Stay Gold (texts to accompany The Outsiders)

Posted on August 15, 2017 by The Read-e-ologist

Thank you, Mary Stassen, for inspiring this text list! As requested, you will find books, videos, and a Newsela text set to serve as additional resources when you read The Outsiders with your class. When you can, buy your books at an independent bookstore. Anderson’s Bookshop is one of my favorites!

Newsela.Com text Set “Stay Gold!”

BOOKS WITH SIMILAR THEMES AND/OR DISCUSSION POINTS

The Crossover by Kwame Alexander

Josh Bell is a baller and a twin brother. He needs to sort out what he has in common with his brother and how he is different. He also needs to face the medical issue going on with his dad.

Solo by Kwame Alexander and Mary Rand Hess

This novel-in-verse tells the story of Blade and his broken rock-n-roll family. Blade grieves the loss of his mom and the shame of his drug-addicted father by writing his own songs.

Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson

Melinda is miserable at school. Kids laugh at her and make it obvious that they are doing so. They are still mad at her about something that happened over the summer. As she struggles through each day, she is trying to heal. She was the one who was hurt, but nobody will know until she finds her voice.

Go Ask Alice by Anonymous

This book is the diary of a high-school girl who Runs away from home, and gets mixed up with drugs. At some points she seems like she has the world ahead of her. Other times, she seems so lost . . .

Tyrell by Coe Booth

Tyrell can’t get a break. His mom is useless. His dad is in jail. He’s got a kid brother that needs too much from him, and a girlfriend that wants too much from him. All he wants is a place to live, and a new start.

Bronx Masquerade by Nikki Grimes

Wesley doesn’t write the required essay for Mr. Ward’s class, but he writes a poem. This leads to an open mic poetry event every week in Mr. Ward’s class. Girls and boys from different races, cultures, and circumstances open up to each other through their shared words.

Between the Lines by Nikki Grimes (Available February 2018)
In this companion/sequel to Bronx Masquerade, Darrin is a budding news reporter. He and Mr. Ward bring back open mic poetry and a new group of students learn about each other through shared vulnerability.

Joseph: A Novel by Sheila P. Moses

Joseph is about to start at a new school. The problem is, it’s hard to get to know anyone when you can’t talk about your life. Joseph and his mom live in a homeless shelter, because she can’t keep a steady job with her drug and alcohol addictions. Joseph is trying to figure out how to help her while he also tries to deal with his own life.

Bottled Up by Jaye Murray

Pip is desperate to escape his life – he skips school, drinks, and gets high trying to escape. When Pip gets in trouble at school, the principal gives him an ultimatum: See a counselor, or his dad will be called. Pip will do ANYTHING to avoid his father, so he sees the counselor, who wants him to see what he’s doing to himself and to his little brother.

Handbook for Boys by Walter Dean Myers

Jimmy and Kevin could really use a guide to life.

Their activities almost land them in juvenile detention until Duke employs them in his Harlem barbershop. Duke has rules for everything. But is he offering good advice or just more aggravation?

Scorpions by Walter Dean Myers

Lately everybody’s messing with Jamal. His teachers, the kids at school, even his dad. And now that Jamal’s brother Randy’s in the slam, Crazy Mack has a crazy idea. He wants Jamal to take control of the Scorpions and run crack.

All the gang jive–Jamal has no use for it. Unless, like some say, it’s the only way to “get money” for Randy’s appeal…

The story of twelve-year-old Jamal, whose life changes drastically when he acquires a gun.

I Can’t Keep My Own Secrets:
Six-Word Memoirs by Teens Famous & Obscure
by Larry Smith

Based on Earnest Hemingway’s six-word-story, teens wrote their own six-word-memoirs—powerful, vulnerable, truth-telling memoirs.

Boot Camp by Todd Strasser

After getting caught with drugs, fifteen year-old Garrett is sent to Lake Harmony, a disciplinary boot camp for troubled teens. At the boot camp, Garrett is abused and controlled until he “obeys all orders immediately and without hesitation.” Part of him wants to escape, and part of him is terrified to break any more rules. Can he escape while he still has his own personality?

Teen Angst? Naaah… by Ted Vizzini

Ned’s angsty teen memoirs can be read in order, or not. Each chapter is complete and can stand alone.

YOUTUBE VIDEOS

Thug Notes: The Outsiders (Warning: Explicit Language)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TJl3cEOpFH4

Gone With the Wind in 60 Seconds
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZIpNvvVN13Y

Bunnies: Gone With the Wind
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TsOIn0IBAdA

Interview with S.E. Hinton
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wJnfleLeOZg

Robert Frost recites “Nothing Gold Can Stay”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sDPUdK2tcdA

Stop-Action Animation “Nothing Gold Can Stay” (Good For CCSS RL7)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rLYj1A5Z_t8

Love Letter to America

Posted on November 16, 2016 by The Read-e-ologist

Dear America,

Love can save us. Trust me, I know.

My childhood was not a lovely one. I was the youngest, and therefore the most helpless, child of a very broken family. Alcoholism, domestic violence, and several types of abuse were some of the secrets we kept (or thought we kept) hidden within our household. When life was not a place of fear and terror, it was a place of shame and doubt. Love saved me. One of the first times that I confronted love was in the book Sylvester and the Magic Pebble by William Steig. I know it seems silly that a book about a donkey and a little red marble could show me what love looks like. It was Sylvester’s parents who got through to me. They grieved when their adored son, Sylvester, couldn’t be found. I realized that love could look like grieving. My next encounter with love was the Frances books by Russell Hoban. Frances was lovable, though she was sometimes stubborn, selfish, and childish. Frances had wise caring people in her life who helped her grow and change. I learned that love is not abrasive and that love can transform.

I watched my dad encounter love in the Alcoholics Anonymous book (the Big Book) as he read accounts of other recovering alcoholics sharing their experience, strength, and hope. Yes, I ended up reading the whole book cover-to-cover, too. I was watching it transform my father, so I just had to read it. I knew there was good stuff in there!

Book by book, chapter by chapter, page by page, I have been transformed as I have encountered love in books. I have realized that I am not alone. I have realized that my shortcomings don’t have to be permanent. I have learned that people are resilient, and I can be too. I learned that there is hope. Since then, I have tried to share this love with others. I like helping my students and friends find the right book. The book that will speak to their hearts.

Needless to say, I was ecstatic when I stumbled upon Donalyn Miller’s words that put voice to what I was trying to do with books. On page 9 of The Book Whisperer, Donalyn explains how she and her husband have use books to express themselves and their hearts to each other with “Books are our love letter (or apologies) passed between us, adding a layer of conversation beyond our spoken words.”

For over a week, I have been beyond words. I know that to heal, to move forward, I need to use my voice, but there is too much to articulate. I also know that I need to love. Fearlessly. So, America, I want to express my love for you. Here is my love letter to you in the form of books.

Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson

Even when it seems that the world (or in Melinda’s case, the entire high school) is against you, and you are hurting alone, find your safe place, your safe person, and speak.

Staying Fat For Sarah Byrnes by Chris Crutcher

Sometimes the best way to help a friend is to listen to what she is not saying.

Garvey’s Choice by Nikki Grimes

When a friend encourages you to be yourself, your toughest critic might finally accept you as you are, even if your toughest critic is your own father.

Mother Bruce by Ryan T. Higgins

Wait, do you really expect me to tell you a tiny little thing about each book on this list? Just read this one! Trust me!

One For the Murphys by Lynda Mullay Hunt

Even those of us who feel we are undeserving of love, are indeed loved.

Love the Baby by Steven Layne

Jealousy can cause hatred, but seeing another’s vulnerability and humanity can sometimes be what we need to help us love.

If You Plant a Seed by Kadir Nelson

“If you plant a seed of kindness, in almost no time at all, the fruits of kindness will grow and grow and grow.”

Ghost by Jason Reynolds

Sometimes love looks like a bald, chipped-tooth, taxi-driving coach who pushes you to be better.

Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling

Love, especially sacrificial love, trumps everything no matter how terrifying, dark, and powerful a certain force may appear to be.

A Perfect Season for Dreaming/Un Tiempo Perfecto Para Soñar by Benjamin Alire Sáenz

Find someone you trust and share your dreams.

My Secret Camera: Life in the Lodz Ghetto by Frank Dabba Smith, with photographs by Mendel Grossman

Even in the worst of times, connecting with others, laughter, and love helps us persevere.

Each Kindness by Jacqueline Woodson

Pay attention to how you treat others, and remember that even small amounts of kindness can ripple outward and change the world.

America, this is a teeny tiny list, and there are countless books that will remind you who you are to the world, and who the world should be to you. These are just a few that I have on my coffee table right now, reminding me that there is hope. Start with one of these, or choose another book, but read, love, transform, and be transformed.
Fondly,

Julie Hoffman

Reading (NaPoWriMo Day 27)

Posted on April 28, 2016 by The Read-e-ologist

New book—
Pages to read,
Plot hook!

The words
Splayed on the page—
Songbirds.

Immerse,
Capture my heart—
In verse.

The Musette consists of three verses, three lines each. The syllable pattern is 2/4/2. The rhyme scheme is a/b/a; c/d/c f, and e/f/e.

National Poetry Writing Month

Posted on April 2, 2016 by The Read-e-ologist

This was written on April 1, 2016

Ode to Kwame Alexander (aka Lemme ShakeYour Hand, Sir)

Oh, Kwame—

With your wonder words—

Laying lines of rhyme,

Preying on prepositions in their prime:

Outside the cage,

‘Round with rage

With, or without, wage,

Down

the

page.

Within the winsome,

Surrounding the sweetness,

Hanging with the hope.

Throw me a challenge.

Amuse me with your musing.

Confuse me until I see.

Wind me up with wondering.

Word to your words.

Beautiful Anticipation

Posted on September 26, 2015 by The Read-e-ologist

There is a wonderful reason that I must wait three more days to read All American Boys: A Novel by Jason Reynolds and Brendan Kiely. You see, back in July, I met Jason Reynolds at ILA. He gave me an Advanced Reader Copy (ARC) of All American Boys, and I had it at the very top of my Read-Soon-Pile. Shortly after my return from ILA, a former student visited. This particular former student had been a non-reader merely a year ago. Within the last year he discovered his favorite genre (YA-realistic fiction) and read every book that I put into his hands during the school year. Over the summer, he continued to read, and would visit periodically to borrow more books. Summer was coming to an end, and he had just dropped by to return a book that he had longer than he usually kept a book. “Mrs. Hoffman, sorry I had this so long. My dad read it too.” he said to me. My mouth dropped open, touched that this former non-reader had become such the reader that he was bonding with his dad over a book. In my moment of sappy thoughts of changing the world through family literacy, I became weak and placed my signed ARC of All America Boys into his open hand. “Fred*,” I said to him “I am letting you read this before I read it. This is a very important book. Read it, and get it back to me so that I can read it.”

Weeks passed, and the school year started. Fred is now in a different hallway at school, so I don’t see him too often, but when I do see him, I ask “Where’s my book? Are you bringing it back?” I get a nod, a mumble, a response that really isn’t a response, but I don’t get the book. I start to worry. It is a very important book that I need to read.
Two days ago, I was visited by three other boys (all three are friends with Fred, all three are struggling readers). We talked for a few minutes. I listened to their stories about summer break, and how the school year was going so far. When they finally started to head out, one of them mentioned that they were headed to Fred’s house. Right away I jumped in with “Hey, when you see him, would you tell him that I asked about getting my book back. I really want to read it before it comes out. It’s available in bookstores on September 29th, but I want to read it beforehand. Can you ask him?” All three boys exchanged glances, shuffled their feet, and shrugged their shoulders. My heart sank, and I pleaded “C’mon, guys. You know about the book? Did something bad happen to it? Am I not getting it back? Tell me.”

“You can tell her,” one of the boys nodded to another. “Go ahead.”

“You can’t have the book back yet, Mrs. Hoffman. Fred is reading it to us. He is taking it very seriously. He said it is an important book, and we are only about halfway through.”

I am relieved, I am a little choked up, and I am willing to wait until I can get my hands on another copy. I have a feeling I will be buying several copies. It is an important book.