the phone from her, but it was too late and the police arrived to break up the party.

The novel begins on her first day of freshman year, where Melinda describes sitting among her peers, feeling alienated and despised by not only her friends, but the rest of the freshman class as well. The event that led to Melinda calling the police is only revealed in bits and pieces throughout the novel, yet it is evident that she has entered a downward spiral as she attempts to cope with the loss of her friends as well as the “thing” that made her call the police. As her grades fall apart, her parents initially question her strange behavior but soon lose patience with her.

Melinda slowly stops speaking due to frustration and depression, and her art class becomes the only thing that keeps her going as she slips further and further into herself. She receives an assignment where she must create a representation of a tree, and although frustrating, she throws all of her efforts into this project and slowly begins to cope with the horrendous events of the year. When her previous best friend begins dating her rapist, Melinda must find the strength to warn her friend, even if this means forsaking the friendship to a further extend. Although challenging, Melinda finds strength in this process and begins to heal as her rapist is finally seen what he truly is.

I would absolutely teach this as a whole class book. Although the topic has the potential to become uncomfortable, I think that students will truly enjoy this book, as well as Melinda’s strength and wit.
There are many literary elements that I would focus upon in teaching this novel. Point of view is especially important in “Speak” as Melinda provides the only narration throughout the novel. Due to limited interaction between Melinda and other characters, the reader is left to depend upon Melinda as a trustworthy narrator. Although her parents and teachers occasionally attempt to speak with Melinda, it is evident that she has moved far from the help of those around her and has entered her own secluded world. Even the comments of her family and teachers are reported to the reader by Melinda, thus the reader has no choice but to accept what Melinda is saying as truth. Although only a freshman in high school, her blatant disinterest in all aspects of her home and school life make it evident that Melinda does not care to lie, but is in fact trust worthy. Although Melinda never directly states a feeling of depression, it is evident through her reactions and her ever growing removal from all aspects of her life that she is slipping into a state of depression. The point of view within this novel creates a sense of longing for acceptance as well as help in her struggles. In reading “Speak” and receiving Melinda’s direct narration, the reader becomes her only ally in her struggle through a lonely freshman year.

I would also focus upon “Speak” as a Bildungsroman. Melinda’s struggle is especially relevant to the definition of the Bildungsroman as a repeated tension between the protagonist and the peers of the protagonist. Melinda is not only left to cope with the event which led her to call the police, but calling the police has also made her appear an enemy to many of her peers. Unable to reveal what happened to her, she instead remains silent and bears the disdain of her peers. Terrified of what happened, she eventually removes herself from every aspect of her previous life in order to escape the recurring thoughts of the night which led her to call the police. This novel shows Melinda’s ever present struggle to move beyond the horrendous event which caused her to lose every aspect of her life before that night, and is even more tremendous due to her resolve to recover although she must do so alone. Melinda can be seen growing and changing through every stage of the novel, especially as she chooses to protect her friend from the fate that she was forced to endure, despite her own fear. She overcomes the anger of her peers in order to move beyond the ordeal in daily life. When she is forced to face the nightmare himself, she proves to be stronger than she ever expected, and defeats an aspect of her life which once appeared impossible to her. Throughout the novel, Melinda grows beyond her own means and is finally able to recognize herself as a strong individual, despite desperate circumstances.

“Shakespeare Bats Cleanup” by Ron Koertge

When fourteen year old Kevin Boland is diagnosed with mono, he is forced to drop baseball, which has been at the center of his ambitions until this time. His father, a writer, provides Kevin with a notebook in case he becomes bored and decides to write. Unexpectedly, Kevin becomes incredibly intrigued by writing and begins to experiment with poetry. He stealthily borrows his father’s poetry book in order to examine various forms of poetry, and thus creates a novel in verse within his writing. Kevin portrays the average thoughts of a fourteen year old boy, and talks frequently of his friends and the girls he is interested in. While sick, Kevin becomes closer to his father than he has been able to be since his mother’s death. While he and his father were moderately close, he occasionally reflects on the way his mother would have acted had she been alive while he had mono. However, he and his father begin going to poetry readings and his father discreetly suggests that Kevin could read a poem at a show if he were interested.

I feel as though this was actually one of the most compelling and realistic stories I read this semester. Kevin’s story is incredibly ordinary, and thus very relatable. I would use this book as a whole class read for several reasons. I think there are many literary elements that can be plucked from this book, such as similes, metaphors, voice, and characterization, as well as the many poetic elements that are present throughout the story. I wrote a reading strategies project for this book for Content Literacy, and I think that I would actually work to further build my lesson for that project in order to focus upon novels in verse in addition to poetry. I think that there are infinite resources within this book, and I would not at all hesitate to incorporate it into my classroom.

“Twilight” by Stephanie Meyer

“Twilight” tells the story of seventeen year old Bella Swan, beginning with the day she leaves Pheonix, Arizona for Forks, Washington. It is evident from the beginning of the story that Bella sees no appeal in moving to Forks to live with her father, yet she hides this internal struggle from her parents as well as the friends she meets at school. While eating lunch, Bella notices a table of five wonderfully beautiful individuals, only to catch the attention of one of the brothers, Edward. She finds herself immediately drawn to him, and thus can not understand his anger upon their first interaction. In time, Edward becomes a mysterious fixture within Bella’s life. While she wishes to not think of him, her mind travels to him on several occasions. Within a rather short period of time, Bella begins to recognize that Edward is not normal, and she slowly unravels the truth that he is a vampire. While the premise is certainly different, “Twilight” proved to be a far more interesting book than anticipated.

I chose to read “Twilight” as my challenge book as I truly believed that I would have absolutely no interest in the novel, yet also felt that this was a valuable book to gain exposure to before teaching high school students. I procrastinated and chose to read this last as I did not believe I would like it, thus I waited until the week before finals to begin this book. Despite my initial resistance to the book, I soon found that I could not put it down. In the midst of projects and research papers, I was utterly drawn to “Twilight.” I would absolutely suggest this to my high school students, particularly the girls in my classes. While boys might find some interest in the novel, I think that this would be much more appealing to girls than boys. I would use this novel as either a small group read or as a suggested individual read, as I think that there is little of literary value to touch upon as a whole class.

I feel that the one downside of this novel is Bella’s dependence upon Edward. I had heard this many times from others who had read the book, yet I found her to be witty and self reliant until she truly began falling for Edward later in the novel. While many high school students might not pick up on this dependence, I do not know that I would want to pass on this message to my young students. However, every other aspect of this novel is intriguing and endearing to an extend.

“Inexcusable” by Chris Lynch

“Inexcusable” tells the story of Keir Sarafein, a self-proclaimed Good Guy. The story begins with Keir and Gigi, his dream girl, arguing within a locked bedroom. She appears terrified as he blocks her way from exiting the room, yet he reassures her over and over again that he has done nothing to hurt her, as good guys do not hurt girls, and they especially recognize that no means no. While this is an incredibly suspicious beginning to the story, it is hard to not trust Keir as he reinforces the statement that he is an upstanding person, loved by all who surround him. Keir describes his father as wonderful and highly devoted to his children, yet again suspicions arise as he and his father are seen drinking excessive amounts of beer on several occasions. Despite this, I felt incredibly sorry for his father throughout the entirety of the novel as he depended upon his children and both of Keir’s sisters had already left for college, with Keir was preparing to leave in the fall. In time, Keir convinces Gigi to ride with him to visit his sister’s on their graduation night, only to prove that both sisters had lied and had simply chosen to not attend Keir’s graduation. For the first time, Keir is portrayed as the far from perfect character that he truly is as his sister reveals each of his faults. Throughout the story, Keir has been able to maintain that he truly is a good person who is respected by his sisters, but the animosity his sister shows upon this night reveals that he is far from trust worthy. Later, the truth is revealed about the prospective rape. Suddenly, the reader is in the room with Keir and Gigi, only to witness Keir narrating his rape of Gigi as though she were willing. This scene is horrendous to read as it is incredibly evident what he is doing, yet he still sees himself as innocent. Finally, Keir narrates back to the argument which began the book, showing that despite his reassurance that he would never hurt her, he has done just that. To make matters worse, he begins to rape her a second time, only to finally realize what he is doing and release her from his grasp.

I was horrified upon realizing that he was an untrustworthy narrator, as this showed before the actual rape scene that he had in fact raped Gigi. I would not teach this as a whole class book as I believe that this could trigger problems for many of my students. I would keep this book in my classroom as an optional read, yet I do not think that I would even recommend it for my students. While I enjoyed the book to some extent, it left me very uncomfortable and I would rather not put my students in this position.

“Rite of Passage” by Richard Wright

While I did not intend for Wright’s book to become my challenge book, it absolutely was. I struggled throughout at least the first half of the book, only to begin getting sucked in and be disappointed by the ending. “Rite of Passage” tells the story of Johnny Gibbs, a fifteen year old who is abruptly informed that the family he has grown up with is not actually his family, but instead his foster family. They tell him that he must leave home that very night to live with his new foster family. Although it is mildly emotional in the sense that Johnny yells at his mother and denies that this is the truth, the dialog feels incredibly contrived and this should be emotional moment felt meaningless as I read. Johnny runs away, only to find his friend Billy, who is very excited by Johnny’s grand adventure of being forced to leave his home. Billy leads Johnny to the school where their secret gang meets, and Johnny is brutally initiated, only to become the leader of the gang that very night. The lack of resolve might merely be present to suggest that Johnny has chosen this life, and thus there is no hope of happiness returning, yet it left me very frustrated.

Despite my incredibly negative view of the novel, I think that I would still have this book present in my classroom as a free read for students. While I did not see value in the story, that does not mean that my students will not see the value of it. I think that I was too far removed from this story to enjoy it, yet my students might.

“Twisted,” by Laurie Halse Anderson

Although this novel is from the perspective of a seventeen year old boy, it deals with issues that any high school student has the potential to encounter. We are introduced to Tyler the summer before his senior year in high school, and told by him that he has committed some “foul deed”. He quickly elaborates and explains that he simply spray painted the school in order to stop being invisible to his classmates. After a summer of community service, including plenty of physical labor, things seem to start coming together for Tyler. Despite a dysfunctional family desperate to keep up their image, Tyler seems to begin moving beyond the struggle he has faced until this time. Bulked up from a summer of landscaping, Tyler has attracted the girl of his dreams and has begun to overcome the bullying that controlled his early schooling.

After Tyler walks in to the locker room to find his best friend being harassed by a group of sophomores, his first instinct is to run, but for the first time in his life he is able to defend himself as well as his friend. I found this quote to be not only extremely descriptive of the agony Tyler and his friend Yoda face, but also incredibly heartbreaking, “We didn’t talk about football or duct tape or sisters or fathers or crime or punishment. We didn’t talk about the time in seventh grade I had my face pushed into a toilet or when he used to get chased home from school or when we both used to hand over our lunch money so we wouldn’t get beat up or the plans we used to make to get back at the bullies or how weird all of this was because I had picked that Parker kid up off the ground and slammed him into a locker. We didn’t talk about what it felt like when they held him down or how hard he fought against crying or how close I came to killing Chip Milbury or if he needed help getting the tape off because we both knew if he asked, I’d do it, and we’d never talk about it again” (Anderson 74). This quote reveals the struggle Tyler faced previous to his senior year, and reveals the struggle that his friend Yoda still faces on a daily basis. Although life has improved for Tyler, it is evident that his high school career until this time was a nightmare. As a perspective teacher, this quote nearly made me cry while reading the book and still breaks my heart while reviewing it. The truly agonizing aspect about this quote is that despite Tyler’s brief ability to rise above the turmoil of his early life, everything takes a turn for the worst yet again when he goes to a party with Bethany. While at the party, he makes the very virtuous choice to not sleep with her, with the assumption that she will understand how difficult his choice was and see him for how wonderful he really is. Instead, she turns on him and ends the night with someone else. From there, life again becomes very complicated for Tyler as he is accused of attacking her while Bethany was in a drunken haze.

My first interaction with this novel began with the disclaimer, “Note: This is not a book for children,” written directly after the dedication. Although I was reading the book in hopes of recommending it to middle and high school students, this disclaimer made me nervous that it would not be appropriate for that age group. After reading it, I would say that it is absolutely appropriate for high school students, but I would consider it much more of an individual read than a whole class read. The book is from the perspective of a seventeen year old boy, and slightly wanders into his fantasies from time to time, thus I think students would be far more comfortable reading the book individually. I would recommend this novel to every high school student as it is one of the most accurate depictions I have ever read of high school, despite the turn for the worst near the end.

“The Truth About Forever” by Sarah Dessen

This book is ideal for high school students as it provides a look at a very realistic teenager. Macy, the main character, is left to face the death of her father, yet she is terrified to show how heartbroken his death has left her. While still attempting to appear strong to those around her, Macy looks for anything she can cling to, only to rely upon a boyfriend who is far too focused on academic and career goals to build her into his life. Although Macy begins the summer with the intention of maintaining her boyfriend Jason’s job while he is away, she soon realizes that she must make herself happy rather than constantly caring for those around her. Macy has become dependent upon acting perfect in order to hide how much she is actually suffering, believing that her mother needs her to stay as strong as she is. She surrounds herself with perfection, such as her mother who compulsively cleans to distract herself, and her work oriented boyfriend who believes love to be an unhealthy distraction. When she meets Delia and the rest of the Wish catering crew, she soon finds comfort in disorder as they quickly handle disaster after disaster. While Macy initially holds back from the rest of the crew, even after her boyfriend cruelly breaks up with her via email, she soon begins to relax and enjoy her summer with the hectic catering crew. She begins to love the chaos, “So while at home I was still fine-just-fine Macy, wiping up sink splatters immediately and ironing my clothes as soon as they got out of the dryer, the nights when I arrived home from catering, I was someone else, a girl with her hair mussed, a stained shirt, smelling of whatever had been spilled or smeared on me. It was like Cinderella in reverse: if I was a princess for my daylight hours, at night I let myself and my composure go, just until the stroke of midnight, when I turned back to princess again, just in time” (Dessen 105). While Macy still sees the necessity in remaining perfect, she is able to let her guard down from time to time in order in enjoy herself.

I would like to teach this book, yet I feel that it would be valuable to teach it alongside a similar text of potentially higher caliber. I would classify this as an issue book of sorts, thus I might teach it alongside other high school issue books. While there are many elements I would be interested in exploring, I think that boys might be less interested in this work, thus I think it would work better as a suggested read or as a group book. Despite the light nature of “The Truth About Forever,” I think that it would still strike the attention of many students, and thus it is a valuable resource for my classroom. I would like to tentatively suggest this book to students who might have experienced loss, without necessarily pushing the book at them so that they feel uncomfortable.

"Stuck in Neutral" by Terry Trueman

Terry Trueman’s “Stuck in Neutral” is entirely from the perspective of Shawn, a fifteen year old with Cerebral Palsy. The interesting element of this story, especially as Shawn is actually telling the story, is that everyone believes that he is incapable of truly thinking or feeling anything. While his parents and siblings occasionally question whether he is coherent, there is a widespread belief that Shawn is entirely unaware of what is going on around him. Due to this belief as well as an inability to watch his son suffer, his father begins to plot his death. He whispers to Shawn from time to time, noting that he loves him too much to watch him suffer. Shawn is aware of his father’s plot, yet is able to do nothing, "There is one final bad-news punch line to my life. This bad news is complicated, difficult to explain. In a nutshell, it's that I am pretty sure that my dad is planning to kill me. The good news is that he'd be doing this out of his love for me. The bad news is that whatever the wonderfulness of his motives, I'll be dead" (Trueman 2). Shawn faces an unending battle with himself, questioning with his father is justified in killing him. While he never truly finds a rationale, the book ends with Shawn and his father sitting face to face in his bedroom, establishing meaningful eye contact, while his father holds a pillow in his lap. Trueman leaves the ending up in the air to allow the reader to establish his or her own truth within the novel.

I would teach Terry Trueman’s “Stuck in Neutral” as a whole class book to middle and high school students. However, I think that I would teach this with a second book that takes a less severe look at cerebral palsy. I loved the honesty evoked within “Stuck in Neutral,” yet I think that it would be beneficial for students to recognize what teenagers similar to Shawn are capable of accomplishing.
In order to teach this novel, I would want to ensure that students have a firm understanding of Shawn’s condition, and do not have misconceptions about Cerebral Palsy. In covering a book such as this, I feel that it is essential that we as a class hold multiple discussions before, during and after reading the book to maintain a comfort level in the midst of a rather uncomfortable topic.

“Hatchet” by Gary Paulson

“Hatchet” tells the story of thirteen year old Brian and the plane crash he experiences on his way to visit his father. While Brian thinks back to the events leading to his parents separation, the pilot suddenly goes into cardiac arrest, and despite Brian’s efforts, he is eventually forced to land the plane upon a lake in the middle of the woods. Upon escaping the plane, Brian is then forced to find shelter, food and water in order survive what he believes will be a brief period of time within the woods. While he is initially hopeless in his survival attempts, Brian soon builds himself a shelter and grows to be an expert fisher and hunter. The book jumps over a brief period of time, and Brian suddenly matures from a dependent child living day to day to an incredibly mature teenager, capable of surviving his inescapable surroundings. Shortly after he realizes that the survival pack is still in the body of the plane, Brian creates a make shift raft and spends the entirety of a day rafting to the plane to obtain the pack. Just as he cooks his first freeze dried meal, a pilot lands upon the lake and rescues him.
I had a difficult time at the beginning of this story as it focuses primarily on flashbacks, with an abundance of repetition, yet the story continuously improved as I read on. I would suggest this story for middle school students, and potentially ninth graders, but I think that it is too young for students above ninth grade. I was very intrigued by this story, and the tactics Brian uses to survive. I think that if I were teaching a middle school class, or even a late elementary school class, I would teach this as a whole class book. I think that in order to effectively teach this book, I would teach it alongside “Lost on a Mountain in Maine,” by Donn Fendler. Both of these works can be classified as at adventure novels, and I think that these two novels could capture the attention of many students.
A final thought on this book is its value as a read aloud story. I rented the audio CD of “Hatchet” and was attached throughout the entirety of the novel. In this sense, I think that I would like to use this book either as a read aloud or at stations where students may listen to books on CD rather than being forced to physically read each book. While I intend to ask students to read individually from their books on several occasions, I think that read alouds are incredibly valuable, and that the descriptions within this novel are enhanced by listening rather than reading “Hatchet.”