Reference Book Review: The First Five Pages

The First Five Pages: A Writer's Guide to Staying Out of the Rejection Pile by Noah Lukeman

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

The title of Noah Lukeman's The First Five Pages is intentionally misleading. Lukeman's focus of the first five pages of a manuscript adheres to the principle that if there are problems within the first five pages then there most certainly will be problems in pages 6-10, and 11-15, and so on.

Agents and editors see so many manuscripts that they often look scan for typical errors--errors their trained (and overworked) eyes can spot immediately. Once an error is spotted within the first five pages then most will make the leap that similar mistakes occur throughout the piece and therefore is no longer worth their time. And into the recycling bin it goes.

The title is a warning then for all writers--either take the craft seriously or ask yourself why are you even bothering. There are neither tricks for good writing, nor are there magical formulas to adhere to within the first five pages.

In terms of helpfulness, Lukeman's book is better placed on the desk of a writer than a teacher of writing. Yes, there are terrific examples which a teacher can use to lead discussion, but his exercises at the ends of each chapter require quite a bit of time. It would be challenging to incorporate some into a high school or middle school creative writing class. They are more appropriate for the individual writer or a writing group--someone who is serious about writing and invests much into it fits this book much better than a 16-year-old student who signed up for a course because they liked writing stories.

Lukeman arranged the book in three parts--the first part covering the most blatant and easily recognized faults of writers: presentation, adjectives and adverbs, sound, comparison, and style. The second section of the book devotes itself entirely to dialogue while the third and final section goes by the title of The Bigger Picture and it sets to provide strong examples of Viewpoint, Hooks, Subtlety, Tone...

Aside from the section on Adjectives and Adverbs, I liked the book for the writer in me, not so much for the teacher in me. He explains his point clearly and offers strong examples of poor attempts at ________ and better attempts at ___________. You fill in the blanks. If you are on the cusp of sending out a manuscript, and you want something to guide you through the core basics, this book should certainly be in your reading pile. While there is plenty to consider here you certainly won't be led down the path of editing your own manuscript as a second full-time job. I like the book for the reason that the advice adheres to Lukeman's core message--if you are serious about the craft then give yourself the best shot and try to understand how the agent and editor will view the basic components your work before reading it closely or tossing it aside. Put yourself and your manuscript in the best possible position and learn how to avoid common errors and strengthen your work so that it actually attracts their attention.

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YA Book Review: Keeper

I have mixed feelings about Kathi Appelt's Keeper as I'm big fan of her initial novel The Underneath and I'm a fan of hers as a person.  That said, Keeper wasn't The Underneath.

There wasn't a character in Keeper who I connected with on any level.  The novel tells the tale of a significant day in the life of the title character.  Keeper is a young girl starts the day by causing one calamity after another within her extended family.  Each miscue has a deep seeded significance to a different character, but none affected me while I waited for the next thing to happen.

Keep then embarks on a journey of...self discovery?  I'm not so sure.  She definitely goes on a journey which only brings her back to where she began.  Loose ends are tied.  And I'm left uncertain.  What did Keeper learn?  How did she change?  If the change is she now knows who her real mother is or who her family is then the novel just didn't do enough for me.  I read in several books on writing that one objective for an author is to "raise the stakes."  I just didn't see Appelt go quite as far with raising the stakes as she did in The Underneath.

The Underneath shocked and surprised me at times.  There was someone to loathe.  I didn't find a villain in Keeper.  Also, I didn't find anything heart-wrenching or any moments of true desperation.  There are moments where characters or situations are taken to a precipice of no return, but all end safely, conveniently...and for me this makes the novel disappointing.  There is no real  threat of danger or loss...the stakes needed to be raised for me.

One of the curious parts of Keeper is the title character's journey.  Clearly, Keeper sets out on a journey to find her mother...and, of course, she circles back (unintentionally?) and finds that her mother was in her own house all along.  This reminds me of the classic speech of Russell Conwell's Acres of Diamonds--a man spends his life looking for a treasure which was in his own backyard all along.  Keeper's circuitous path in finding her mother coincides with something I stumbled across recently on NPR--try as we might, human beings cannot travel in a straight line without a visible guide point such as a sun or star...check out this link to see a very brief, interesting video on the topic (http://vimeo.com/17083789).  

While I am lukewarm on the story itself, I remain a fan of Appelt's writing style and mastery of the craft.  I think a younger middle school audience will enjoy the book (6th grade, some 7th grade) as it is rooted in mythology and love.

One final note, the most interesting relationship in this YA novel (and one which raised an eyebrow) is one between two male characters.  In a novel where love binds all creatures (bird and dog, girl and mother, man and woman) Appelt allows herself to have man and man also joined by love.  Friends as young kids they are lost to each other for their entire lives.  Reunited in old age, they clasp hands and...live happily ever after?  We're not told explicitly, but if we follow the theme that everything once lost in the novel (people and objects) is reunited for good then we can make that leap as a reader.

There are things in this YA novel to discuss and celebrate--just for a more limited audience than what Appelt accomplished with The Underneath.

Writing Exercise: Conflict

I pulled an interesting observation and technique from Sol Stein's book Stein on Writing.  Simply put, Stein suggests using The Actor's Studio Method to create conflict in the scenes you write: give your characters different scripts.

Here is an example to use in your classroom:

Select two students willing to improvise a scene.  The script which you will give each is not a sheet of paper with lines pre-written.  They'll make up what they actually say.  What you will give them is the intent of the character in that scene.  Don't let them know each others intent (script).

For our purposes here assume that Character A will be play the teacher and Character B will play the student.

You tell Character A no matter what do not agree to anything the student asks.  You will not agree because this student's parent has phoned you and told you the exact opposite of what he/she says...but they asked that you not tell their child that they called.

You tell Character B that they truly left their assignment at home and they need to call their parents to drop it off.  If it isn't submitted today you will fail for the year--this particular teacher has allowed his/her favorites to do this in the past and you have never asked for anything in the past from him/her.

And then allow them to improv and play it out.  You don't know what will be said specifically, but it will demonstrate to your class how conflict can be thought about and written--give your characters different scripts.  


Many writers do this intuitively, even the writers in our middle school or secondary classes.  What is especially interesting about this technique is that if you chose two different students to play the teacher and the student then the story would play out a little differently.

You can create these situations out of anything--it is also rewarding to ask your students to create two opposing intents and then have two other students from class play it out in front of the class.

Leading Young People a.k.a. You Get What You Emphasize

There was a time in my teaching career when I coached football and directed the school play during the same year.  That would also be the same time that a lot of dads would be introduced to me with a cocked head.  The handshake said, "Pleased to meet you."  The mouth said, "Pleased to meet you."  The head tilt said, "What the hell?"

I see the similarities.  I hear the similarities. 

I hear coaches pound their fists and state that sports will teach you discipline.  It will make you a better person.  You will learn life lessons playing this game.  We have to work together as a team to achieve a common goal.

It is all true.

What gets lost in the translation in the arts is that it is the same.  Someone wrote that artists are athletes of the heart.  It fits.

When I worked with the middle school play, I had those kids sit and talk about themselves and I had them listen to each other.  They complained, bragged, celebrated, shared, encouraged, and eventually warmed to sharing everything.  They shared when I wasn't around.  When I wasn't looking or listening.  When I took that time away from their rehearsals they hated it!  They pleaded for that time where they could continue the work. It was a part of the training.  The training to become a better person.  That was our common goal.  We were working to become better people and when I took that moment away, they missed it drastically (dramatically?).

It didn't matter if we could act or couldn't act.  It didn't matter if someone was going to pay one of us in New York City to run once more into the breach, dear friends.  What did matter, was that we believed in what we were doing.  Everyday.  Practice (rehearsal) mattered.  We became accountable to each other.

But they aren't going to become accountable because you tell them to be accountable.  This is the craft of your job: you have to guide them while you stand further and further back.

It is the same thing football coaches try to etch into the skin of their players by slamming them into each other each day.  We run over bags, through bags, into bags, across fields, fall into the field, and basically bruise, beat, scrape, and bleed our way through each week just so we can play one game.  It is part of what makes football such a great game for high school and college students.  You beat the hell out of yourself and each other every day just so you can play a game on one day.  That takes some perseverance.  Young men have to summon a hell of a lot of discipline to continue to submit to that day after day.

Some kids can run really fast with a football, and make incredibly irresponsible decisions off the field.  Some kids couldn't play dead in a cowboy movie, yet you'd want him on your team.  You need good examples.  You need kids who give everything they have even if they don't "get to carry the ball."  Why?  Because when you sign on to be the coach, to be the director of a school play, or do anything where you lead a group of kids, young men, however you want to frame it, it is your job to make them better.  In every way. And it isn't always going to be able to come from your mouth.

It didn't matter to the middle school actors if it was 45th Street or if it was the middle school auditorium.  What we created was in a sense better than 45th Street because they believed in what they were doing and they believed in who they were doing it with.

That same feeling can happen on an athletic practice field.  It won't matter who lines up against you at the end of the week because we just practiced so well every day for weeks and weeks and weeks that you already won--maybe not on the scoreboard yet at the end of the week, true.

But we have to teach our kids, actors, players to win everyday.  Win translated means be a little bit better (in some way) every day.

The journey is better than the inn.  The show, the play, the game is just a playing out of what you already emphasized at practice.  What YOU as the coach, director, teacher emphasized.  What YOU put them in a position to do.

If kids skip practice to play in the game, or skip rehearsal and get to perform, you have relinquished all control.  You go from coach/director to spectator...and yet, that is what you want, but on your terms and in a much different way.

I read that Coach Lou Holtz used to take his Notre Dame football players to see a ballet during the pre-season so that they could gain an appreciation of and another perspective of discipline.  Coach Jim Tressel has his players fill out a detailed goal sheet which includes room for spiritual, personal, family, friendship, academic, team, and life goals -"Show me you meant what you wrote."

When it is going well, and your players, actors, cast, musicians love practice, they love it...they love the work, they love pressing their teammates everyday, when you get that, then you can step back a little at a time.  It runs itself.  Your troops are trained.  They love the work on Monday.  They'll love the work on Saturday night.

It is up to you, in your own way, in your classroom to pull them together.  The athletic fields and every stage and concert room around the world is an extension of the classroom.

I hope no one would dream of telling a teacher, "you're only a teacher."

So, don't worry when people tell you that it is only high school football, or it is only a school play, or concert, or whatever it is you are leading.  If you are doing your job right, the sport or the art is everything to those kids.  They almost run to practice.  Maybe they do.  I've seen some do it in every venue I've been in.

And not just the stars...whoever they are.  It will be everything to everybody involved.  Easier said then done.  And it isn't done every year no matter how hard you try.

One final thought: are the stars the kids who ran fast who cried well on cue, or are the stars the kids who believed in everybody at practice and played their role, and embraced their role, and made the group better?  Which kid are you more likely to win with?

You get what you emphasize.

Creative Writing Exercise: Adjectives, Adverbs, Nouns

The following is an effective exercise from page 39 of Noah Lukeman's The First Five Pages which I put into practice recently.  It can be done individually, in small groups, with original pieces, or even with a variety of passages from any literature.  However, I personally like it with original writing--it demonstrates to the students another meaningful way to edit their work beyond scanning for obvious spelling or punctuation errors.

These can be done the progression shown or you will still gain something from doing any one of them.  I think they can be particularly effective with the middle school student as this audience is painfully aware of the parts of the speech and often question why do we have to study them?  These types of exercises demonstrate that each piece of language (an adjective, an adverb) can enable as well as disable our writing.  Lukeman notes that just because you know how to use a particular brush stroke doesn't mean you'd necessarily smear it on a particular painting...or just because we can add parts and accessories to a car doesn't mean that we do. 


Step 1. Remove every adjective and adverb from the first page of your manuscript and list them separately.  How man are there?  Now read the first page aloud (without the adjectives or adverbs).  How does it read?  Faster?  Are your major ideas still conveyed without them?

Step 2.  Look at your list of removed adjectives and adverbs.  How many are commonplace or cliche?  Cross out each one and beside it write down a less expected replacement.  Now go back to your first page and insert your replacements.  Read it aloud.  How does it read now?

Step 3. Remove every noun and verb from the first page of your manuscript and list them separately.  How many are commonplace or cliche?  Cross out each one and beside it write down a less expected replacement.  Now go back to your first page and insert your replacements.  Read it aloud.  How does it read now?

Step 4.  Finally rewrite the first page completely, abiding by the rule that you cannot use any adjectives or adverbs.  Watch how this forces you to come up with nouns and verbs that have to stand on their own, without any support from adjectives and adverbs.  What are the differences?  Can any of these be incorporated?

Creative Writing Class Notes: Setting

The following is the first part of a series of notes which I will continue to post.  The notes can be used or modified for any creative writing teachers; they will also serve as solid outlines of the various reference books I review on the blog.

I.
 Setting 
as 
Fuel
 

     A. Setting 
fuels 
the 
drive 
to 
write

     B. Creating 
a
 specific 
place 
and 
time
 is 
critical

     C. not
 merely 
scenery

     D. part
 of
 the 
what
 and
 why
 of
 the 
significant
 elements of your story
     E. is part 
of 
the 
heritage
 and
 culture

 of a specific place
     F.  is 
part
 of 
the
 identity
 or 
exile 
of
 a 
character
 (us vs. them)
     G. if
 setting 
isn’t
 created,
 the
 story 
occurs
 no‐place 
at
 no‐time,
 or
 in
 a vague place
 & time

II.
Setting
 as 
World
 = DETAILS--a place is the sum of its parts
      A. Artifacts,
 architecture,
 infrastructure,
 books, 
food,
 fabrics, 
tools,
 technology...

          1. all create
 and
 sustain
 your
 character’s 
identity

          2. shows characters
 behaving 
in 
relation
 to 
their 
surrounding

      

      B. Focus 
on
 a specifc
 place

          1. Space and Time should make your place unique
                a)
 IMAGERY 
of
 space
 and
 time 
indicates 
something
 about
 where
 and 
when 
we 
are

                b) Are there any specific social trends which should help your story?
         2. Place, 
time,
 weather

               a)
 These 
things
 manipulate 
mood,
 reveal
 character,
 and
 advance 
the
 action
 

         3. Only when markers are within strong POV are they effective

III.
 Setting 
as 
Camera

      A. The 
written setting 
is 
more 
than 
a 
glance

           1. In real life when entering
 a 
place
 we
 often
 look 
around

                 a) 
Taking 
it
 all
 in 
we
 look 
up, 
down, 
side
 to 
side

                 b)
 We
 visually register
 what 
we
 see

                 c)
 In 
literature 
we 
do this too and take 
clues 
from 
this
 
 

          2.
It is a 
process 
of
 orientation

               a)
 Takes 
place in 
every 
piece 
that 
tells 
a
 story


                 b) too many stories do not take enough time to orient the reader

IV.
 Setting
 as
 Mood 
& 
Symbol

      A.
 Adaptable
 Tool

          1.
 Mood
 will 
inevitably
 connect in some way with
 time
 or
 weather

                a) Wet
 or 
dry, 
dark 
or 
light,
 winter
 or
 summer,
 calm
 or
 storm

                b)
 A
 state
 of 
mind
 or
 emotion
 makes 
setting
 to
 some
 degree 
SYMBOLIC

          2.
 Works
 with
 other
 words, 
shapes, 
objects too
             a) 
objects, words can cause emotions and 
add
 a 
richness 
to
 the 
story 
you 
tell

        3.
 Place,

 time,
 weather 
can 
draw out
 raw 
emotion
s
              a) 
what
 are 
our
 connections
 to 
these 
places?

              b)
 what
 are
 our 
judgments? 

Memories?

              c)
 some 
lift
 spirits,
 others 
depress

  
             d)
 all
 can be 
used
 to 
dramatic
 effect 
in
 your
 writing


         4. Has your character's perception of a place changed?

                a) from the beginning of the story to another point

                b) affects our perceptions and emotions as well
 

IV.
 Setting 
as 
Action

     A. 
Harmony 
or
 conflict

          1.
 If
 character 
is 
foreground,
 and
 setting
 is 
background

               a)
 Is
 character
 at 
ease 
in
 the
 setting?

               b) 
Is
 character 
uncomfortable?
 

          2.
 When 
a 
character 
is 
in 
HARMONY
 with 
setting

             a)
 atmosphere
 is
 static

            b)
 will
 take
 a 
disruption 
to 
introduce
 possibility 
of
 change


          3.
 When
 character 
in 
OPPOSITION
 with
 setting

             a) 
process
 of
 discovery 
& 
decision 
is 
already 
in 
motion

             b)
 we
 know 
we
 are
 in 
for 
a 
physical 
or 
psychic
 shift
 

classroom notes compiled primarily from Janet Burroway's Imaginative Writing: The Elements of Craft





Reference Book Review: Stein on Writing

Teach, lead an activity which takes some skill or talent, or coach a sport long enough and you'll inevitably ask yourself a form of the following question, "How do I get my kids to do that?"  I've been to many coaching clinics and teaching conferences where I saw or heard about an interesting technique or outcome...and then I asked myself, "How am I going to be able to get my kids to do that?"

My kids are not your kids--in the classroom or on the field.  People aren't canned.  Yet, we all listen in attentively as others share their successes and we try to identify some common threads which we can follow in our own unique situations.  All too often, we struggle taking something back with us to actually modify and use in our classrooms.

What I am driving at is Sol Stein's book Stein on Writing quickly jumps from the Amazon.com bookshelf to owning a conspicuous spot on my desk in school.  Stein is patient and thorough in explaining craft, technique, and strategy but he is at is best when he reduces his ideas down to something I think all writing teachers can take back to their classrooms with them.  There are so many teaching points here--things which you can directly say to students and note on their writing--and you also get the benefit of several exercises and demonstrations to back into a classroom.

Stein's coverage of topics is exhaustive.  From the common topics such as The Secrets of Good Dialogue to The Basics of Plotting the writing teacher will be able to pull and build very specific and meaningful lessons no matter who or where you teach.  Imagine a discussion with your class on markers as they relate to character or introducing them to idea of resonance and the effect it has on a reader...do these things exist in our teaching manuals or in our mass professional development meetings.  My guess, from my experience, is no.  We have to dig for our own professional improvements ourselves.

If you teach creative writing I strongly suggest this book as core to building your class.  It gave me the answer I'm always looking for--how do I teach MY kids to do that?

YA Book Review: The Evolution of Calpernia Tate

The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate by Jacqueline Kelly

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

In 1899 in the middle of a modest town of Fentress, Texas the young Calpernia Tate is about to go on a journey of self-discovery. Turn of the century mores and expectations weigh heavy on her--according to her mother's plan she is to come out this year and she is to study the science of housewifery. The same plan for most adolescent girls of the age.

Calpernia wanted to study for sure...even her New Year's resolution in 1898 was to master darning and spinning. Nothing unusual there.

However, none had planned that she and her grandfather would change those plans.

He shows her that she can be anything she wants to be. She can shape her life in any way she pleased. Encouragement. Jacqueline Kelly's The Evolution of Calpernia Tate is YA novel built around the beauty of encouragement. Encourage a young person and he/she might just change the world.

Granddaddy, a true old world Southern gentleman and Civil War captain, lets Calpernia into his world: science, discovery, questioning, observation, nature, and theory. He shares his knowledge with her, and he shares his time with her...which takes away from her predetermined destination of living the life of a housewife. And her mother observes this...and intervenes.

Calpernia is in the crucible of possibility and probability. She probably will not be afforded the opportunity to go to school, to study, to pursue her passion. She possibly could...with encouragement.

For as well written as the narrator Calpernia Tate is, the real star of the book is the grandfather. Even though he is the oldest in the novel, he is the symbol of the future...he is the symbol of progress and change. He wants to experience driving in an automobile and he encourages his granddaughter to read and explore and grow with the change which is coming (which the rest cannot see). I particularly appreciated the fact that the grandfather spoke to Calpernia both as a child but also as one who deserved attention and respect. He wasn't dictating anything to her, he was allowing himself to be a vessel in which she could begin, as the title suggests, evolving. In an early bonding moment, Granddaddy offers Calpernia his copy of Darwin's The Origin of Species. He knows the text is a bit beyond her ability, but he hands it to her to explore and never lets on that it could be beyond her grasp. The very same book the town librarian refused to hand to Calpernia because of its content.

Granddaddy opened the doors which the rest of Calpernia's society kept closed to most females.

This Newberry Honor Book is a terrific piece of YA historical fiction. On the surface, you get an entertaining relationship between Calpernia and his grandfather--I laughed aloud at his actions several times; yet, you also benefit from the very obvious and welcome message of the power of encourage...and what if.

Highly recommended for your middle school bookshelf.

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Research in the Creative Writing Classroom

Instead of pausing our creative momentum to teach the traditional research essay, we're trying something a little different this year.  Students will be writing a creative nonfiction piece based on their research of a specific topic.  Simply put, students will be under the same research standards and objectives as the students in our traditional English classes, but their final product will be more of a story as opposed to a point by point essay.

We will still be using graphic organizers such as index cards as well as compiling and completing a works cited list, citations, etc.  In addition to submitting their creative nonfiction (which I set at a minimum of 500 words) they will also submit a short expository essay which demonstrates why they are an expert on this topic (or became one)--I am borrowing a term from the publishing industry and calling the essay their platform.

With a month to work on this assignment, part of my job in the earlier going is to inspire them to select topics which lend themselves to this type of assignment or to help them modify an existing topic.  I encouraged students to look into their own lives, vacations, and communities for opportunities--they have been challenged to add an interview or a first-hand account to their research bank.  So far, some of the interesting topics which have emerged are the following: A migrant farmer in our community in the 1970s started his own winery--a student is able to visit for him/herself as well as conduct interviews; a student visited family in Estonia this summer so she is researching the fight for Estonian independence and planning on writing that story from a young girl's perspective...she is able to correspond with family in Estonia for details and support; a student is interested in the living conditions and daily modern life found on Native American reservations is working on contacting various experts in the field (museums, cultural centers, universities) and is even trying to establish contact with author Louise Erdrich for some answers and guidance.  I'm pushing them to go to the source of information--make yourself an expert, read and see and hear all you can.  If you can visit, great!  If you can not visit, then find someone who has...call them...email them...write them a letter.  Ask!  Reach out to people.  You might hit some walls, but you might hit some open doors.  I'm hoping to devote some class time to their sharing their experiences in trying to access this type of expertise.

The purpose of the additional paper, the platform, is twofold.  This is a creative writing class and I wanted them to have a little taste of the experience of being made to defend their expertise...which does happen in the publishing industry.  Usually an author's platform consists of things beyond expertise--how many readers follow you, etc.  However, for my purposes it also keeps the students grounded in the fact that this is research and it is what is going to drive our story--they cannot make up random facts or details in their head.  Everything in their story must be factual and research-based and I am asking them to demonstrate this and defend it in a short platform essay.  The platform will follow the standard expository essay rubric; the creative nonfiction be held to its own rubric strandard...and, surprise, the works cited page gets its own rubric as well.

What has worked out nicely is journalist and author Mark Bowden (Black Hawk Down) will be visiting our school for an assembly with just the creative writing classes.  A perfect time for students to ask some specific research driven questions.

As we move through the assignment I will post an update or two here.  I will certainly post both some of the successful topics and some which flopped.  I also think it would be good to share some of the success they had in expanding their research effort out into their lives or communities.

Reference Book Review: Writing the Breakout Novel

My professional development objective this year has been to improve my ability to teach our middle school creative writing class.  While reading two YA novels on average per week has been my steady pace, I recently added resource and reference books to my book pile.

This week I read Donald Maass's Writing the Breakout Novel in an attempt to pull something for class.  Read what the writer's read, right?  I combed reading lists of various authors who I have met or established a correspondence with this year--many note which books have helped them.

Writing the Breakout Novel is written by the president of the Association of Authors' Representatives (AAR) and he is also president of his own literary agency in New York City, the Donald Maass Literary Agency.  It is a very succinct tour some of commonly addressed topics by teachers (character, time and place, plot) and it also features some details you may not necessarily drive too deeply within with your creative writers: multiple viewpoints, advanced plot structures, and stakes.  Quite honestly, each chapter should provide something worth exploring in a class of young writing students.

I like the fact that Maass presents each idea directly and then spends a lot of time (space and ink) supporting his observations with strong text choices and examples.  I am always looking for fresh examples from literature which directly demonstrate a teaching point.  You can find plenty of those here.  Actually, most of this book is consumed by Maass showing you directly why x, y, and z work, where they work, and how they work.

I wouldn't say the book is unique.  What I would say is that its strength rests in its clarity and use of extensive examples.  What Maass presents as unique is his perspective--he isn't giving you the brooding writer's point of view or much of an artistic or craft centered spin on any given topic.

Weighing the pros and cons of this book, this is a solid supporting resource for a teacher if you are looking for an insider's opinion on what successful stories have in common and what they do well.  Not quite formula driven...but pretty darn close.  I wouldn't say that this would be a centerpiece of a creative writing teacher's arsenal, but like I said earlier it is a good compliment to your other resources as you build your lessons or self-reflect on what may be missing or in need of change.

YA Book Review: The Things a Brother Knows

A moving tribute to family.  A moving tribute to the people who serve in the military.  A moving tribute to being human.  Dana Reinhardt's YA novel The Things a Brother Knows reveals the story of a family waiting for their son and brother to return home from the war in Iraq and Afghanistan.  Boaz does indeed make it physically home early in the novel--and for that his mother, father, brother, and uncle are relieved.  But the son and brother they knew before he was a Marine has not come home.  Even by the end of the novel we are aware that that person has not returned.

PFC Boaz Katznelson stays in his childhood bedroom with the door closed day after day.  He barely speaks when he comes down to eat and then he returns to the privacy of his own room.

And then he leaves their suburban Boston home on foot under the guise of walking the Appalacian Trail so that he could walk to Washington, D.C. alone.  His brother, Levi, suspects something is wrong and musters up the resolve to go after his brother himself to see if he can't bring him home himself.  We understand that the brother he is after is more than just the physical shell who remained alone in a dark bedroom for weeks.

The novel unravels two journeys simeultaneously: Boaz's physical and spiritual journey to Washington, D.C. to take care of something he needs to do for himself, and Levi's similarly physical and spiritual journey to try and understand what his brother needs and how to help him.  Neither heavy nor light, the novel respectfully centers itself around the lives of soldiers returning home...and what that means.  Sometimes walking in the front door to the arms of a loving mother isn't enough.  The novel lays out the sobering fact that soldiers do not come home in one piece whether they have all of their arms and legs and fingers and toes.  There are always pieces a solider may need help putting back together...and for those of us who have not served this is very difficult to understand.

Reinhardt's novel take this very difficult, and very real, circumstance and treats it with the care and respect it warrants.  In the center of the novel Boaz and Levi's mom finally lets loose to her youngest son:

I know there are mothers everywhere, all over this country, all over this world, who would give anything to trade places with me.  Who would love the chance to cry because they are worried about their sons.  There are mothers lost in the wilds of their own grief, who miss the days of worrying.  I know.  I know worrying is far better than grieving.  But, God, help me, sometimes I don't know the difference.  I can't separate the grief from the worry.

We worry along with her...along with all of them.  The Katznelson family is portrayed so well and Boaz's plight and condition is so real that the reader can do nothing but care.  You know that Boaz is a fictional character in a book, yet you also know that there are Boazs out there.  You worry along with Levi on his journey.  You never let their mother and father out of your head because you know they don't know what is going on as you travel across several states (by foot) with Levi and Boaz.  You meet other military families along the way--families with sons and daughters still serving in a foreign land and they are only too happy to welcome a Marine into their home for a night of rest and food.

And you finish the novel and know that Boaz is indeed closer to home, but you will end up asking yourself if he ever truly gets home...if any of them every truly get home.

This YA novel is going onto my desk at school for my students to share in..  It is a great novel which brings a side of war young people rarely learn about or speak about in my experience.  Formally, we cover the American Civil War, World War I, and a part of World War II when we read and discuss The Diary of Anne Frank.  For young Americans, war is something which so often happens over there or on an LCD screen.  Here in America, it is something we find on television, graphic video games, textbooks, and the movies.  This age-appropriate novel brings a much needed human element and balance to the lexicon of war. 

Well done, Dana.

YA Book Review: When You Reach Me

Back in 1992 my college professor Dr. Sheldon Brivic told our class that one of the greatest first lines in all of literature was from Hamlet: "Who's there?"  What greater way to start and develop a story: Who's there?  It makes the audience wonder right from the beginning--who the hell is there?  And then you're hooked.

Rebecca Stead's Newberry winning When You Reach Me also had me asking throughout her novel, Who's there?  Through efficient and short chapters and a plot which unravels and comes together simultaneously, the pacing of this book is upbeat and fun.

Raised by a single mother in New York City in the late 1970s, the narrator, twelve year old Miranda, is receiving curious and creepy notes.  This latch-key kid doesn't know who they are from or how they are appearing...and it is a little creepy.  The message contained in these notes from this mysterious person is that he/she is coming back to save Miranda's friend.

Which friend?  Who are you?  Where?  When?

Stead hooked me.

Fortunately for the reader, Miranda discovers who, where, when...and why.  Her journey is clever and entertaining...and fresh.  It reads and feels like a fresh story; it isn't preachy or trying to teach a morality lesson.  Nothing feels forced or out of place.  Each character and event fits...makes sense...and is necessary.  The architecture of the characters and their relationships is as impressive as anything in this novel.

In terms of style so much about this YA novel is sharp and on point.  The characters speak to reveal information or develop character and plot; there are no wasted words or empty conversations.  While the narrator is your protagonist and guide through her journey, the most appealing characters in the novel When You Reach Me turn out to be Marcus and the laughing man.  It will be difficult to tell from my blog, but the Marcus and laughing man story is really sweet.

In addition to Miranda, Marcus and the laughing man each also have a journey central to the novel.  Miranda herself even refers to each as the hero of the story.  Stead so cleverly ties characters and circumstances together that you learn to pay attention to every page as you read.  Not that you'd miss something, but in hopes that you would remember something which you'd need in an upcoming chapter.  The characters are all active and the growth of each comes through discovery and decision.   Without revealing anything critical in the novel I want to add that at least 7 characters (Miranda, her mother, Marcus, the laughing man, Jimmy, Annemarie, Julia) all make discoveries in this novel which causes each to make a decision which then determines the direction of the story.

Stead is a polished storyteller with a great command of the skills of this art.  I will introduce this novel at start of my classes on Monday or Tuesday and welcome any young reader to borrow it and experience this brilliant work.  This is a must-have for your classroom bookcase.

YA Book Review: A Long Walk to Water

I suppose Linda Sue Park's A Long Walk to Water is considered a YA text because its protagonist is an adolescent and a teen throughout the bulk of the story.  Realistically, this is a true story for everyone of every age.  It speaks of perseverance as the reader experiences the remarkable life of Sudanese refugee Salva Dut who now spends half of the year raising money for his cause in the Sudan and the other half of the year supervising its implementation on site.

Torn from his family in 1985 during the civil war between the North and South, Salva walked thousands upon thousands of miles for the next eleven years.  He, along with millions of others, endured dehydration, starvation, lion attacks, crocodile attacks, along with constantly being on the watch for enemy soldiers who might harm them.  Salva spent these eleven years not knowing anything about any of the rest of his family; war had come to his life while he was at school.  All of the students ran from the school into the bush, and not towards home.

The core of the story, however, is water.

Many in the Sudan have to walk mile upon mile to fetch muddy but drinkable water.  Families in the Sudan move according to the dry and rainy seasons--they follow the water.  Children are often forced to be the bearers of the water and make the journey several times a day...every day.  Often, the water is not boiled to make it potable and the result is a digestive system overcome by worms.  Children can  not heave all that much water by themselves in one journey, yet this is the system which exists.  Because the children spend their days fetching water, they often forgo an education.

A Long Walk to Water is Salva's journey from his village in the Southern Sudan all the way to Rochester, NY and back to the Southern Sudan...to bring them healthy water.  Salva now raises money and builds freshwater wells all throughout the Sudan.  Moving village by village, one day at a time, he brings water which also brings opportunity.  His building of wells now allows the building of schools and medical clinics.  His bringing water close to the villages also allows all children to go to school to learn.  I give nothing away here; this is not a spoiler in the same way that everyone knows the end of Romeo & Juliet yet we still are willing to watch the play...because it is a remarkable story.

While it is true that all audiences will enjoy this story, I can anticipate the YA reader will certainly embrace this book.  If you have an 11-13 year old at home or teach middle school aged children you know that kids of this age embrace causes.  They become fascinated by fairness.  They love to help...anyone.  Whether it is by hosting bake sales or going on a fun-run or collecting canned goods, the YA crowd is curious about the vast differences, privileges, and plights which shape our world.  I can guarantee that it will take less than a minute for one of my students to gobble this book from my desk once I tell them about the book.

Kids will love this story where so much good is coming out of so much suffering.  Yet, as Salva Dut writes at the end of the book:

To young people, I would like to say: Stay calm when things are hard or not going right with you.  You will get through it when you persevere instead of quitting.  Quitting leads to much less happiness than perseverance and hope.

Put the book on your desk or book shelf...or better yet, put it in any kid's hand.  You can read more about Salva Dut's mission at his website at www.waterforsudan.org

YA Book Review: The Red Umbrella

Christina Diaz Gonazalez's The Red Umbrella is based on Fidel Castro's rise to power and the impact his Communist government had on the family unit.  We follow the uncertain path the fictional Alvarez family is forced to negotiate based on increasingly harsh dictates of the new Cuba.  Children were to be the property of the state and as such were to be indoctrinated in government boarding schools or in the Soviet Union.  The Red Umbrella tells the very real story of Operation Pedro Plan: the escape of Cuban children to the United States.

Mr. and Mrs. Alvarez do not want what Castro's Cuba is becoming and make the decision to send their two children, Lucia and Frankie, to be cared for and eventually placed into a foster home by  the Catholic Welfare Bureau.  Lucia is our tour guide on the Alvarez family journey through some of the early horrors and discomfort in Cuba, to her and Frankie's trip to their foster home in Nebraska, and to their eventual reunion with her mother and father.

Each chapter is labeled with a different headline from a newspaper relating various decisions and actions imposed in Cuba from May, 1961-April 2, 1962.  While The Red Umbrella is historical fiction, important historical fiction at that, the history is written in a style accessible and interesting to middle school readers.  Gonzalez offers a smart balance of family, friend, and society.  We experience Lucia's struggles with many situations in her life: her best friend back in Cuba, Ivette, grows into a staunch Castro supporter; Frankie, her brother, is much younger and needs a lot of her care and attention;  she witnessed the murder of an anti-revolutionary; Mr. and Mrs. Alvarez are being closely monitored by Castro's government and there is the very real fear that harm may come to them; her adjustment to life in America and life away from her mother and father; the adjustment to life with a foster mother and father; and there are a couple of cruel teen social experiences placed in for good measure.

What the author does so well is allow Lucia to struggle with making sense of everything which is happening to her.  This is a kid just starting ninth grade and she is living something few in our country currently experience or understand.  I enjoyed the different types of interactions Lucia had with Americans: friendly, indifferent, patronizing, pandering...and how each of these interactions were read from her perspective.  For instance, her foster father begins his relationship with saying little more than, "Hmmph" or similar grunts and groans.  What we learn as we read onward is that this is Lucia's understanding of it; she had so much going on in her life that she couldn't read or possibly know that he was really taking to the foster kids.  Lucia had to be told that Mr. Baxter really liked them.  When she sat back and thought about it, she could name specific instances which verified that.  The reader learns along with Lucia.

I do think that any kid who has ever moved to our country from abroad would find much to connect to in this YA novel.  However, I do not mean to suggest that this is a novel just for a specified audience.  I think there is a movie here which would appeal to a wide audience.  Gonzalez tells this story with a personal investment: her parents and mother-in-law lived the experience her fictional Lucia and Frankie went through themselves.

I think anytime a story comes from both family and the heart there is the potential for something for audiences to connect with, but add to it the fact that it is based on true, incredulous (for us) historical events, and we have something valuable just beyond entertainment.  We have a book here by an author who gets the fact that storytelling is an art which is powerful and influential.  There is room on bookshelves for all types of books about twinkly vampires and teen werewolves in love (if it gets kids to read I'm in), but I am becoming increasingly fond of the current trend of some YA authors who are writing books with social impact and value: viva la revolucion!  This is where the movie industry should peer when the vampire craze recedes back into the tide of recycled ideas.

This book will be on my desk when I return to school on Monday and it will be ready for whomever decides to pick it up and read it.