Eggs, by Jerry Spinelli

Eggs is the rare gem for tweens that could appeal to girls and boys alike. Nine-year-old David has just relocated to a Pittsburg suburb after the death of his mother. He expresses his sadness and anger by lashing out at his grandmother and refusing to make new friends … until he meets thirteen-year-old Primrose, who lives in a van outside her psychic mother’s house in a shady part of town. While theirs is an odd relationship, it works. Both feel like outsiders and shun the people closest to them. At one point, David points out the irony in their friendship: Primrose tries to escape the mother who she says is crazy, while David wants nothing more than to have his mother back. Although they maintain a tough exterior- David constantly shouts at Primrose “I don’t like you!” and Primrose calls David names like “infant turd”- they find in the other the love and support they need.

Spinelli’s prose is great for readers who like it brief and to the point: “A drape parted. Light. Her silhouette leaving. Dark again. Night in a box. David alone. Scared.” I consider this the antithesis of J.K. Rowling’s rambling, 50 words per sentence style!

My only qualm with Eggs is the sometimes unrealistic circumstances. Yes, these characters are raw and real, but what grandmother would allow a nine-year-old free reign of the city, regardless of the circumstances? How many times would your grandson stay out until 2 am before you noticed? However, because this is such a powerful story and David’s progression from boyhood requires him to explore on his own, the reader lets it pass. Overall, Spinelli’s Eggs is a funny but moving story full of quirky, loveable characters.

Spinelli, J. (2007). Eggs. New York, NY: Little, Brown and Company. ISBN 0316166464.

The Magic Thief, by Sarah Prineas

Harry Potter fans will rejoice over this first installment of Prineas' fantastical series. The Magic Thief follows a young man's transformation from pickpocket into wizard in the magic-filled city of Twilight. There is an even a companion website (www.magicthief.com) for those multi-media loving tween readers.

Prineas, S. (2008). The Magic Thief. HarperCollins: New York, NY. ISBN: 978-0-06-137587-3.

The TARGET Method: Getting Tweens Excited about Reading

Chapter 4 in Teri Lesesne’s Naked Reading presents the TARGET method (Trust, Access, Response, Guidance, Enthusiasm, and Tween Appeal) as a way to get tweens to (re)discover a love for reading. It is obvious that Lesesne has ample experience working with this age group and truly enjoys it. Lesesne provides easy, concrete suggestions for each of the six steps in the TARGET process. I don’t want to repeat Lesesne’s recommendations verbatim, so I will highlight just a couple of my favorites:

• “Do not try to find books that address problem students might be having in class.”

This was a timely reminder for me, as I was completing the review below on Ida B., about a young girl whose mother is diagnosed with cancer. My first inclination was that Ida B. would be an invaluable choice for tweens who have had similar experiences in their own families. But after reading Lesesne’s suggestion, I realized that the last thing children dealing with a terminal illness in their family want is a heart-wrenching story. They would most likely prefer something light and humorous instead.

• “Print out a master list of possible questions and have students keep that list in their notebooks.”

In addition to a list of broad questions for students to consider as they read, I would also suggest keeping a blank sheet of paper directly in the book and keeping a pencil handy. That way, if the student has a favorite quote, a question about something that happened in the book, or an idea for a paper or project, they can quickly jot it down and continue reading. Of course, if a book is completely for pleasure and there is no reporting required upon completion, then these suggestions should be ignored! As Lesesne also suggests, not every book kids read should have a paper or project connected to it. Sometimes, it is okay to finish a book and just move on.

Although Naked Reading is aimed primarily at teachers, parents and librarians can apply these suggestions in the home or library, since Lesesne stresses the importance of having books everywhere. Have books available in the classroom, at home, and even in the car. Families can find great audio books for road trips and discuss the story together. Also, parents and teachers should constantly demonstrate reading for pleasure.

Finally, as a side note, I recently completed a group project on the effects of teen comic books in libraries. We came across a great case study in our research (Gorman, M. (2009). Comics in the Curriculum: Math, Science and History. Library Media Connection, 28(3), 36), demonstrating one teacher’s use of the graphic novel version of Beowulf alongside the traditional version. In one of her reading lists, Lesesne recommends the graphic novel based on Kafka's The Metamorphosis. Although I still am not sure there is ever a replacement for actually reading “The Canon,” bringing these new techniques and formats into the classroom seems like an excellent idea for getting tweens excited about reading.

Walk Two Moons, by Sharon Creech

Walk Two Moons is an endearing tale of thirteen year old American Indian, Salamanca Tree Hiddle as she navigates the emotions and reality of her mother’s death. She travels across the country with her eccentric grandparents and they visit the sites that her mother had on her same journey which ultimately ended with Salamanca’s mother’s death, in a bus down the side of a ravine.

As Salamanca’s journey begins she shares the story of a friend called Phoebe and the many escapades of Phoebe’s family. Interestingly, the stories shared evoke the exact emotions which Sal is experiencing. Along the way Sal gives herself over to the anxious journey and weaves a saga with Phoebe as main character, as she is wrapped in the quirky love from her grandparents. The Greek and Native American myths wrapped into the story also provide wisdom and strength. In a twist with that will surely evoke tears from the reader, Sal experiences yet another major loss along the journey.

Walk Two Moons is a great book for any youngster facing and internalizing the realities of losing a loved one. In the end she faces the truth of her mother’s demise but realizes that her mother will always live on in the streams, trees, grasses, and the smells of that summer she trekked to find her mother and ultimately find herself.

Creech, S. (1994). Walk Two Moons. New York: Harper Collins. ISBN 978-0064405171

Best friends and bullying

Ypulse recently posted a discussion on a New York Times story wherein the potential negative effects of tween and teen best friends are highlighted. (Last week, my professional reading post also included an article from The New York Times. See, newspapers and traditional news sources are still relevant, whether we access them in print or online!) Apparently, some schools have even gone as far as to separate best friends whose relationship is viewed as unhealthy to themselves or other students. The discussion about social cruelty among teenagers, and especially girls, is not new. In fact, the author of the Ypulse article makes a reference to Regina George, the lead character in the movie Mean Girls, which is based on the book Queen Bees and Wannabees by Rosalind Wisemand published in 2002.

We all know that middle school is rife with cliques. The power of the group can build one’s confidence if they are part of that ‘in” crowd or greatly damage one’s self-esteem if they are on the other side. We may have been one of the queen bees, comfortably seated at the top of the middle school social ladder. We may have been one of the outsiders, subject to ridicule by those queen bees but still wishing to be one of them. We may have tried to stay low on the radar of potential bullies. Or we may have been all of those at some point, since as often happens, middle schoolers explore many different identities and social circles in trying to define a sense of self.

The quick and easy fix of simply separating “bffs” (either by not placing them in the same in-class groups or on the same sports teams, or by placing them in different classes altogether) seems like it would create more issues than it would solve. As the Times article opines, "If children’s friendships are choreographed and sanitized by adults, the argument goes, how is a child to prepare emotionally for both the affection and rejection likely to come later in life?" Perhaps teachers need to address the root of the problem and provide lessons to students or administrators need to give school-wide assemblies on bullying. Separating two queen bees is only a temporary solution and, again, does not address the real issue of why tweens and teens need to so viciously distinguish “in” and “out” crowds. I can’t say I have an answer. There have always been popular crowds and has always been bullying to a certain degree. It is hard to say if the extent of cliquishness and bullying is actually greater or if the media and society are simply now more aware of the issue.

The Twilight Saga: Eclipse (The Motion Picture Soundtrack)

If you somehow avoided this fact, Eclipse is the third installment of Stephenie Meyers’ vampire series. Like the previous two soundtracks, it features mainly darker, modern rock that fits the stormy Forks, Washington weather. Surprisingly, even listeners who are not diehard Twilight fans can enjoy these selections from Vampire Weekend, Muse, The Bravery and others.

Kira-kira, by Cynthia Kadohata

“My sister, Lynn, taught me my first word: kira-kira."

Katie looks to her big sister and best friend, Lynn, to make sense of the world around them. Lynn explains to Katie that there is kira-kira (“glittering”) in everything around them. Lynn encourages Katie to become a great doctor, scientist or tennis player. When the family struggles to afford a house, it is Lynn’s idea for them to stop spending their allowance on candy and secretly save it for their parents. Lynn is the kira-kira in Katie’s life.

But when Lynn becomes seriously ill, there is no longer a role model for Katie to follow and she must learn to be a big sister herself. She constantly sees the worry on her parents’ faces, and tries to be responsible and tough so her parents have one less thing to worry about. In between being a caretaker for her younger brother, Sammy, Katie struggles with schoolwork and daydreams about her imaginary future husband Joe-John Abondondalarama.

On a historical note, Kira-Kira explores the prevalence of racism in the 1950s and 60s South. There are only six Japanese-American families in their Georgia town. Lynn points out to the unaware Katie that she may not have many friends when she enters first grade because they are Asian-American. The conditions of lower-class factory workers are also described in detail.

My first impression of Kadohata’s novel is that it seemed too young for the tween set. We are introduced to the main character before she is even five, and tween readers may initially have trouble relating to Katie. However, throughout the course of the novel, Katie develops into a very mature and admirable young woman. Kira-Kira is a beautifully written glimpse into one family’s life through the eyes of their middle daughter.

Kadohata, C. (2004). Kira-Kira. Atheneum Books: New York, NY. ISBN 06985639-3