What Do You Need?

I'm reading Need by Joelle Charbonneau. Well, I'm not reading it right this second because I keep having to put it down. "Intense" may be too mild to describe this one. 

The premise is that there a new, invitation only, social networking site, open to only the students of one high school. The first few who join only have to get a few others to join in order to have their "Needs" met. Once all of the students join, they must complete tasks in order to have their need requests filled. And what's the harm? It's just a note shoved under someone's door. Just a false receipt created in a bakery.
It's just harmless pranks, right? And, really, some of those people being pranked deserve it.

Then the body count begins to rise.

Someone on an Amazon review commented that the premise is completely unrealistic-that no one would be stupid enough to do even the seemingly "little" things that the website asked. I beg to differ. Not I only do I know some teenagers who could be easily convinced to do some of the seemingly harmless activities, I know plenty of adults who would dive right in without asking questions. This is a frightening book. And the greatest fright lies in the fact that, for the most part, it is all too plausible.

What Do Your Books Say About You?

A few weeks ago,  I stopped at an estate sale on my way home. Some people love those, and they go to every one that is advertised, but estate sales always make me a little bit sad. You see people's entire lives spread out like so much detritus. Shoes and purses may line the walls. Blow dryers and curling irons sit on bathroom counters. All with little stickers showing a price. If you don't like the price, you can haggle-haggle over the bits that remain of a life once lived.

This particular home was filled with books. A narrow floor to ceiling shelf capped the end wall dividing the kitchen from the living room. An office had one wall with floor to ceiling shelves, and the other three walls had half shelves. A bedroom had several book shelves. These people were readers. She loved to garden; I know this because there were three rows of shelves full of gardening books. Another shelf was filled with books on bird watching and feeding birds. One table was piled with 40 or so Civil War books, and there were shelves of historical fiction. The lower shelves, those near the floor, were filled with titles that appeal to young readers.

These people also supported their local library by buying books from library sales. Receipts served as book marks, and there were occasional notes that read "Such a good book!" I became ever more reflective as I browsed. At some point, strangers may well peruse my shelves, pick up books that I've loved, discard them as uninteresting, or, maybe, give a small gasp of pleasure at finding a loved title.

What will my books say about me? That I loved baseball and horses? That I enjoyed a good mystery? That I thirsted for ways to engage students in the reading and writing process? I don't know. And at that point, it certainly won't matter to me. But it certainly makes me more mindful every time I place a title on the shelf. What will it tell about me?

Buc's Books Website

Here you will find resources that you may find useful in your academic lives:

http://mlb8085.wix.com/bucsbooks

Book Trailer Examples

http://www.justreadit.net

Why Do We Like, or Dislike, Characters?

• What does the author think about the characters? Are there any that are completely unlikable? How does the author show that? What is it that the author does not like about some people?
• Who (what type of people) does the author feel are treated unfairly?
• Does the main character have any flaws? Why does the author create those flaws? What does the character need to learn about herself? About life? About friendship?
• How does your author feel about the society presented in the book? Are there people/situations that are presented in an unfavorable light? How do those things realate to our society? Is the author being critical of our society in some way?



What Happened to Cass McBride was a difficult book to read. Cass McBride is the most popular girl in school. She's been a trend setter since the day she walked onto the campus, and everyone copies her style-even when her style isn't deliberate. Cass clings to her popularity, and her father grooms her for her expected success in life.

David is the ultimate outsider. He's as low on the high school food chain as a boy can be. But one day he decides to just go for it-he reaches for the gold ring. He asks Cass McBride out on a date. Cass rejects him diplomatically (she needs his vote for homecoming queen), but leaves a nasty note about him for a friend in the next class. David sees her leave the note, takes and reads it, and later that night, he hangs himself. David's brother Kyle finds the body. And he finds the note that Cass wrote. He decides to make her pay.

There is very little that is likable about Cass, even though the reader begins to understand her better when her dysfunctional family is revealed. She is calculating and manipulative. Everything, from the clubs she joins to the people she has as friends, is designed to further her personal agenda.

There is also not much to like about Kyle. Both teens come from families with parents who withhold love from the children; Cass's father with his incessant push for Cass to live the perfect life so she can get into the perfect school and be a reflection of his own perfection, and David and Kyle's mother with her vitriolic verbal abuse, all combine in a perfect storm that shatters lives. Beyond the mystery of whether or not Cass will be found in time to save her life, this book explores what causes human personalities to develop. This is a book that raises questions: what motivates parents to scar their children, what are the base causes of suicide, but it does not provide any easy answers. The reader feels Cass's claustrophobia as she lies buried and attempts to connect with Kyle and get him to release her. Even though I came to have empathy for both Cass and Kyle, I never really connected to either of them. The only truly sympathetic character is the suicide victim David. His chilling last words, pinned to the skin of his chest, "Words are teeth. And they Eat me alive. Feed on my corpse instead" will haunt me for some time to come.

What to Write When You Don't Know What to Write

• Did you connect to the character? If so, why? Be specific-both about the character and yourself (or people that you know.)

• Why are you drawn to the characters in the book? Are they like characters your read about in other books or that you have seen in movies? Is there something about the character that you like? Are they like you in some way, or would you like to be more like him/her? Why?

• What kind of atmosphere does the author of your book create? Is there fear? How is it created? Is there humor? Is it light-hearted? How does the author achieve this tone?

• What lessons do the characters learn? How can those lessons be applied to life in the “real” world?

• Why did the author write this book? What message was he/she sending?


An example: In The Hunger Games books, what was Suzanne Collins saying about OUR society? About the media? About our finding entertainment in watch "reality" portrayed on television and Internet? In that last book (or movie) what message was she sending about the idea of heroism? Did Katniss actually accomplish ANYTHING? Was she just a symbol? If so, why was that important? Were there actually ANY good guys to take over the government?

Who Do You See?

What happens when a student never sees himself represented in the books provided in schools and libraries? How does she identify with the characters and stories she reads if she can't recognize any of the characters she meets? How do teachers and librarians learn about the students and patrons they serve if they don't read and provide the books that represent a broad spectrum of culture and circumstance? How do we teach students to be tolerant of others if we do not tolerate books in our collections that may make us uncomfortable?

As I read The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian, I realized that it is the first YA novel I have ever read that has a Native American as the protagonist. That bothers me, so I started looking in our school literature books. The 10th and 11th grade lit books each have fewer than five pieces related to Native Americans, and several of those are Native American legends.

When Junior realized the inadequacy of the textbooks in the reservation school, I felt his frustration. I wondered how this could happen in a system that is supposed to provide adequate textbooks through government funding. This led me to wonder about the frustration that other kids feel, or may not recognize that they are feeling, when none of the books they read reflect their lives or culture. Junior made a radical educational change in his life, and he finally realizes that as "Arnold," he doesn't belong to a single tribe. He belongs to multiple tribes. Wouldn't providing books that students identify with support them in coming to the same realization?

Some people have objected to this book because of the sexual nature of some of the thoughts of the fourteen year old boy and "vulgar" language. I wonder if perhaps the true objection, the unvoiced objection, is to the reality of the shoddy treatment, the abysmal education system, and the dire poverty endured by Native Americans in this country.