what it is..

I remember, when I was about 11, reading Slumber Party by Christopher Pike and absolutely loving it. Slumber party was about a group of young women go to a cabin in the in mountains. Unfortunately, they had a sleepover party eight years prior that was quite catastrophic: one girl’s face, Nell’s, was scarred by a fire and another girl died. This slumber party begins to get suspenseful when Dana goes missing and someone is burned. Ironically,the events begin to resemble the last tragic sleep over party.

I think I enjoyed this book because it was a suspenseful mystery rather than a scary story. Additionally, boys were at the sleep over party and there was no parental supervision…AWESOME! To provide some further insight to why I was drawn to this book I point you to 2 things I don’t think I will ever grow out of being excited by:
· Sleep-over parties
· Making out

According to James Howe in his article, “Writing Mysteries for Children”, the “plot is the most crucial ingredient in any” (178). He also suggests that contrary to the question posed by adults when they read mysteries, “Who did it?”, children, when reading mysteries, question, “What’s going on here?”. I don’t know if I agree with that statement because the main question when I read Slumber Party, was who is the villain? - "who did it"

Interestingly, Howe’s article, illustrated how he personally approaches writing mysteries for kids instead of merely suggesting a way to do it. He states, “A mystery is a story told forward but conceived backward” (180). He leads the reader of this article on an insightful adventure of methods, cautions, and suggestions when constructing a mystery.

To entice you, if you have not read his article,I present you with following excerpt:
“Ultimately, mysteries may be most compelling because they are stories of human failing. Crime is at the core of every mystery, and no crime is committed with suffering on someone’s part. Still, compassion in the reader will not come from the writer tell the reader to be compassionate. It will only come when the writer has done the most essential thing – tell a good story” (184).

Howe, James. 1990.

Writing mysteries for children

.The Horn Book66 Mar/Apr: 178-183.


Pike, Christopher. 1985. Slumber Party . New York: Scholastic.

reluctant or epileptic? you decide...or maybe I did

I did not mind reading “Ashley and Junie B. Jones: a struggling reader make a connection to literacy” by Carol D Wickstrom, Joan Scott Curtis, Kayla Daniel, Karen Smith and Faryl Kander. Although, I started to get a bit irritated when I read the last page, but alas, I am getting ahead of myself.

So, this little girl, Ashley, was born prematurely and had experienced some other complications from being in the womb when her mother had toxemia. The previous sentence would have been a more sensitive way for the authors to have documented Ashley’s medical issues. Sadly, for Ashley, the authors note that some of Ashley’s medical side effects from her mother’s toxemia were surgeries on her eyes and bladder. Okay, I can see how the eye surgery is pertinent for the reader to grasp an understanding of a reason that Ashley may not be a good or interested reader, but the bladder surgery? I have never heard, maybe I am ignorant, of the bladder affecting reading habits or lack of?

This poor girl has her hardships with speech and reading outlined publicly, and to top it off she has her bladder issues smeared in black and white for all to see? Damn, how traumatizing would that be…immeasurable! Even if Ashley was a pseudonym, her mother is listed as an author – Kayla Daniel. The connection is not that hard to make.

I will continue. So, Ashley had these issues and is not interested in reading. She had a hard time remembering details. One day she witnessed an accident and afterwards is able to describe the situation she encountered. Because she can remember the details, which was something rare for her, her teachers and parents believe that she has to have an emotional attachment to something in order to retain it as a long term memory.

Well, Ashley gets a hold of this Junie B Jones book via a teacher, Joan, during an open house night at the high school. Ashley was only in elementary school during this time but throroughly enjoyed these books being read to her and became interested in see the text. The authors then posed the question “So can a book that is a higher reading level than the ability of the student become a catalyst for learning to read” (Wickstrom et al., 20)? Well, obviously, Ashley was totally into them. The question posed is not that simple of answer for Ashley is only one person, but what really ticked me off about this article is that the reader comes to find out that Ashley wasn’t a reluctant reader, SHE WAS EPILEPTIC! Part of her brain was in a constant state of seizure. After she began taking medicine “Ashley’s motor skis improved immediately…Her reading skills have improved, and Ashley is reading slightly above her grade” (20). This became an article that was not about higher level reading material intriguing the reluctant reader, but that the reluctant reader may be epileptic?

After writing this commentary, I realize, I don’t like this article at all and I retract my opening paragraph statement. The fact that it took 5 people to write it is mind blowing.

Though, Junie B. Jones, a series book may be beneficial to a reluctant reader, this article only would provoke a parent that is a hypochondriac to take his or her child to a neurologist.

Wickstrom, Carol D., Joan Scott Curtis, Kayla Daniel, Karen Smith, Faryl Kander. 2005. "Ashley and Junie B. Jones: A struggling reader makes a connection to literacy," Language Arts 83(1): 16-21.

It's about to get real graphic

I am a fan of graphic novels, specifically, manga. I gained an interest in type of reading material when I was 21. I was dating this kid that was all about manga. I didn't understand the appeal of these books. At first glance, I thought they were silly and a bit juvenile for my partner who was 29 back then. After we broke up, naturally, I started dating someone else. Coincidently, my new prospect was into manga. During our courtship, I was working at a bookstore and they only carried a minimal amount of manga. Being the diligent worker I was known to be, I decided that while I was on the clock I might as well check out our graphic novel section. Surprisingly, I was totally into it (not the Marvel comics).

I now have my own small, very small, collection of manga including my personal favorite Naruto (I even have a tattoo from this series...hehe...uh, shirt tug)!

At first, as I described above, I was skeptical of the merit and maturity of this genre, but after taking a closer look, I realized that this visual and textual experience is entertaining, creative and a fun read.

I was thoroughly pleased to read "What Teens Want: Thirty Graphic Novels you Can't Live Without" by Michele Gorman. From the title I thought this would be an article solely about graphic novels suited for teens. I was pleased and intrigued that this was more than a pathfinder for graphic novels; it was a collection, cataloging and integration manual for public libraries. I was impressed how Gorman emphasized, much like Lisa Heggeum during her talk last Wednesday, that teens need to be involved in the advisory committee to ensure the collection of your library will reflect the interest of the young adults and b/c, "This [having teens on the advisory committee] will provide feedback and help advertise the availability of graphic novels in your library. Word of mouth is the fastest way to spread news about new programs or materials" (44).

In other news…

I was really into "Sex Thugs, and Rock 'n' Roll: Magazines for Young Adults" by Patrick Jones.

I thought back to when I was a preteen. I loved to read magazines and I would read any time I was presented with "Teen" or "YM", though I wouldn't consider myself to have been an avid reader. This is not an uncommon misconception. As Jones notes, "Often when librarians say that YAs don't like to read, they must mean books, because YA do like to read magazines" (100).

What I found most appealing about these 2 magazines was that there was always a quiz about how to be a better kisser, flirt more effectively or find out if you are ready to use tampons - you know- things a 10 year-old needs to know. Additionally, these magazines would have pop culture references, including music and television, that I was particularly keen on.

I found Jones' article to present facts that I never have taken into consideration. For example, "The primary benefit to a YA magazine collection is circulation. For the cost of one hardback book a magazine subscription can be purchased" (Jones 99).

Once again, a YA librarian suggests that teenagers should be a part of the selection process when acquiring YA material: "The best source for a list of magazines is teenagers themselves- either through formal or informal surveys, most teenagers know what they want" (Jones 101).

Moral of the articles: Get involved with your community to effectively and efficiently serve it.

Gorman, Michele. 2002. What teens want. School Library Journal 48(8): 42-47.

Jones, Patrick. 1998. Sex, thugs and rock n’roll: Magazines for young adults. In Young adults and public libraries: A handbook of materials and services, eds. Mary Anne Nichols and C. Allen Nichols, 98-106. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press.

Justin may be bringing sexy back, but Jon is bringing funny back

Jon Scieszka is my new favorite person. In fact, I am in love with his style and speeches! He is brilliant, yet easy to read.
In his intelligent and comic speech, “What’s so funny, Mr. Scieszka”, Jon Scieszka surfaces some truths:


- The tragedy is one of the only genres that is considered “high art”
- Many curriculums do not give children the opportunity to learn on their own: information and methods are pushed on children


MOST IMPORTANTLY:
- Comedic material is not receiving the credit it deserves! Al Franken, Chuck Klosterman, Margaret Cho, Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert (definitely not an exhaustive list) are so damn funny, intelligent and politically aware that it is amazing that this form/genre of expression is not held in a higher regard.


A classic satirist is Jonathan Swift. Honestly, I enjoy his stories, but the message is so subverted and no longer relevant to current world issues that my question becomes, why is the material produced by the aforementioned writers/performers not considered to be as brilliant? Is it that they, the current day satirists, are too blunt? Is it that some of their material could not be distributed in schools because their ideas do not conform to the current conservative parties in power in North America?


When you are feeling blue because a loved one passed away, you have broken up with a partner, you can’t get your homework done, you are hung over or you have stepped in dog poo what makes you feel better:
- A good epic tragedy that deals with death, broken hearts and failures
OR
- A good joke that is about a guy ringing a bell with his head or a joke about “the shit hitting the fan”


I feel it is extremely important for children to learn sarcasm and other forms of humour when they are young. Developing an understanding of the juxtaposition of words and tones that are associated with humour equips a child with a set semiotics that are essential in order to effectively communicate.


How many times have you made a joke and no one laughs? (I know that never happens to me either!) Or, how many times has someone told you a joke, written an e-mail or instant messaged you something that is supposed to elicit a “LOL” or a chuckle and you have to give a “courtesy laugh”? It is one of the most uncomfortable things to do. Actually, I think the courtesy laugh is plain painful. In an effort to steer clear of telling painful jokes or future generations telling stories that receive a “courtesy laugh” we need to motivate our children, our friend's children, our brother’s and sister's children to read and to be taught humour. As Whitney Houston always said, “I believe the children are our future. Teach them well and let them lead the way.”

Scieszka, Jon. 2005. "What's So Funny, Mr. Scieszka?: The Zena Sutherland Lecture," Horn Book 81(6): 653-667.