#2ndaryELA Twitter Chat on Tuesday 4/2 Topic: Mentor Texts and Sentences

Brynn Allison, The Literary Maven, & Lisa Spangler, Mrs. Spangler in the Middle, host #2ndaryELA on Twitter every Tuesday evening from 8 - 8:30 PM EST. #2ndaryELA is a weekly chat for secondary English Language Arts teachers focused on a topic. Every Sunday, we post the topic and questions on our blogs to allow you to prepare for the upcoming Tuesday evening's chat. Thank you to everyone who joined us last week and we hope that you will join us again.

We'd also love for you to join our 2ndaryELA Facebook group, even if you aren't on Twitter. 2ndaryELA is a group of middle and high school English Language Arts teachers looking to share ideas and best practices. This group is an extension of our Twitter chat and a place for collaboration, questions, and encouragement. Feel free to post teaching ideas, success stories, resource links, photos, etc. that will enhance our instruction.

On Tuesday, April 2, our #2ndaryELA chat will be about using mentor texts and sentences in the classroom.

The Directions:
1. Log into Twitter on Tuesday from 8-8:30 PM EST.
2. Search for tweets with the hashtag #2ndaryELA in the search bar. Make sure to click “Latest.”
3. Introductions are for the first 5 minutes.
4. Starting at 8:05 (@literarymaven or @2peasandadog) will post questions every 5 minutes using the format Q1, Q2, Q3, etc. and the hashtag #2ndaryELA.
5. Respond to questions using the format A1, A2, A3, etc. with #2ndaryELA.
6. Follow any teachers responding and who are also using #2ndaryELA.
7. Like and respond to other teachers' tweets.

You can schedule your responses to the questions ahead of time using a scheduler like TweetDeck or HootSuite (but don't forget to use A1, A2, etc. and #2ndaryELA). Links are encouraged, so be sure to use a link shortener like tinyurl, bitly, goo.gl or ow.ly Just visit one of those links and paste your long link to shorten it for Twitter. Using images is also encouraged when relevant.

New to chats? Here are the rules:
1. Stay on topic & stay positive!
2. Please do not post or promote paid products unless specifically asked.
3. If you arrive late, try to look through other posts before beginning.
4. Feel free to just read, like, and/or retweet.
5. Always use our hashtag #2ndaryELA, including in your replies to others.
6. Make sure your twitter feed is set to public. (Also keep in mind that Twitter is completely public – that means students, parents, and administrators can and will read what you tweet.)

You can also check out a quick video tutorial in this blog post.

Be sure to spread the word to any teacher friends who might be interested in joining us as well. We look forward to chatting with you Tuesday evening and in our 2ndaryELA Facebook group!

Get caught up on past chats here:

Inspiring Student Writing with Mentor Texts & Sentences

This #2ndaryELA Twitter chat was all about using mentor texts and sentences to inspire student writing. Middle school and high school English Language Arts teachers discussed the purposes of using mentor texts and sentences as models for student writing. Teachers also shared where and how they find mentor texts and sentences to engage their students. Read through the chat below to also find out how to connect what students learn from mentor sentences to larger writing assignments.

Hope you'll join us next week for another chat. We'd also love for you to join our 2ndaryELA Facebook group (even if you aren't on Twitter). 2ndaryELA is a group of middle and high school English Language Arts teachers looking to share ideas and best practices. This group is an extension of our Twitter chat and a place for collaboration, questions, and encouragement. Feel free to post teaching ideas, success stories, links, photos, etc. that will enhance our instruction.

Inspiring Student Writing with Mentor Texts & Sentences

#2ndaryELA Twitter Chat on Tuesday 4/10 Topic: Mentor Texts & Sentences

Brynn Allison, The Literary Maven & Kristy, 2 Peas and a Dog host #2ndaryELA on Twitter every Tuesday evening from 8 - 8:30 PM EST. #2ndaryELA is a weekly chat for secondary English Language Arts teachers focused on a topic. Every Sunday, we post the topic and questions on our blogs to allow you to prepare for the upcoming Tuesday evening's chat. Thank you to everyone who joined us last week and we hope that you will join us again.

We'd also love for you to join our 2ndaryELA Facebook group, even if you aren't on Twitter. 2ndaryELA is a group of middle and high school English Language Arts teachers looking to share ideas and best practices. This group is an extension of our Twitter chat and a place for collaboration, questions, and encouragement. Feel free to post teaching ideas, success stories, resource links, photos, etc. that will enhance our instruction.

On Tuesday, April 10, our #2ndaryELA chat will be about using mentor texts and sentences.

The Format:
8:00 – What and where do you teach? Include a link to your blog if you have one. #2ndaryELA
8:05 Q1: Do you use mentor texts as models for writing in your classroom? For what purposes? #2ndaryELA
8:10 Q2: Where/how do you find mentor texts that will engage and inspire your students? #2ndaryELA
8:15 Q3: Do you use mentor sentences as models for writing in your classroom? For what purposes? #2ndaryELA
8:20 Q4: Where/how do you find mentor sentences that will engage and inspire your students? #2ndaryELA
8:25 Q5: How do you connect what students learn from working with mentor sentences with larger writing assignments? #2ndaryELA

The Directions:
1. Log into Twitter on Tuesday from 8-8:30 PM EST.
2. Search for tweets with the hashtag #2ndaryELA in the search bar. Make sure to click “Latest.”
3. Introductions are for the first 5 minutes.
4. Starting at 8:05 (@literarymaven or @2peasandadog) will post questions every 5 minutes using the format Q1, Q2, Q3, etc. and the hashtag #2ndaryELA.
5. Respond to questions using the format A1, A2, A3, etc. with #2ndaryELA.
6. Follow any teachers responding and who are also using #2ndaryELA.
7. Like and respond to other teachers' tweets.

You can schedule your responses to the questions ahead of time using a scheduler like TweetDeck or HootSuite (but don't forget to use A1, A2, etc. and #2ndaryELA). Links are encouraged, so be sure to use a link shortener like tinyurl, bitly, goo.gl or ow.ly Just visit one of those links and paste your long link to shorten it for Twitter. Using images is also encouraged when relevant.

New to chats? Here are the rules:
1. Stay on topic & stay positive!
2. Please do not post or promote paid products unless specifically asked.
3. If you arrive late, try to look through other posts before beginning.
4. Feel free to just read, like, and/or retweet.
5. Always use our hashtag #2ndaryELA, including in your replies to others.
6. Make sure your twitter feed is set to public. (Also keep in mind that Twitter is completely public – that means students, parents, and administrators can and will read what you tweet.)

You can also check out a quick video tutorial in this blog post.

Be sure to spread the word to any teacher friends who might be interested in joining us as well. We look forward to chatting with you Tuesday evening and in our 2ndaryELA Facebook group!

Get caught up on past chats here:

On My Bookshelf: Challenger Deep by Neal Shusterman

The basic plot from Amazon: A captivating novel about mental illness that lingers long beyond the last page, Challenger Deep is a heartfelt tour de force by New York Times bestselling author Neal Shusterman.

Caden Bosch is on a ship that's headed for the deepest point on Earth: Challenger Deep, the southern part of the Marianas Trench.
Caden Bosch is a brilliant high school student whose friends are starting to notice his odd behavior.
Caden Bosch is designated the ship's artist in residence to document the journey with images.
Caden Bosch pretends to join the school track team but spends his days walking for miles, absorbed by the thoughts in his head.
Caden Bosch is split between his allegiance to the captain and the allure of mutiny.
Caden Bosch is torn.

Challenger Deep is a deeply powerful and personal novel from one of today's most admired writers for teens. Laurie Halse Anderson, award-winning author of Speak, calls Challenger Deep "a brilliant journey across the dark sea of the mind; frightening, sensitive, and powerful. Simply extraordinary."

Why I liked it: Challenger Deep is a novel that portrays the reality of mental illness, not the
romanticized version too often depicted in film and literature. The novel begins with a note from the author, in which he discusses his personal experiences and shares that the artwork in the book are his son's drawings. The novel very clearly illustrates the toll mental illness takes upon one's family and friends, but also the misunderstandings about mental health. One character Callie, who has had repeat trips to the mental hospital, laments that each time she returns home her family does not understand that she isn't "fixed."

I struggled with reading the book at first because the narrator bounces between reality and his alternate reality of life on a pirate, but the connection between the two becomes clearer as the novel progresses.

Classroom application: Challenger Deep could be paired with nonfiction texts about mental health issues. The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat by Oliver Sacks, a set of case studies focused on the most interesting of Dr. Sack's patients with neurological disorders, would be a great pairing.

Neal Shusterman's writing style also makes this novel a great source of mentor sentences. 

If you are interested in purchasing a copy of Challenger Deep for yourself, you can find it on Amazon here.

Note: The Literary Maven is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.

On My Bookshelf: The Rest of Us Just Live Here by Patrick Ness

The basic plot from Amazon: A new YA novel from novelist Patrick Ness, author of the Carnegie Medal- and Kate Greenaway Medal-winning A Monster Calls and the critically acclaimed Chaos Walking trilogy, The Rest of Us Just Live Here is a bold and irreverent novel that powerfully reminds us that there are many different types of remarkable.

What if you aren't the Chosen One? The one who's supposed to fight the zombies, or the soul-eating ghosts, or whatever the heck this new thing is, with the blue lights and the death?

What if you're like Mikey? Who just wants to graduate and go to prom and maybe finally work up the courage to ask Henna out before someone goes and blows up the high school. Again.

Because sometimes there are problems bigger than this week's end of the world, and sometimes you just have to find the extraordinary in your ordinary life.

Even if your best friend is worshipped by mountain lions.

Why I liked it: The main plot line in The Rest of Us Just Live Here is fairly normal. Mike and Mel are brother and sister, just a year apart. He suffers from OCD and she is all recovering from anorexia.  Their mother is a state senator running for Congress, their father is an alcoholic, and both contribute to the stress triggering Mike and Mel's issues. Since Mike and Mel are about to graduate high school and head off to college, they are especially concerned as to how their younger sister, whom they consider to be the best of all of them, will fare without them.

The subplot lines in the novel incorporate elements of fantasy and the supernatural. For example, Jared is Mike's gay best friend whose father runs against their mother in every political race, but he is also part god with healing powers and the strange ability to attract cats. There's also Nathan, a new guy at school, whom Mike suspects Nathan has something to do with the mysterious deaths of the indie kids. And then there's some zombie-like creatures, explosions, and incidents in the past that adults won't speak of.

Classroom application: This would be a great add to your high school classroom library as it would appeal to male and female students, realistic fiction and fantasy fans alike.

There are some very tender, small moments in the novel that could be used in excerpt form as mentor texts. Mike and Mel's visit with their grandmother, when Mike helps Mel eat by feeding her, and when Jared calms Mike after some incessant hand washing are all moments from the novel that could stand alone and serve as a model of how to focus in on a moment in time.

If you are interested in purchasing a copy of The Rest of Us Just Live Here for yourself, you can find it on Amazon here.

Note: The Literary Maven is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.

#2ndaryELA Twitter Chat Topic: Mentor Texts & Sentences

Brynn Allison, The Literary Maven & Kristy, 2 Peas and a Dog host #2ndaryELA on Twitter every Tuesday evening from 8 - 8:30 PM EST. #2ndaryELA is a weekly chat for secondary English Language Arts teachers focused on a topic. Every Sunday, we post the topic and questions on our blogs to allow you to prepare for the upcoming Tuesday evening's chat. Thank you to everyone who joined us last night and we hope that you will join us again.

Looking for the recap? Click on the image below.

New in 2016 is our 2ndaryELA Facebook group, which we would love to have you join even if you aren't on Twitter. 2ndaryELA is a group of middle and high school English Language Arts teachers looking to share ideas and best practices. This group is an extension of our Twitter chat and a place for collaboration, questions, and encouragement. Feel free to post teaching ideas, success stories, resource links, photos, etc. that will enhance our instruction.

On Tuesday, November 29, our #2ndaryELA chat will be about mentor texts and sentences.

The Format:
8:00 Intros: What and where do you teach? Include a link to your blog if you have one. #2ndaryELA
8:05 Q1: Do you use mentor texts as models for writing in your classroom? For what purposes? #2ndaryELA
8:10 Q2: Where/how do you find mentor texts that will engage and inspire your students? #2ndaryELA
8:15 Q3: Do you use mentor sentences as models for writing in your classroom? For what purposes? #2ndaryELA
8:20 Q4: Where/how do you find mentor sentences that will engage and inspire your students? #2ndaryELA
8:25 Q5: How do you connect what students learn from working with mentor sentences with larger writing assignments? #2ndaryELA

The Directions:
1. Log into Twitter on Tuesday from 8-8:30 PM EST.
2. Search for tweets with the hashtag #2ndaryELA in the search bar. Make sure to click “All tweets.”
3. Introductions are for the first 5 minutes.
4. Starting at 8:05 (@literarymaven or @2peasandadog) will post questions every 5 minutes using the format Q1, Q2, Q3, etc. and the hashtag #2ndaryELA.
5. Respond to questions using the format A1, A2, A3, etc. with #2ndaryELA.
6. Follow any teachers responding and who are also using #2ndaryELA.
7. Like and respond to other teachers' tweets.

You can schedule your responses to the questions ahead of time using a scheduler like TweetDeck or HootSuite (but don't forget to use A1, A2, etc. and #2ndaryELA). Links are encouraged, so be sure to use a link shortener like tinyurl, bitly, goo.gl or ow.ly Just visit one of those links and paste your long link to shorten it for Twitter. Using images is also encouraged when relevant.

New to chats? Here are the rules:
1. Stay on topic & stay positive!
2. Please do not post or promote paid products unless specifically asked.
3. If you arrive late, try to look through other posts before beginning.
4. Feel free to just read, like, and/or retweet.
5. Always use our hashtag #2ndaryELA, including in your replies to others.
6. Make sure your twitter feed is set to public. (Also keep in mind that Twitter is completely public – that means students, parents, and administrators can and will read what you tweet.)

Be sure to spread the word to any teacher friends who might be interested in joining us as well. We look forward to chatting with you Tuesday evening and in our 2ndaryELA Facebook group!

Get caught up on past chats here:

On My Bookshelf: If I Stay by Gayle Forman

The basic plot from Amazon: In the blink of an eye everything changes. Seventeen ­year-old Mia has no memory of the accident; she can only recall what happened afterwards, watching her own damaged body being taken from the wreck. Little by little she struggles to put together the pieces- to figure out what she has lost, what she has left, and the very difficult choice she must make. Heartwrenchingly beautiful, this will change the way you look at life, love, and family. Now a major motion picture starring Chloe Grace Moretz, Mia's story will stay with you for a long, long time.

Why I liked it: If I Stay is filled with a cast of wonderful characters. Mia, the main character is talented and humble, with an adorable younger brother Teddy and slightly eccentric, but humorous parents. She has a thoughtful boyfriend, Adam, and a supportive best friend, Kim. She's got kind grandparents and hip family friends. Her biggest problem her senior year of high school is that acceptance to Julliard as a cello player will put even greater distance between her and the growing success of Adam's band. 

When disaster strikes, a terrible car accident which leaves

Mia in critical condition and kills the rest of her immediate family, she must make a choice between living and dying. The novel flashes between past and present as she dwells on the defining moments of her life and the relationships with her loved ones, living and deceased. I won't tell you what her final decision is, but toward the end of the novel, I began to be annoyed by her indecision and the idea that the choice was entirely up to her (as opposed to medicine, God, or whatever it is that you believe in). However, I did like it enough to want to read the next book in the series, Where She Went.   

Classroom application: If I Stay is an appropriate addition to either a middle school or high school classroom library and will likely appeal to your female students most. Mia's debate over staying or leaving would spark interesting classroom discussion. You could ask students to compile their own list of defining moments in their young lives and which way they would be swayed.

The author also seamlessly weaves together the past and present, so the novel could be used a mentor text for examining the literary technique of flashback. 

If you are interested in purchasing a copy of If I Stay for yourself, you can find it on Amazon here.

Note: The Literary Maven is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.

On My Bookshelf: On The Come Up by Hannah Weyer

Basic plot from Amazon: Based on a true story, an impassioned and propulsive debut novel about a headstrong girl from Far Rockaway, Queens, who is trying to find her place in the world.

Written in an urban vernacular that’s electrifying and intimate, On the Come Up introduces a heroine whose voice is irrepressible, dynamic, and unstintingly honest. Thirteen-year-old AnnMarie Walker dreams of a world beyond Far Rockaway, where the sway of the neighborhood keeps her tied to old ideas about success. While attending a school for pregnant teens, AnnMarie comes across a flyer advertising movie auditions in Manhattan. Astonishingly, improbably, and four months before she’s due to give birth—she lands a lead role. For a time, AnnMarie soars—acting for the camera, flying to the Sundance Film Festival, seeing her face on-screen. But when the film fades from view and the realities of her life set in, AnnMarie’s grit and determination are the only tools left to keep her moving forward.

Told with remarkable compassion and based on the real-life story of Anna Simpson, whom the author met during the filming of the award-winning Our Song, Hannah Weyer’s debut novel is an incredible act of literary ventriloquism that powerfully illuminates the lives of the urban unseen.

Why I liked it: In On the Come Up, AnnMarie begins the novel as a 13 year old girl struggling to take care of her mother and herself. The novel covers all sorts of teenage issues: abuse (both physical and sexual), gangs, drug use, violence, sexual identity, teenage pregnancy, mean girls, relationships, etc. but what struck me most was the character's voice.

"She didn't know why Brittany hated her, just that she did. It all got started sometime last year, Brittany saying, Stay away from Rashad. AnnMarie'd said, Rashad? Who the f*ck Rashad? But it didn't matter, they jumped her anyway and it went on from there...

AnnMarie stared daggers into that girl. She hope they eyes meet so Brittany could feel the cut, all them blades slicing her apart. But Brittany didn't notice. Her arm shot up, waving to somebody across the auditorium. F*ck that girl."

Classroom application: I am always looking for strong African American female characters to share with my students. Too often the books they are reading with African American female characters fall under my definition of "sexy trash." In On The Come Up, AnnMarie's speech and thoughts are that of a real urban teenager. She isn't perfect, she doesn't make all the right choices (or all the wrong ones), and every day is a struggle. This is no ghettoized romance novel. There is no happy ending, though there is some hope that AnnMarie is growing and learning from her past mistakes.

I also think I could use excerpts from this book for examples as I teach my students narrative writing in following Linda Christensen's ideas from Teaching for Joy and Justice. Show them an example of good dialogue and then have them write their own. Show them an example of good "blocking" (description of a character's actions) and then have them write their own.

If you are interested in purchasing a copy of On the Come Up for yourself, you can find it on Amazon here.

Note: The Literary Maven is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.

On My Bookshelf: Scarlet by Marissa Meyer

The basic plot from Amazon: Cinder is back and trying to break out of prison―even though she'll be the Commonwealth's most wanted fugitive if she does―in this second installment from Marissa Meyer.

Halfway around the world, Scarlet Benoit's grandmother is missing. It turns out there are many things Scarlet doesn't know about her grandmother, or the grave danger she has lived in her whole life. When Scarlet encounters Wolf, a street fighter who may have information as to her grandmother's whereabouts, she is loath to trust this stranger, but is inexplicably drawn to him, and he to her. As Scarlet and Wolf unravel one mystery, they encounter another when they meet Cinder. Now, all of them must stay one step ahead of the vicious Lunar Queen Levana.

Why I liked it: Scarlet, Book 2 of the Lunar Chronicles, is a play on the fairy tale Little Red Riding Hood. SEveral new characters are introduced. Cinder (the Cinderella of Book 1 of the series) makes her escape from prison with the help of Cadet "Captain" Throne.

There's also Scarlet, whose grandmother, a military pilot turned farmer, is missing. It is later revealed that she was kidnapped and is being interrogated for playing a part in hiding Princess Selene years ago. Scarlet's father, an alcoholic who abandoned her, make a brief appearance at the start of the novel. He returns to the farm after being tortured, but isn't sure what he is looking for. Then there is Wolf, who claims to be part of a "gang" that his older brother was also recruited into. Both were cut off from the rest of their family after joining. The "gang" turns out to be Queen Levena's beast army, packs of wolf-like men controlled by their leader. Throughout the novel, Scarlet and the reader are never sure if Wolf can be trusted.

By the end of the novel, Iko (Cinder's android sidekick from Book 1) is back in action, Cinder finally learns about the missing years of her life, between the accident and her adoption, and Wolf's love for his alpha female (Scarlet) trumps the power of his pack leader. Because Prince Kai has agreed to marry Queen Levena in one month's time as a way to stop the Lunar attacks on Earth, Cinder finally decides to stop running away, learn to use her powers, and fight Queen Levena.

Classroom application: This novel could be used as a mentor text for multiple, intersecting plot lines; Cinder and Throne's life as fugitives and Scarlet and Wolf's search for her grandmother are equally developed. The book could also be used to examine the literary concept of character foils as both Cinder and Throne and Scarlet and Wolf are contrasting characters.

If you are interested in purchasing a copy of Scarlet for yourself, you can find it on Amazon here.

Note: The Literary Maven is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.

On My Bookshelf: China Dolls by Lisa See

The basic plot from Amazon: It’s 1938 in San Francisco: a world’s fair is preparing to open on Treasure Island, a war is brewing overseas, and the city is alive with possibilities. Grace, Helen, and Ruby, three young women from very different backgrounds, meet by chance at the exclusive and glamorous Forbidden City nightclub. Grace Lee, an American-born Chinese girl, has fled the Midwest with nothing but heartache, talent, and a pair of dancing shoes. Helen Fong lives with her extended family in Chinatown, where her traditional parents insist that she guard her reputation like a piece of jade. The stunning Ruby Tom challenges the boundaries of convention at every turn with her defiant attitude and no-holds-barred ambition.

The girls become fast friends, relying on one another through unexpected challenges and shifting fortunes. When their dark secrets are exposed and the invisible thread of fate binds them even tighter, they find the strength and resilience to reach for their dreams. But after the Japanese attack Pearl Harbor, paranoia and suspicion threaten to destroy their lives, and a shocking act of betrayal changes everything.

Why I liked it: Ruby, Grace, and Helen are all in San Francisco pre-World War II for different reasons. Ruby is hiding her Japanese identity and trying to make it on her own. Grace has run away from her abusive father and is also hoping to become a star. Helen is suffering under her father's protective, traditional Chinese ways and a haunting past.

Despite their differences, the three girls connect, become close friends, and active in the San Francisco nightlife, dancing at nightclubs and the Golden Gate International Exposition. As the war approaches, it becomes more and more difficult for Ruby to hide her true identity. She and Grace quarrel over a love interest, and Helen becomes entangled with a male dancer masking his homosexual lifestyle. While each of the girls had their own separate struggles, by the war's end they have a chance to reunite and dance together again. The novel ends with the girls in old age looking back on all they have accomplished.

And oh the drama! The three girls in China Dolls have a very close friendship, but that doesn't mean there isn't jealousy, secrets, and betrayals. A trio of friends has a special dynamic and the author realistically captures how one friend is always trying to one up another to be the "best" friend.

The time period is also one of my favorites and the book gives you an interesting look at life for women during WWII.

Classroom application: This novel could be a selection for literature circles focused on the theme of racism. The novel touches on the internment of Japanese Americans during WWII, but even more heavily focuses on the discrimination Asians faced in their day to day life. During that time period there were laws against marrying Caucasians. In the classroom, our discussions around racism too often focus on African Americans. It is important for students to know that our groups faced similar struggles.

Like with Panic, you could also use it as a mentor text to have students practice writing from alternating perspectives and developing multiple, intersecting plot lines (part of the narrative writing standards for grades 11-12), except this has three alternating narrators, not just two. Developing each of the three characters equally would definitely be a challenge.

If you are interested in purchasing a copy of China Dolls for yourself, you can find it on Amazon here.
Note: The Literary Maven is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.

On My Bookshelf: Panic by Lauren Oliver

The basic plot: School has just ended in Carp, a poor small town, and the graduates are all gearing up for Panic. It's the yearly game of dares with the winner walking away with thousands of dollars. Heather has just been dumped by her boyfriend and enters on a whim. Her best friend Natalie wants to take the money and start a new life far from away from Carp. Dodge, a bit of a loner, enters with plans for revenge.

The three unite, promising to help each other and split the winnings. As the summer, progresses and Panic becomes more intense and more dangerous, participants drop out, leaving Heather, Natalie, and Dodge in the final few. There is romance, heartbreak, fights with parents and siblings, and questions about what the end of summer will bring. In the end there is only one winner of Panic, but the lessons learned and friendships gained are a far greater prize.


Why I liked it: The chapters in Panic are written from alternating point of views, Heather's and Dodge's, a technique that always interests me. Both the female and male teenage voices are realistic and convincing, a feat some authors just can't pull off. The novel is fast paced and you will want to read it in one sitting as the intensity of Panic builds and draws you in. The plot had some great surprises and twists that you didn't see coming.

Classroom application: This is a must add to your classroom library (grades 8-12). Both your male and female students will be hooked, although I wish the cover was more gender neutral.

This novel could be a selection for literature circles focused on the theme of coming of age.

You could also use it as a mentor text to have students practice writing from alternating perspectives and developing multiple, intersecting plot lines (part of the narrative writing standards for grades 11-12). Another fun writing exercise would be having students analyze each others' writing to try to determine the author's gender. Can your male students write convincingly from a girl's point of view? Can your female students create a convincing male voice?

If you are interested in purchasing a copy of Panic for yourself, you can find it on Amazon here.

Note: The Literary Maven is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.

On My Bookshelf: The Antelope Wife by Louise Erdrich

The basic plot: Scranton Roy is a soldier who, racked with guilt after participating in the massacre of Indians, raises an Indian girl, Matilda, as his own. Roy marries a local schoolteacher and around the time they have a son of their own, Augustus, his daughter, Matilda, disappears and his wife dies.

When Augustus is grown, his father seeks out his daughter's tribe to ask for forgiveness. After finding her grandparents and two sisters, Roy dies, finally at peace. Augustus falls in love with the twins and they with him, eventually bearing him a daughter and three sons. Augustus protects them all from the white man's attempts to buy their land and educate the children at a boarding school.

The story jumps generations to Augustus's grandson Klaus, who tries to take an antelope woman, more of a spirit in human form, as his wife. She brings nothing but bad luck to Klaus, his friend Richard, and Richard's family.

Why I liked it: The author uses magical realism in The Antelope Wife that reminds me of the writings of Gabriel Marquez Garcia, one of my favorite authors. Because of this, the text is filled with incredible events like a man nursing a baby and twins who are able to read their mother's thoughts. My favorite character in the novel is actually a dog, which appears in all of the story lines. He saves lives, and provides some comic relief to the tales that are otherwise filed with grief and longing.

I have read several other novels by the same author, and do prefer her more realistic fiction like The Master Butchers Singing Club, The Round House, and Shadow Tag.

Classroom application: This novel would be a great text for a unit on native voices. Sections of the book could be used if your time is limited or it could be offered as a choice if your students are forming different literature circles. Linda Christiansen has a great chapter in her book Teaching for Joy and Justice titled "Language and Power," which would help you shape a unit on native voices from across the globe. 

The Antelope Wife was published in 1998 and then published again in 2012, fourteen years later. Since the author heavily revised the story, the text could also be used as a mentor text in a writer's workshop. I think it would be interesting to compare the two different versions of the text, or at least selected excerpts where changes are obvious. Students would be asked to think like writers as they considered why the author made the changes she did, and their effect on the novel.

If you are interested in purchasing a copy of The Antelope Wife for yourself, you can find it on Amazon here.

Note: The Literary Maven is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.

On My Bookshelf: Tender at the Bone by Ruth Reichl

The basic plot: This memoir centers around food and mother daughter relationships because for the author, Ruth, the two are very much intertwined. From an early age, Ruth was aware that her mother was a disaster in the kitchen, serving unusual concoctions, or even worse, food past its expiration date. As a result, though unknowingly at first, Ruth seeks out and enjoys the company of those who can cook and appreciate food. Ruth grows up in New York City, summers in Connecticut, travels with her well to do parents, and spends her middle school years in a boarding school in Quebec because she makes an offhand comment to get mother about wanting to learn French. She attends college in Michigan, far away from her mother and her food, but returns to New York after, where she meets her future husband. Throughout her travels, Ruth becomes an experienced cook, learning any recipe from anyone she can. Her book is sprinkled with these recipes, from brownies to wiener schnitzel to fried chicken.

Why I liked it: I love a good memoir, and this one is good. The author has great adventures, is funny, and her descriptions bring to life all of the figures in her life without slowing down any of the action, which some authors seem to struggle with. I sometimes find myself skimming description, thinking "when is something going to happen?" But not in Tender at the Bone. Ruth's characterization makes you feel like you know these people, or wish you did. 

The author's treatment of the issue of mental health is also well done. She is kind, but does not romanticize or sugar coat what it is like to live with someone who is manic depressive.

Classroom application: This would be a perfect central text or student selected text for a unit on memoir. The author labels the book as a "food memoir" if you are planning on using excerpts from different types of memoir, but could also fall into the "coming of age" category. Your students who love food, want to be the next Top Chef, or those good girls who wish they could be bad will love this book.

If you use mentor texts for student writing in your classroom, you could also use selections from this text. As I noted above, the author has great character development and description without interfering with the plot. Students (even more so than professional authors) struggle to balance and blend the two so this would be a model text for practicing.

If you are interested in purchasing a copy of Tender at the Bone for yourself, you can find it on Amazon here.

Note: The Literary Maven is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.

On My Bookshelf: Mailbox by Nancy Freund

The basic plot from Amazon: In 76 funny and poignant linked vignettes, 13-year-old agnostic protagonist Sandy Drue launches a personal quest. Her family has moved from New York City to Small Town USA -- not an easy move, especially for Sandy's artist/intellectual mother who watches Sandy and her brother adapt to their new community and feels more and more like she's hosting foreign exchange students who never leave. Sandy loves this idea, both hosting foreign students and traveling the world.

At 13, she is in-between -- between her mother's mindset and her own, between childhood and adulthood, between geographical and cultural divisions, and in the 1970s, between political conflicts in American history and a changing economy. She is searching for the Meaning of Life, and she thinks she finds it. She is finally ready to write her book. The result is a compulsively readable tale of the mysteries and mischief, struggles and victories of growing up -- a fantastic piece of contemporary fiction as true to life as a careful documentary.

Why I liked it: Mailbox is written almost as a stream on consciousness as Sandy shares stories from her life and advice on how to best live one's life. At times, the novel is reminiscent of The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros, especially the scenes that focus on older men leering at young girls.

At other times, the main character reminded me of Scout (Jean Louise Finch) from To Kill A Mockingbird. Sandy stands up for herself and doesn't let anyone push her around. Sandy's parents are very free thinking and her older brother is highly sensitive, both of which cause Sandy to be particularly observant of the world around her and kinds to others. The lack of "girl drama" that takes place in the book was refreshing.

Classroom application: The novel would be most appropriate for upper elementary and middle school students as the novel follows the main character from about the age of eight and her switch from one elementary school to another to the age of thirteen and her entrance into middle school. Selected chapters could be used as mentor texts for showing how to vividly capture a memory or "explode a moment."

If you are interested in purchasing a copy of Mailbox for yourself, you can find it on Amazon here.

Note: The Literary Maven is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.

On My Bookshelf: The Hired Girl by Laura Amy Schlitz

Basic plot from Amazon: Fourteen-year-old Joan Skraggs, just like the heroines in her beloved novels, yearns for real life and true love. But what hope is there for adventure, beauty, or art on a hardscrabble farm in Pennsylvania where the work never ends? Over the summer of 1911, Joan pours her heart out into her diary as she seeks a new, better life for herself—because maybe, just maybe, a hired girl cleaning and cooking for six dollars a week can become what a farm girl could only dream of—a woman with a future. Newbery Medalist Laura Amy Schlitz relates Joan’s journey from the muck of the chicken coop to the comforts of a society household in Baltimore (Electricity! Carpet sweepers! Sending out the laundry!), taking readers on an exploration of feminism and housework; religion and literature; love and loyalty; cats, hats, and bunions.

Why I liked it: The Hired Girl's central character, Joan is one you are constantly rooting for, that is when you are not shaking your head at her. At the age of 14, things look bleak for Joan. She can no longer attend school, as her mother is dead and she must keep house for her father and brothers. When she tries to take a stand for her rights as the woman of the house, her father punishes her by burning her books, taking away her only respite from her hard life. But Joan is headstrong and determined not to be ruled by her father, so she decides that she will leave home using the little money her mother left for her. I found myself comparing my own life at the age of fourteen to Joan's and being very thankful that I was not born in the early 1900s.

Joan takes the train from her Pennsylvania farm, stopping briefly in Philadelphia (I love any mention of my home city!), and ends her travels in Baltimore where she hopes to find work. But amazingly, and this is where the head shaking begins, that is the extent of Joan's plans. She would have spent her first night in Baltimore sleeping in a park if not for the kindness of a stranger, Solly Rosenbach, whose family gives her a place to stay and employs her as the help to their aging housekeeper. because she is so tall, Joan lies about her age to the Rosenbachs, which once they discover the truth, explains much of her "misbehavior" and childish impulses. Joan is eager to please and often meddles in the family's affairs, ending up in over her head. Each chapter, formatted as a diary entry, is a roller coaster of emotions which leaves you wondering what Joan will get into next.

Classroom application: While all of the characters are fictional, the details of the setting and time period are not. During or after reading the novel, students could research what life was like in 1911 in their city or town. Using The Hired Girl as a mentor text, students could then create characters and write diary entries from their perspectives based on their research. Students could also research how children's and women's rights have changed over time.

If you are interested in purchasing a copy of The Hired Girl for yourself, you can find it on Amazon here. 

Note: The Literary Maven is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.

On My Bookshelf: Devil and the Bluebird by Jennifer Mason-Black

Basic plot from Amazon: Blue Riley has wrestled with her own demons ever since the loss of her mother to cancer. But when she encounters a beautiful devil at her town crossroads, it’s her runaway sister’s soul she fights to save. The devil steals Blue’s voice—inherited from her musically gifted mother—in exchange for a single shot at finding Cass.

Armed with her mother’s guitar, a knapsack of cherished mementos, and a pair of magical boots, Blue journeys west in search of her sister. When the devil changes the terms of their deal, Blue must reevaluate her understanding of good and evil and open herself up to finding family in unexpected places.

In Devil and the Bluebird, Jennifer Mason-Black delivers a captivating depiction of loss and hope.

Why I liked it: Devil and the Bluebird centers around a plucky, determined seventeen year old girl, Blue Riley. Her mother is deceased (cancer), her father was just a sperm donor, her sister Cass took off two year ago, her former best friend doesn't understand her and her old boyfriend is of no interest to her anymore. When Blue hasn't heard from Cass in far too long, she makes a deal with the devil, trading her voice for the ability to track down her sister, a power vested in Blue's hiking boots. She heads West from Maine, but her boots seem to lead her more toward trouble than toward finding her sister.

As Blue hitchhikes across the country, she has one brush with danger after another, sometimes just narrowly escaping it and sometimes not. This is all attributed to her deal with the devil, a deal whose rules seem to constantly be changing. As a result, an bused woman is found by her abusive husband, Blue and a fellow traveler are almost sold as sex slaves, and Blue is picked up and nearly killed by a serial murderer.

Thankfully Blue's boots seem to lead to lucky coincidences just as often as they lead her into trouble. Blue ends up in the barn of Tish, her mother's former lover and band member, during a blizzard. Blue reunites with a lover interest of her own, Dill, just as she is about to hop on board a train. Lou, the same truck driver who picked up Blue at the start of the novel and offers her advice about hitchhiking, takes Blue to her final destination, to LA to finally find her sister.

The novel borders on the genre of magical realism, an unusual genre in young adult literature, but one I very much enjoy (I'm a big fan of Gabriel Garcia Marquez). A few of these moments in the book are when Blue makes a deal with the "devil," spends the night listening to a famous (dead) musician, wakes to find that the bus she rode is sitting in a junkyard, and is guided through a snowstorm by the souls of a serial killer's victims.

Classroom application: Because the novel has elements of different genres, it would be interesting for students to try to classify the book and then make a case for why they assigned it to the genre that they did. The book also has wonderful imagery, making it an excellent mentor text. There is nothing cliche about the author's descriptions. Finally, the novel has some LGBT themes (Blue's mother and Tish were partners in life and their band; Blue travels with Steve, a transgender youth cast off by his religious family) and would add to the diversity of your high school classroom library.

If you are interested in purchasing a copy of Devil and the Bluebird for yourself, you can find it on Amazon here.

Note: The Literary Maven is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.