Kaczur 1 Sarah Kaczur L408 Dr. Carter Book Rationale ... - Oncourse

Kaczur 1Sarah KaczurL408 Dr. CarterBook Rationale #224 October 2006Bibliographic Citation:Myers, Walter Dean. Monster. New York ; HarperCollins, 1999.Intended Audience:Monster, by Walter Dean Myers is a book that is easy to read because of its journal andmovie-script format, and could therefore be used on mainstream eighth or ninth-grade students orperhaps a group of language lab students. (Language lab being for students with problemspassing standardized tests and are placed in a lab for extra reading and writing skills). If I wereto teach this novel I would ideally use it to teach eighth-grade. Students who are thirteen andfourteen years old are close enough to the age of the main character that they will feel aconnection to his age group.In the ideal situation of mainstream 8 th grade students, Monster would be used for wholeclassstudy. After researching online there are multiple creative ways to teach the book. Oneidea was to have the class read the book together; assigning students to roles prior to engaging inreading. As well, to have students feel their roles, the classroom could be made into a “pseudocourtroom.” (A judge at the front of the room, jurors placed along a wall, prosecutor anddefendant tables, and remainder students can act as the public audience). To ensure that allstudents are engaging there could be “exit-slips” designed for the end of each trial scene forstudents to record whether they think Steve is guilty or innocent and their reasons/judgments asto how they cam to their verdict. Throughout and after each scene, the class could have a closingdiscussion over the reoccurring issues of racism, white society, the judicial system, unveiling

Kaczur 2evidence, etc. Topics to be covered/explored with students through discussion: Race,Multiculturalism, Racism, Stereotypes, Civil Rights in the U.S.(past and present),Ethnocentrism, Harlem, NY(history and currently), Socio-economic status in the UnitedStates, Murder, Ethics, Judicial System in the U.S., Jail life, Fear, Persuasive Arguments,etc.Another approach to teaching Monster would be to have students engage in a journaling project.With a journaling project, students are responsible for answering specific journal questions incoordination with the text on a daily basis. This way each student would have moreopportunities to reflect on the topic areas and internalize what Steve Harmon goes through.Providing students with a journaling project will give shy students a venue for expressing theirideas; rather than the competitive classroom environment of acting out the scenes. Students willconnect with the personal tragedies of the author as well as outside potential discussion if read incorrelation with another novel; i.e. Scorpions, also by Myers, where a boy feels pressure to “actlike a man” with his brother in jail.Brief Summary:Steve Harmon, a 16 year-old African American male, is caught in the middle of a drugstore robbery and murder that may have him locked up in jail for twenty years to life. Until adecision is made upon whether Steve is guilty or innocent, Steve remains living the horrible lifeof a jail tenant. In jail Steve gets a taste of what his life could be as he feels the pangs of fear andexperiences in-mates whose end result is hopeless. As a reader you get a look on Steve’sperspective and feelings about the situation via his disheartening journal entries. The other

Kaczur 3perspective Myers creates is a media driven look as Steve records the entire trial in a moviescriptfashion. The connection between the two give the reader an insider and outsiderperspective that allows you to see the discrimination surrounding Steve in this current day case.It leads one to believe that trials happen, frequently, where “justice” is unjust.Relationship of Book to Program:Ideally, students will take a rather active role in the novel due to its fast-paced readingstructure. As well, since it is an “easier” read the novel could be placed at the beginning ofinstruction rather than the end. By placing an easy-read novel at the beginning of a school yearstudents would be able to feel successful; as though the class is attainable to all reading abilities.Also, topic areas covered in this novel are broad enough to lead into further discussion with latterunits/novels. Mainly, the book would provide an engaging novel for all students to read andcould lead into a perspective or persuasive writing exercise.Teaching Objectives:The novel provides students with new insights to current society’sperspectives/stereotypes on African American males and how false stereotypes can lead todetrimental situation. Students will be able to reflect on how it would be to live in “Steve’sshoes” by reading and engaging with Steve’s journal entries. Through a reflective journalingprocess, students will have perspectives to the realities of social justice/injustice and gain insightto social consequences. As well, students will gain understanding of the U.S. judicial system andhow persuasive arguing (critical thinking between defending and prosecuting lawyers,anticipating an opposing argument, etc), can be/is a good skill to acquire.Insight to Race/Racism in U.S.: Students will gain an overall understanding of how stereotypesplay into race; how racism is formed based upon assumptions rather than looking purely at facts.

Kaczur 4To get students discussing the topic could begin with broad stereotypes (i.e. males vs. females)and lead to stereotypes specifically on race. Perhaps having students look for racism in otheravenues in the U.S. to compare how truthful Myers’ depiction of Steve’s situation; ideallystudents will come prepared with other examples; in commercials, television programs, movies,magazines, etc. When students bring in their proof of stereotypes of race in American societythe teacher could focus on tying in a historical movie depicting the civil rights movement;perhaps the movie coming out soon, The Real Story of Louis Emit Till, so students can engagewith the civil rights movement in the shoes of a teenager.Critical Reading: Students will gain critical reading experience by engaging in small and largegroup reading; depending upon whether the teacher would have the students read the noveltogether as a script or individually as homework. Role-play, worksheets, journaling, opendiscussion forums, and outside resources (historical videos, current court cases with racial issuesinvolved, videos/television clips of jail living, etc), will all engage students to think criticallyabout Steve Harmon’s position and the perspectives of those surrounding him in the novel.Composition Experience/Practice: Students will compose perspective and/or persuasivepapers; perspective papers could be included while the novel is being read and persuasiveargument papers could be a final project to the novel. As well, a journaling project could remainin place with role-playing. If students were given 10-15 minutes a day to reflect upon a courtscene, a quote, one of Steve’s journal entries, etc, each student will be able to reflect and “digest”the novel in their own way. As well, all of the writing experience and practice give the teachermore means of assessing student participation and improvement.

Kaczur 5Ethical Experience:Students will gain individual insights to what is means to be ethical while judging andunderstanding the characters in the novel that may choose ethical or unethical decisions.Students can relate ethics to their school system, sports teams, politics, etc., through largediscussion, journaling inquiry, or small group discussions.Suggested Student Activities and Assignments:Role-Play: Students would be able to volunteer as to who they would like to be in the role-play;or to alleviate stereotypes/issues, students could choose roles out of a hat. Role-play lets thestudents put themselves in the novel and engage with the text with an interactive means. Aswell, when students engage in role-play they are participating and maintaining the same readingspeed as a whole. Role-play would be best used if students do not have copies to take home andengage in individual reading, but could be used sporadically with a class of students who cantake their novel home and read for homework.Journal Entries: Journal entries will be completed at the end of class as a reflective process;where students “drain” themselves of their inhibitions, assumptions, inquiries, and hopes for themain character, Steve, but also in relation to their own lives and ethical decisions. Possiblediscussion topics will have students reflecting on an entire chapter or multiple chapters, quotesfrom the novel regarding social inequalities, race, ignorance, ethics, truth vs. lies, etc. Journalentries should be graded based upon student effort; stressing that a minimum of ¾ to a full pageof text should be submitted for full credit. Although students are responsible for participating inclass, shy or uneasy students can prove their understanding while reflecting to the teacher viatheir journal. As well, the journals will provide the students with resources for choosing theirfinal paper topics and providing more evidence on their ethical beliefs.

Kaczur 6Exit Slips: Exit slip questions can serve as a quick assessment tool to who is completing theexpected reading and who is not; or those who do not comprehend the literature. As well, exitslips at the end of class serve as a good reflective tool for students and can help aide inassessment of class engagement with the material, understanding of discussion topics, andfurther insight to class questions covering subject material. Exit slips can be used for students topose questions/concerns about class material/discussion for further planning or can simply begiven in place of students reflecting in personal journals; (if class goes longer than expected andstudents do not have ample time to reflect. Exit slips could be used at the beginning of the unit;prior to students engaging in the novel to help serve as tools for communicating questions, ideas,concerns, etc.Perspective Paper: Students will be given the prompt of placing themselves in the shoes of anyperson in the novel; Steve, lawyers, the judge, the jurors, Steve’s parents, convicts in jail, etc,and should be a smaller writing project. This could be used to assess individual creativity andability for students to define themselves in the life of another person. Essentially, this paper is toderive some empathic reasoning and provoke and define ethical/unethical dialogue for eachstudent. Perhaps assign 10-20pts for the paper; while each journal entry may count as 3-5 ptseach.Rough Draft: Rough drafts are necessity! Since this will be the first unit for the students it isnecessary to set up the rough draft accordingly; make sure students are aware that effort must beshown in their rough draft to get full credit. However, remind your students that a rough draft isa rough draft. The rough draft would focus on having students determine whether theirpersuasive argument has anticipated all of its counter arguments. Students should then engage inpeer editing; giving students a chance to engage with others, formulate other ideas/opinions, and

Kaczur 7attempt to persuade their peers towards believing their argument. As well, this rough draft peereditingsession will give the teacher a chance to make sure students have chosen appropriatetopics and responded to the assignment as asked. (30pts)Final Paper: The final paper will show what level of insight students gained and understandabout persuasive writing and allow students to delve into a subject area of interest. The finalpaper will have the requirements of the rough draft as well as more detailed rubric based on the6+1 trait grading system; conventions, ideas & content, organization, sentence fluency, voice,and word choice. (60pts)(Perspective paper (10),Rough Draft (30),Final Draft (60)=100 pts possible for writing evaluation)Potential Problems with the Work:Monster will hopefully elicit great discussion surrounding all of the mentioned topic areas butpotential problems could include students who are disrespectful of opposing views. Althoughone would view this as a problem, I see the unit as an opportunity for ethical dialogue to takeplace. Students need to confront issues of race and multiculturalism before entering high school.If it is proof that young children can identify with race (the baby doll experiment), then why notconfront race and diversity with students. Students are faced with issues of race from early onand should be equipped with the perspectives of race that Monster elicits.

Kaczur 8Collection of Information about Monster:-2000 Coretta Scott King Honor Book, 2000 Michael L. Printz Award, 1999 National Book Award Finalist, 01Heartland Award for Excellence in YA Lit Finalist, 00-01 Tayshas High School Reading List, and 00-01 Black-Eyed Susan Award Masterlist2000 Best Books for Young Adults (ALA), Hornbook Fanfare 2000, Michael L. Printz Award 2000, 2000 QuickPicks for Young Adults (Recomm. Books for Reluctant Young Readers), and 2000 Best Books for YoungAdults (ALA)http://www.harpercollins.com/books/9780060280789/Monster/index.aspxWalter Dean Myers1937-Life:Myers was born into a large West Virginia family in 1937, in the midst of the GreatDepression. Two years after his birth, his mother died, leaving his father with eight children tocare for and no job. In 1939, his father’s previous wife, a mixed-race (white/Native American)woman from whom he had been divorced due to family pressures, came to take her twodaughters with her to New York, where she now lived with her second husband, Herbert Dean.The Deans decided to adopt Walter along with his half-sisters, and so he came to grow up inHarlem.Though poorly educated themselves, the Deans taught Walter to read by the time he wasfour. His mother had Walter read to her every day from True Romance magazine and eventuallyfrom other sources, and his father and grandfather told him stories. Despite his obvious ability,though, young Walter had trouble on the playground because of a speech impediment; he wasfrequently involved in fights when the other children teased him, so much so that by the time hewas in fourth grade, he was threatened with suspension. Fortunately, his fifth grade teacherrecognized his writing ability and channeled his energy into creative writing.Walter’s childhood life revolved around the church, which was not just a place of worshipbut an activity center where he learned basketball and dance. He says, “I am a product ofHarlem and of the values, color, toughness, and caring that I found there as a child.”His talents brought Walter a place in an accelerated junior high program and ultimately atStuyvesant High School, a strong academic environment (the same school that Steve Harmonattends in Monster). Again, one of his teachers encouraged his writing, and he received somewriting awards; but his school attendance became spotty as he would spend days reading andwriting in the park rather than attending class.Myers began hanging with the “wrong crowd,” and, knowing his family couldn’t affordcollege, dropped out of high school at 15. He soon returned but then left again, and at the age of17 joined the army to escape. After three years, he returned to civilian life, taking a factory jobin New Jersey and then a position with the Post Office. He married a woman he met in the PostOffice job and began once again to write – publishing stories and poetry in (mostly) blackorientedmagazines.Myers took college classes but did not finish school; meanwhile, his first marriage was

Kaczur 9falling apart under the strain. In 1970, he was hired as an acquisitions editor for Bobbs Merrill, apublisher interested in developing more black writers for young people. Already, he hadpublished his first children’s book, a picture book published by Parents Magazine Press. Myershad written it for a contest, “more because I wanted to write anything than because I wanted towrite a picture book.” In 1975, he wrote his first young adult novel, Fast Sam, Cool Clyde, andStuff. Two years later, he left Bobbs Merrill and undertook to write full time.Supporting oneself by writing alone requires discipline. Myers’ daily routine begins withearly rising, usually before 5 a.m., for a daily 5-mile walk. He returns home and showers, thenstarts into work by about 7: “I try to get ten pages done. Once I do my ten pages, that’s it.”The idea for Monster goes back to a series of interviews with prisoners Myers did duringone of his attempts at college, in the late ‘70s:I did 600 pages of interviews with prisoners in New York and New Jersey. And patterns beganto emerge. They all knew why they were in jail; they knew what crimes they had committed orhad been accused of committing, but they never seemed to be really sure of the path that had gotthm there. . . . All these people felt that they were good people. They were always talking aboutwhether they were guilty or innocent, and the discussion were legal arguments. (Rochman)Later, he witnessed the trial of a 17-year-old charged with armed robbery and attempted murder,right across the street from a high school, and was struck by the short distance between thoseordinary students and this young man’s situation.Walter Dean Myers twice received Newbery Honor recognition (for Scorpions, 1989, andSomewhere in the Darkness, 1993) and is a three-time recipient of the Coretta Scott KingAward. In 2000, Monster (a Coretta Scott King Honor book) was named the first winner of theMichael L. Printz Award for “literary excellence in young adult literature.”Monster:The question of guilt or innocence: Do we think Steve is guilty or innocent? We have beengiven pretty much all of the evidence that the jury is considering (plus a little more conveyed byhis journal writing) – so if we were on the jury, how would we judge?Myers avoids a simplistic view of his character’s role. We know that Steve was in the storethe day of the killing, and that he had discussed his role with James King. Steve says he did notsignal the others; they say he did. We are never shown directly what happened when Steveemerged from the store. Steve’s own father and his defense attorney both seem to have doubtsabout his innocence. Under the law, if he conspired with others to commit a felony (therobbery), and someone dies in the course of that felony (no matter how the death occurs), all ofthe conspirators may be guilty of felony murder. So there are hints that he may be guilty.On the other hand, we have ample testimony that he is basically a good kid – his teacher,his mother, his relationship with his little brother. We don’t see him actually agree to take part,just that he was present when the job was planned. If we believe that his job was to signal theothers that the coast was clear, we have to accept a relatively far-fetched argument that “nosignal” was the signal. And he never received his “taste” of the proceeds. Is this enough doubtto find him not guilty? If he is “not guilty,” is he also necessarily “innocent”?Additionally, there is the question of proportionate punishment. Even though some mayconclude that he is guilty under the law, life in prison seems a pretty stiff penalty for a firstoffense, when he himself wasn’t even present at the time the killing occurred.Myers says that when he talks to young people about Monster, their responses are

Kaczur 11longer sure of who he is. When Steve asks his father if he believes that Steve did nothing wrong,the father is unable to give him the reassurance he asks for, and instead tells him about his ownaspirations for Steve, along with his failure ever to imagine visiting his son in prison (111-12).Sources: “Author Profile: Walter Dean Myers,” Teenreads.com, http;//www.teenreads.com/authors/au-myers-walterdean.asp; Rudine Sims Bishop,Presenting Walter Dean Myers, Boston: Twayne, 1991; Hazel Rochman, “The Booklist Interview: Walter Dean Myers,” Booklist 96 (February 15, 2000),http://www.ala.org/booklist/v96/youth/fe2/69interv.htm; “Walter Dean Myers,” Contemporary Authors Online, The Gale Group, 2001; “Walter DeanMyers,” http://www.aalbc.com/authors/walter1.htm)A. Waller HastingsProfessor of EnglishNorthern State UniversityAberdeen, SD 57401Return to Wally Hastings' Children's Literature PageReturn to Wally Hastings' HomepageAUTHOR: Susan M. LandtTITLE: Multicultural literature and young adolescents: A kaleidescope of opportunitySOURCE: Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy 49 no8 690-7 My 2006COPYRIGHT: The magazine publisher is the copyright holder of this article and it is reproducedwith permission. Further reproduction of this article in violation of the copyrightis prohibited. To contact the publisher: http://www.reading.org/Literature has the capacity to enter our lives, to interact with what we already know and believe,and perhaps even to change us. (Salvner, 2001, p. 9)As a child, I was fascinated by the magic of the kaleidoscope. By holding it to my eye, I couldview a wondrous scene; tap it a bit, and everything changed. The vision was never ending--always a delight to my eyes. For me, literature served a similar purpose; each book offered a newdelight for my mind. Whether I followed individuals through numerous adventures orencountered assorted characters in various volumes, the effect was the same; each readingbrought new ideas and different perspectives--a kaleidoscope of dreams.Because I was living in an isolated rural neighborhood in the days before television arrived,reading was my window to the world. The stories guided my dreams; the characters populatedmy imaginings. I learned of love, fear, triumph, and hope. I put myself in the lives of thecharacters and imagined possibilities beyond my reality. It was through literature that a small girlrunning barefoot in the summer and picking beans to earn money for the county fair discovered aworld full of possibility and promise.It is these memories that reinforce my belief in the power of literature to open doors in ourminds. However, the kaleidoscopic visions I experienced, while beautiful and astounding to mymind, now seem to have been small, white, and constrained. It would take years for the world ofcolor and diversity to be open for me, and more years for it to cease to be foreign and exotic. Allcharacters in the books I read were renditions of one another--merely older, richer, smarter, andmore experienced versions of myself.Today, I devour literature written for middle school students and young adults, marveling at therange of material available for, current readers. While young adult literature remains primarily

Kaczur 12Eurocentric, there are marvelous books available that provide readers with a diverse array ofperspectives. Quality offerings about nonmainstream cultures are slowly appearing at bookstoresand libraries. The challenge is to bring these to the attention of young readers. One way toaccomplish this is through educators. Providing teachers with information on qualitymulticultural literature and strategies for including it in the curriculum will encourage them touse this vital resource for their students' development.A kaleidoscope does not offer one true picture; it morphs and changes at every move, profferinga multifaceted, prismatic perspective. That is what I propose we offer to the developing minds ofour students: not a static, narrow vision, but a spectrum of perceptions and possibilities. My goalis to facilitate awareness and availability of quality literature that can provide young minds witha richer, clearer, and more accurate window through which to gaze.Although there are wonderful selections of multicultural books available for readers of all ages,this article focuses on literature appropriate for adolescents and young adults. I chose this midagerange partly because, as Zitlow and Stover (1998) noted, "The opportunity and ability to seehow others experience life is especially important for young adults who are in the process ofbecoming independent participants in a world much larger than their own school andcommunity" (Introduction section, para. 6). Providing a multitude of perspectives throughliterature at this point in students' development is an effective way to help facilitate theirengagement in self and social understanding (Ford, Tyson, Howard, & Harris, 2000).Multicultural literature encompasses a wide range of perspectives "of groups that have beenmarginalized because of race, gender, ethnicity, language, ability, age, social class,religion/spirituality, and/or sexual orientation" (Muse, 1997, p. 1). All of the above deserve andrequire consideration when searching for literature to share with students. The examples withinthis article, however, are delimited to the relatively narrow constructs of race and ethnicity inorder to provide depth of focus. By restricting the selections, it was possible to draw on a rangeof offerings within an area, thereby illustrating the concepts with interrelated examples. This isnot an indication of lesser importance ascribed to other groups, merely an attempt to provideanalogous examples across a breadth of ideas.Purposes for using multicultural literatureIn order for students to encounter high-quality literature with a range of perspectives, it has to bemade available to them and highlighted in a way that tantalizes their interest. Teachers are in anexcellent position to accomplish this task. However, that does not mean they are prepared.Teachers may not feel that they are sufficiently knowledgeable to select appropriate multiculturalliterature for their students. Overwhelmed with the already high demands of teaching, they maynot have time for in-depth research required to locate and evaluate suitable selections. Teachersmay decide it is better to avoid integrating multicultural literature with their curriculum ratherthan take the chance of including inappropriate choices. Therefore, this article seeks to do threethings: provide information concerning the importance of including multicultural literature in thecurriculum, present guidelines for selecting it, and offer high-quality examples.Broader view of the worldA well-recognized goal of introducing multicultural literature into the classroom is to connectstudents to the world by providing a wider view. Literature can open doors to other cultures andintroduce students to ideas and insights they would otherwise not have encountered. Rather thanreading about cultures in a fact-filled textbook, students experience a culture through the eyes ofother adolescents. They get to see people their age meeting challenges and solving problems.

Kaczur 13Unfamiliar aspects of other cultures--language, dress, beliefs--are less foreign when viewedthrough the lens of familiar issues. Fine fiction, according to Mazer (1993), has "the power totransform our understanding...[and] allow us to enter into another person's experience and to feelit as if it were our own" (p. viii).Literature can serve as a bridge to awareness and understanding and help students makeintercultural connections. Opening their eyes and their minds requires helping them discern thesimilarities among cultures while learning to appreciate the differences. Multicultural books thatassist students in seeing the "commonalities across cultures...play an important role in helpingstudents cross cultural borders" (Cai, 2002, p. 121).When students reading about diverse culturesdiscover similarities with their own, they begin to look beyond the differences and take a steptoward appreciating the cultural connectedness of all humanity.Adolescence is a time of questioning and searching as young people strive to comprehend whothey are and how they fit in the world. Stover (2000) suggested a number of adolescent concernsthat are common across cultural borders, including the need to define oneself outside the realmof family; come to terms with new visions of one's family as "less than perfect"; determine anindividual set of moral, ethical, religious, or political principles; come to terms with developingsexuality and with the physiological changes brought on by puberty; develop positiverelationships with peers; think about the future; and forge a niche in the larger society (p. 108).Students reading about these issues across a variety of cultures are able to appreciate thecommonalities as they see themselves mirrored within the similarities. In Yumoto's The Friends(1992), three middle school boys grapple with friendship, bravery, and ethics as they confronttheir tentative fascination with Zdeath. These youth struggle with intergenerational relationships,expectations regarding education, and pressure from peers. The story takes place in modern-dayJapan, highlighting the universality of adolescent concerns. Yumoto's book speaks to all youth,regardless of culture. Readers can relate to the boys' efforts to face their fears and establish theirdeveloping identities as individuals.Tangled Threads by Pegi Deitz Shea (2003) provides readers with a dual experience as theyencounter Mai, a 13-year-old Hmong girl, in a Thailand refugee camp and follow her to a newlife in the United States. Observing Mai and her grandmother before they immigrate equipsreaders to better understand the difficulties faced in their new surroundings. While illustratingthe cultural differences faced by Mai and her family, Shea also focuses on the similaritieschallenging young teens. Peer pressure, moral dilemmas, and issues of loyalty to one's fiends andfamily confront Mai as she adjusts to the differing standards in her new country.Another perspective is offered by Francisco Jimenez in The Circuit: Stories From the Life of aMigrant Child (1997). Based on his own experiences and those of his family, Jimenez reveals theconditions of life for migrant families in the United States as he describes the constant moves toaccommodate growing cycles that are critical to his family's survival. Attending school, we seein Circuit, is problematic for migrant children on several levels. Lack of steady attendancebecause of moving is compounded by the language barrier most migrant children face. Inresponse to a question about school, Roberto replied,I remember being hit on the wrists with a twelve-inch ruler because I did not follow directions....But how could I?.... [T]he teacher gave them all in English.... I always guessed what the teacherwanted me to do. And when she did not use the ruler on me, I knew I had guessed right. (p. 14)

Kaczur 14Seeing the struggles Roberto and his siblings go through to get an education can open doors tounderstanding life differences and cultural inequities. Middle school students reading The Circuitare introduced to a culture within their, own culture invisible or ignored by many.Interrupting prejudice and misunderstandingCrossing cultural borders involves understanding the similarities among cultures, while alsoappreciating the differences. It is this second point that is crucial to interrupting the innerboundary of prejudice and misunderstanding. Cai (2002) pointed out that "Ignorance andprejudice are two main stumbling blocks to mutual understanding and appreciation among ethnicgroups. To remove these blocks we need more culturally specific books that give readers insightsinto cultures other than their own" (p. 25). However, Cai warned against the limitations of manybooks that "skim only superficial cultural differences" and "do not delve into entrenched bias andprejudice." He cautioned that such books "appear to offer an easy way to cross cultural barriers"(pp. 121-122). It is up to teachers to select appropriate readings and also to initiate discussionsthat stimulate student thought on issues of difference.Bauman (1997) described how she uses literature to "help students explore the lives of peoplewhose cultures are very different from theirs" (p. 104). Through questioning and discussion,Bauman urged her students to consider such issues as who is missing from their textbooks andhow this might affect the self-esteem of those who are absent. She also indicated that frequentlythese readings "generate discussion about acts of prejudice or discrimination that studentsthemselves have experienced in schools." She observes that "white students are often surprised tolearn that incidents of intolerance are happening here and now to their own peers" (p. 105).In The Jacket, Andrew Clements (2002) portrays a young boy's gradual realization of his ownprejudice. When Phil, the middle school-aged protagonist, accuses a black schoolmate of stealinga jacket, it kindles Phil's reflection on prejudice. He speculates about his assumption that Danielstole the jacket, asking himself, "What if Daniel had been a white kid? Would I have grabbedhim like that?" (p. 36). He confronts his mother with his growing concern, "How come you nevertold me I was prejudiced?" (p. 37). Clements's story can unlock the silence surroundingdiscussion of prejudice and empower students and teachers to openly address issues commonlyavoided.Carvell (2002), influenced by her son's experiences, exposes the prejudice surrounding schoolmascots in Who Will Tell My Brother? Evan, following in his brother's footsteps, is determinedto abolish his school's use of an Indian mascot. He meets stony opposition from theadministration and outward hostility from other students. Written in free verse, Carvell's sparestraightforward writing cuts directly to the heart.The word has gotten out. The word is spreading that I have done the unthinkable. I havequestioned. I have questioned. I have questioned why we need this mascot. They stare at methrough the cold, hard eyes of those who feel threatened, whose pride whose tradition whosebigotry and narrow thought is threatened. I, too feel threatened. (p. 73)By bringing the issue of offensive mascots to young students through the perspective of someonetheir own age, Carvell provides a vehicle for a stimulating discussion. Teachers interested inthoughtfully engaging their students will do well to add this book to their curriculum.Another excellent young-adult book that inspires discussion on issues of prejudice anddiscrimination is Crossing Jordan by Adrian Fogelin (2000). In this story, Fogelin describes twoyoung girls determined not to let their families' prejudice discourage their developing friendship.

Kaczur 15The For Sale sign on the house next door had hardly been up a week when Mama told us she'dheard that a black family had bought the old Faircloth place. Daddy brought his fist down on thetable and the supper dishes jumped. "Place is gonna go downhill," he said.... "I'll just have tobuild me a fence." (p. 1)Cass and Jemmie, with their mutual interest in competitive running and shared reading of JaneEyre, slowly work on their families' antagonism. Through the girls' eyes, Fogelin exposes bothsubtle and explicit barriers impeding cross-racial friendships. Without resorting to an "allproblems solved" happy ending, Fogelin still projects a hopeful future where families growalongside one another in a healthful learning way.Reflection of selfBoth of the above goals--exposing students to a broader view of the world and reducingprejudice and misunderstanding--are important objectives for teachers. Another major goalinvolves helping students see themselves in their reading. As Boyd stated, "In a profound sense,children look to story for self" (1997, p. 107). As a young reader, I encountered variations of myown culture. What must it be like for readers to find only images representing those unlike them?"Students need to be able to make connections between literature and their everyday lives.Children need to receive affirmation of themselves and their culture through literature" (Colby &Lyon, 2004, p. 24).Not seeing one's self, or representations of one's culture, in literature can activate feelings ofmarginalization and cause students to question their place within society. Boyd (1997),describing her childhood reading experiences, reveals "As an African American female child, Inever saw my face or the lives of my family, friends, and neighbors in the books I read" (p. 107).Nothing that she encountered in her reading included images of self. This lack of reflectionaffected her self-image and her feeling of belonging. Boyd recalled, "I realized that I wasinvisible, excluded, disaffirmed, spurned, discarded, scorned, and rejected in the white world ofchildren's literature" (p. 107). What disastrous learning experiences her reading provided.Boyd's destructive encounters with the invisibility of self in books should not be repeated.Children today have more options available. Increasingly, children's and young adult literatureinclude selections by and about people of marginalized--or to use Cai's (2002) term--parallelcultures. Teachers can be an important source of information about available literature. The firststep is recognizing the need for providing reading material that reflects students' cultural selves.Reporting on a study of prospective teachers' understandings of the importance of usingmulticultural literature, Colby and Lyon stated, "It was evident that many had not, until thispoint, considered the dilemma that children of color face in regards to having access toappropriate literature and an environment that acknowledges and celebrates diversity in theclassroom" (2004, p. 24).Colby and Lyon (2004) shared prospective teachers' comments after reading the article "AfricanAmerican children's literature that helps students find themselves" (Hefflin & Ralph, 2001).I didn't realize that there are children that feel like they have nothing to read and relate to...as awhite child I never really thought about it because I already had books that I could relate to.... Itseems obvious that readers want to identify with characters, but I never considered how all-whitecharacters would affect African American students. (Colby & Lyon, p. 25)

Kaczur 16These observations all share the same feature: not having given any thought to how studentsmight feel who do not see themselves reflected in what they read. This study reveals thenecessity of integrating multicultural literature into the classroom. These preservice teachers, onestep away from guiding their own students, were first encountering the significance of howliterature affects children's images of self and others and the importance of creating learningcommunities that celebrate diversity.If multicultural literature were an integral part of education, preservice teachers would not bestruggling to comprehend the necessity for infusing their teaching with a diversity of readingsand images for their students: It would be an expected part of their curriculum. Students wouldnot still be searching for reflections of their culture in what they read and see: they would enjoyand learn from the diverse range of inclusive offerings.How will integrating multicultural literature with the curriculum better serve students? As areiteration, Barta and Grindler (1996) presented Campbell and Wittenberg's (1980) six purposes:1. It heightens respect for individuals. Children discover that all people have basic needs,feelings, and emotions.2. It acknowledges contributions of minorities. Many cultures have made contributions to theworld, and we should celebrate these accomplishments.3. It brings children into contact with other cultures. Since children develop an awareness ofdifferences among people at an early age, it is important that they be exposed to books thatreflect a pluralistic society. This helps to eliminate ethnocentrism and encourages respect andtolerance for others.4. It enhances students' self-concept. Children realize that they have a cultural heritage of whichthey can be proud.5. It helps children realize that society has developed a value system that validates somedifferences and minimizes others. This system is based on ignorance and misperception and itsexistence promotes inequality.6. It encourages students to detect prejudice and to work toward its elimination. (p. 269)Selecting multicultural literatureOnce teachers embrace the idea of integrating multicultural literature with their teaching, the taskof selecting appropriate material begins. There are a number of factors to think about whenselecting multicultural books for students. Many of these are the same as with any book:developmental appropriateness, quality of writing, relevance of issues to students, generalaccuracy, believability of characters, and interest level of the story.There are other important characteristics to consider when choosing books that focus onnonmainstream cultures. Guides and lists of criteria have been developed to assist teachers andothers interested in selecting quality multicultural literature. After reviewing a range of helpfulofferings (Agosto, n.d.; Cai, 2002; Higgins, 2002; Muse, 1997), I have synthesized them into thefollowing broad categories:* The accurate portrayal of the culture or cultures depicted in the book includes not only physicalcharacteristics such as clothing and food, but relationships among people within the culture andwith people of different cultures.* There is diversity within the culture; characters are unique individuals, not stereotypicalrepresentatives.* Dialogue is culturally authentic with characters using speech that accurately represents theiroral traditions. Non-English words are spelled and used correctly.* Realistic social issues and problems are depicted frankly and accurately without

Kaczur 17oversimplification.* Minority characters are shown as leaders within their community able to solve their ownproblems. Cultural minorities do not play a supporting or subservient role while whites are seenas possessing all the power.Substantiating cultural authenticityCultural authenticity--the accuracy of the language, customs, values, and history of the culture--can be difficult, if not impossible, to determine if one is not familiar with the culture depicted.For instance, I do not know enough about the cultural differences among Native Americanpeoples to determine if a writer is accurately depicting a specific group, or if there areinaccuracies that someone more knowledgeable would recognize. Therefore, it is important tohave a means of substantiating a book's cultural authenticity.Determining the author's credentials to write from the perspective of a culture is one way toascertain a book's cultural authenticity. The question to ask is "What qualifies the author to writeabout this culture?" If the author is not a member of the culture being depicted, does the authorhave a background to qualify as an accepted representative? There is debate over whether onlyauthors from a culture are qualified to write about that culture. This question is deceptivelysimple, with responses too complex and full of nuances to address here. As a general rule, a bookwritten by an author with an emic--insider--perspective is likely to be culturally authentic; a bookwritten from an etic--outsider--perspective may or may not be culturally authentic. JacquelineWoodson, an award-winning African American writer, addressed this topic of people writingoutside of their experiences, by stating,My hope is that those who write about the tears and the laughter and the language in mygrandmother's house have first sat down at the table with us and dipped the bread of their ownexperiences into our stew. (1998, p. 38)When I am unsure of the cultural authenticity of a book, there are two important categories ofvaluable information that I search: (1) specific cultural awards, and (2) websites devoted toindividual cultures.When looking for appropriate books that feature a specific culture, a good place to look are theawards for books from that culture. If a book received an award or is on the list of honor booksfor the award, there is little doubt that it is culturally authentic. Following are major awards witha few award-winning examples specifically appropriate for middle school students.* Coretta Scott King Award (African American)* Bud, Not Buddy by Christopher Paul Curtis (2000)* Forged by Fire by Sharon Draper (1998)* Locomotion by Jacqueline Woodson (2003)* The Pura Belpr Award (Latino/Latina)* Esperanza Rising by Pam Mu oz Ryan (2002)* Cuba 15 by Nancy Osa (2003)* Tom s Rivera Award (Mexican American)* My Land Sings: Stories from the Rio Grande by Rudolfo Anaya (1999)* Breaking Through by Francisco Jimenez (2001)* Sydney Taylor Award (Jewish)* The Night Journey by Kathryn Lasky (1981)* Milkweed by Jerry Spinelli (2003)

Kaczur 18* Am ricas Book Award for Children's and Young Adult Literature (Latin America, theCaribbean, or Latinos in the United States)* Before We Were Free by Julia Alvarez (2003)* The Color of My Words by Lynn Joseph (2000)* Mildred L. Batchelder Award (most outstanding children's book originally published in aforeign language and subsequently translated into English for publication in the United States)* Run, Boy, Run by Uri Orlev (2003)* Samir and Yonatan by Daniella Carmi (2002)There are, of course, many fine and appropriate multicultural books that have not receivedawards. To track these down, I searched for websites focusing on outstanding books from aspecific culture or from a variety of cultures. The following are sites that provide a wealth ofresources.www.asianamericanbooks.com/index.shtml (Asian American)www.oyate.org (Native American)www.isomedia.com/homes/jmele/joe.html (multicultural book reviews for K-12 educators)www.ala.org/ala/yalsa/booklistsawards/booklistsbook.htm (multicultural fiction)As educators understand the importance of including multicultural literature in their curriculumand become confident in their ability to select appropriate high-quality writing, students willenjoy the benefits. Imaginary barriers dissolve as students see themselves reflected in a diversityof cultures and recognize similarities across invented boundaries. What was strange becomesfamiliar when viewed through age-mate perspectives. Doors open, eyes see, and minds grasp, asyoung adolescents encounter self within other--a kaleidoscope of opportunity.ADDED MATERIALLandt teaches at St. Norbert College (Boyle Hall 217, 100 Grant Street, Do Pere, WI 54115-2009, USA). E-mail to susan.landt@snc.edu.REFERENCESAgosto, D.E. (n.d.). Criteria for evaluating multicultural literature. Retrieved February 1, 2006,from http://www.pages.drexel.edu/~dea22/multicultural.htmlAlvarez, J. (2003). Before we were free. New York: Knopf Books for Young Readers.Anaya, R. (1999). My land sings: Stories from the Rio Grande New York: HarperTrophy.Barta, J., & Grindler, M.C. (1996). Exploring bias using multicultural literature for children. TheReading Teacher, 50, 269-270.Bauman, S. (1997). Between the lines: Literature as a tool for tolerance. In D. Muse (Ed.), TheNew Press guide to multicultural resources for young readers (pp. 104-106). New York: TheNew Press.Boyd, C.D. (1997). I see myself in there: Experiencing self and others in multiethnic children'sliterature. In D. Muse (Ed.), The New Press guide to multicultural resources for young readers(pp. 106-114). New York: The New Press.Cai, M. (2002). Multicultural literature for children and young adults: Reflections on criticalissues. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press.Campbell, P., & Wittenberg, J. (1980). How books influence children: What the research shows.Interracial Books for Children Bulletin, 11(6), 3-6.Carmi, D. (2002). Samir and Yonatan (T. Lotan, Trans.). New York: Scholastic.Carvell, M. (2002). Who will tell my brother? New York: Hyperion.Clements, A. (2002). The jacket. New York: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers.Colby, S.A., & Lyon, A.F. (2004). Heightening awareness about the importance of using

Kaczur 19multicultural literature. Multicultural Education, 11(3), 24-28.Curtis, C.P. (2000). Bud, not Buddy. New York: Scholastic.Draper, S. (1998). Forged by fire. New York: Simon Pulse.Fogelin, A. (2000). Crossing Jordan. Atlanta, GA: Peachtree.Ford, D.Y., Tyson, C.A., Howard, T.C., & Harris, J.J., III. (2000). Multicultural literature andgifted Black students: Promoting self-understanding, awareness, and pride. The Roeper School,22, 235-240.Hefflin, B.R., & Ralph, K.S. (2001). African American children's literature that helps studentsfind themselves: Selection guidelines for grades K-3. The Reading Teacher, 54, 108-118.Higgins, J.J. (2002, January). Multicultural children's literature: Creating and applying anevaluation tool in response to the needs of urban educators. New Horizons for Learning.Retrieved February 1, 2006, fromhttp://www.newhorizons.org/strategies/multicultural/Higgins.htmJimenez, F. (1997). The circuit: Stories from the life of a migrant child. Albuquerque: Universityof New Mexico Press.Jimenez, F. (2001). Breaking through. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.Joseph, L. (2000). The color of my words. New York: HarperTrophy.Lasky, K. (1981). The night journey. New York: Puffin.Mazer, A. (Ed.). (1993). America Street: A multicultural anthology of stories. New York: Persea.Muse, D. (Ed.). (1997). The New Press guide to multicultural resources for young readers. NewYork: The New Press.Orlev, U. (2003). Run, boy, run (H. Halkin, Trans.). Boston: Houghton Mifflin.Osa, N. (2003). Cuba 15. New York: Delacorte Press.Ryan, P.M. (2002). Esperanza rising. New York: Scholastic.Salvner, G.M. (2001). Lessons and lives: Why young adult literature matters. The ALANReview, 28(3), 9-13.Shea, P.D. (2003). Tangled threads: A Hmong girl's story. New York: Clarion.Spinelli, J. (2003). Milkweed. New York: Knopf.Stover, L.T. (2000). Who am I? Who are you? Diversity and identity in the young adult novel. InV. Monseau & G. Salvner (Eds.), Reading their world: The young adult novel in the classroom(pp. 100-120). Portsmouth, NH: Boynton/Cook.Woodson, J. (1998, January/February). Who can tell my story? The Horn Book Magazine, 74,34-38.Woodson, J. (2003). Locomotion. New York: Scholastic.Yumoto, K. (1992). The friends (C. Hirano, Trans.). New York: Random House.Zitlow, C.S., & Stover, L. (1998). Japanese and Japanese American youth in literature. TheALAN Review, 25(3). Retrieved February 24, 2006, fromhttp://scholar.lib.vt.edu/eiournals/ALAN/spring98/zitlow.htmlPage last updated May 3, 2002

Kaczur 20Volume 28, Number 2Winter 2001Editors:James Blasingame James.Blasingame@asu.eduLori A. Goodson lagoodson@cox.netDLA Ejournal Home | ALAN Home | Table of Contents for this issue | Search ALAN and otherejournalsThe First Printz Award Designations: Winners AllJean Pollard DimmittOn January 17, 2000, the Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA) of theAmerican Library Association announced the winning book and three honor books for the newlycreated Michael L. Printz Award. The award honors the late Michael L. Printz, who was anadvocate for young adult literature. In addition to his duties as librarian at Topeka West HighSchool in Topeka, Kansas, he served YALSA as a member of both the Best Books for YoungAdults Committee and the Margaret A. Edwards Award Committee, and he taught young adultliterature to preservice and practicing teachers at Washburn University. Printz was knowledgableand enthusiastic about the value of young adult literature. It has been said of him that "findingthe right book for the right student at the right time was not just a slogan to Mike - he lived it"(ALA, Who Was Michael Printz). It is fitting that this major new award commemorates his lifeand work.The Printz Award, sponsored by Booklist magazine, honors the best young adult bookpublished the previous year. The winner and up to four honor books will be selected by aYALSA committee on the basis of literary merit. Recognizing that literary merit is hard todefine, YALSA has enumerated the following flexible criteria that are to be demonstrated by thebooks: "story, voice, style, setting, accuracy, characters, theme, design (including format,organization, etc.), and illustration" (ALA, Michael L. Printz). Winning books do not have toexhibit all of the characteristics, and they may be in any genre.At the midwinter meeting of the ALA, Frances B. Bradburn, chairperson of the selectioncommittee, announced the first winner of the Printz Award: Monster by Walter Dean Myers. Thecommittee also designated three honor books: Skellig by David Almond, Speak by Laurie Halse

Kaczur 21Anderson, and Hard Love by Ellen Wittlinger. What do these books have in common that makethem unusual and outstanding examples of young adult literature? They are structurallysophisticated, and they have memorable characters who deal with significant issues. Thesesignificant issues or themes sometimes overlap. Monster, Speak, and Hard Love deal with thesearch for identity; Skellig, Speak, and Hard Love explore friendship; and all four novelsexamine facets of truth.MonsterAs is frequently the case with young adult literature, the protagonist of each novel is alsothe first person narrator. In Monster, sixteen-year-old Steve Harmon, who is on trial for murder,analyzes his part in a robbery that results in a storekeeper's death. He seeks to determine who heis-a monster, as the prosecutor labels him and as the title reflects- or a human being. He hastaken a film class in high school and contends with the pressures of the trial and incarceration bypretending to film the courtroom events. He has also been given a notebook which serves him asa journal. In this he writes:I can hardly think about the movie, I hate this place so much. But if I didn't think of the movie Iwould go crazy. All they talk about in here is hurting people. If you look at somebody, they say,"What you looking at me for? I'll mess you up!" ...I hate this place. I hate this place. I can't write it enough times to make it look the way I feel. Ihate, hate, hate this place!! (Monster, 45-46)In his cell he is constantly afraid, and in the courtroom he is constantly afraid. This feardistorts reality, and the supposed filmmaking and the journal help Steve to cope. The film servesa second purpose as well. Although Steve conveys events in his own voice, he describes thescenes in the courtroom from different distances - closeup, middle, or long range - and fromdifferent participants' points of view through snippets of dialogue.When presenting the award, Bradburn observed, "The detached style of the screen play,juxtaposed with the anguished journal entries, reveals the struggle within Steve's conscience"(ALA, Walter Dean Myers). In addition, the multiplicity of views given through the snippets ofdialogue forces the reader to examine Steve's role in the crime and the extent of his guilt.In the case of Monster, format contributes to structure and theme. The cover of the bookreplicates a police record, which includes fingerprints, and the book jacket bears a mug shot.Once the reader opens the book, he or she sees that the courtroom scenes are in typical type onwhite paper whereas the journal entries appear to be printed by hand on gray paper. Thesedifferences reinforce the sense of distance and intimacy as well as take the reader from the worldof the courtroom where clear distinctions are made into the world of the mind where truth andfear blend to create a gray reality.

Kaczur 22SkelligSkellig is less innovative structurally than Monster, but it is no less demanding for theyoung adult reader because Almond relies heavily on two complex stylistic devices: allusion andsymbolism. This book is especially challenging for the literal-minded, objective reader. It callsfor one of Coleridge's willing suspensions of disbelief. Michael, the protagonist and first personnarrator, who has moved with his family to a new home, discovers a creature in the dilapidatedgarage. The creature identifies himself as Skellig and appears to be an infirm man with angelwings. He has a close affinity with owls, to the extent that owls feed him and that he regurgitatespellets of indigestible matter as owls do. The mythical allusions and the literary allusionscontribute to the skeptical reader's ability to accept the story as well as to the theme.On Michael's first day back at school following his discovery of Skellig, Michael's Englishteacher tells the story of Icarus, the young dreamer who attached wings to his back with wax andthen flew too close to the sun causing the wax to melt and him to plunge to his death (13-14).Icarus' wings are artificially affixed, but the presence of a myth about a winged man begins tosoften the reader's resistance.The second mythological allusion is to the legend of Proserpine, who was allowed to returnonce a year from the underworld where Pluto had taken her. Her return corresponds with thearrival of spring and the renewal of life. The allusions are more directly connected to the strugglefor life experienced by Michael's premature baby sister, but they also serve to remind the readerof the possibility of miraculous happenings.In addition to these references to myths, there are no less than ten references to WilliamBlake or to his work. Three of these allusions refer to either the repressive nature of traditionaleducation or its practices (50, 59, and 90). In the third, Mina baits Michael about his having beenlabeled a mature reader and asks him which level he thinks Blake's deceptively simple littlepoem "Tyger" would be for (90). Introducing "Tyger" also introduces the question of creation,because the poem asks who could and then who dared make the tiger. This poem, one of theSongs of Experience, expresses an ambiguous position toward the creation of the tiger. Skellighimself is an ambiguous figure. He is dirty and has bad breath, yet he has angel wings andembodies love. The reader familiar with the poem moves easily from the question of who madethe tiger to who made Skellig.Two quick references to Blake occur in an argument between Mina and Michael (109 and110), but in others Almond uses Blake to introduce mysticism and the existence of angels, thuscontinuing to soften the reader's resistance to the spiritual nature of this tale. The final Blakereference comes when Michael questions a physician about the healing nature of love. Heinquires, "Can love help a person get better?" and the doctor responds with a quotation impliedto be from Blake: '"Love is the child that breathes our breath/ Love is the child that scattersdeath"' (161). When Michael asks if the words are William Blake's, the doctor says, '"We havean educated man before us,"' (161) implying that the words are Blake's. Whether the lines areBlake's or an imitation of his style, they encapsulate the theme of the novel: the power of love.

Kaczur 23In addition to the numerous allusions in Skellig, Almond employs symbols in the novel.Mina watches a family of blackbirds and teaches Michael to listen and to observe nature via thebirds. The fledgling birds' journey to maturity parallels the baby's struggle for life and hereventual recovery. Moreover, the parents nurture the baby birds into adulthood just as Mina andMichael physically nurture Skellig and as Skellig spiritually nurtures the children.Skellig himself may be a symbol. When Michael asks Skellig what he is, Skellig replies,"'Something like you, something like a beast, something like a bird, something like an angel'"(167). The reader recognizes that he or she is like Skellig - part beast, part angel. This opens thepossibility that Skellig is in fact a manisfestation of a part of Michael. Almond's choice of namesmay also be a hint in that direction. Skellig Michael is a small, rocky island off the southwesterncoast of Ireland, where a monastery by the same name exists (Skellig Michael). If SkelligMichael is one island and one monastery, perhaps the novel's Skellig and Michael are two facetsof one being: the spiritual and the physical.SpeakIn Laurie Halse Anderson's Speak, as in the other novels, the protagonist serves as firstperson narrator. Melinda Sordino tells the story of her freshman year at Merryweather HighSchool, where she experiences social and emotional isolation. Little by little snatches are givenwhich enable the reader to piece together the events that occurred before school started thatresult in this state of affairs. Melinda had gone to a beer party with friends. She drank threebeers, and Andy Evans, a senior, danced with her and then raped her. It is not until page 135 thatthe reader sees the actual event. When Evans asks if she wants to, she is confused and silent. Sheis after all thirteen and drunk. When he has her on the ground, however, she says no. He coversher mouth with his hand, and "In my head, my voice is as clear as a bell: 'NO I DON'T WANTTO!'" In shock, she calls 911 for help, and the police come, but she becomes frightened andwalks home during the confusion, leaving everyone at the party to think she called the policebecause the party was getting out of hand. As a result, she is regarded as an informer, and treatedas an outcast.The time span of the book is an entire school year. Melinda's grades fall; she skips class andschool. Her only companion is Heather, a new girl, who dumps Melinda when she no longerneeds her. Melinda becomes increasingly silent at school and at home. It is at this point that twopotent symbols emerge.The first is the closet at school that becomes Melinda's refuge. When she cuts class, sheneeds a place to go, and she discovers an unused broom closet. Her retreat to this secret placereinforces her loneliness and isolation. She decorates it by hanging a picture of Maya Angelou.Angelou, of course, was raped as a child herself. Melinda also brings some of her art work to thisroom. Art is the only class in which Melinda experiences any success.It is fitting that Melinda finally breaks her silence in this room. As spring wears on and shedoes some yard work, she seems to rejuvenate. She decides that she no longer needs the roomand is cleaning it out when Evans locks her in and proceeds to attack her a second time. Thistime she fights back; she finds her voice at last and screams and screams. The lacrosse team,

Kaczur 24practicing nearby, hears and comes to the door to find her holding a broken piece of mirror atEvans' neck. The room serves as a cocoon. It offers protection until she recovers her voice andheals enough to leave its shelter.The second major symbol is the tree that she persistently tries to carve throughout the novel.Her art teacher has his students draw a slip of paper from a bag at the beginning of the year. Thestudents are to work all year on drawing the object named on the slip. Melinda 's slip said tree.Her teacher has not ordered adequate art supplies, so Melinda must carve her tree in tiles. Effortafter effort fails until Melinda comes to terms with what happened to her. She thinks:IT happened. There is no avoiding it, no forgetting. No running away, or flying, or burying, orhiding. Andy Evans raped me in August when I was drunk and too young to know what washappening. It wasn't my fault. He hurt me. It wasn't my fault. And I'm not going to let it kill me. Ican grow. (198)Once she accepts what happened and realizes she is not to blame, she can move on. Shecarves a tree with realistic, imperfect details but with new growth and birds in the top. The tree,of course, symbolizes herself. She cries as she finishes the picture, tears which dissolve the finalblock to her talking.Hard LoveThe protagonist and first person narrator of Wittlinger's Hard Love is John Galardi, Jr., ahigh school junior who lives with his divorced mother and who writes under the name Giovanni.John publishes a zine (a homemade magazine containing one's own writing) and reads others.Through one of these zines, he encounters Marisol Guzman, who is a year older. They meet onweekends in Boston, where John goes to visit his father. John, like Melinda, is emotionallyisolated in part due to his father's leaving his mother and in part due to his mother's reaction toabandonment. After teaching school each day, for years she had come home to sit in the dark.Even more emotionally scarring for John, she has avoided touching her son for the six yearssince his father left . This becomes even more pointed when she develops a relationship withanother man.This unnatural lack of touching occurs like a refrain and takes on symbolic overtones. Itrepresents the fact that there is no real communication between mother and son. John also fails toconnect with his father. The two have dinner every Friday night, but then the father pursues hissocial life. It is through writing and the friendships that develop as a result of his writing thatJohn finally breaks through his isolation.Hard Love, the novel's title, bears significant weight, for it is hard love that brings John tothe point described in the last sentences of the book: "I'm ready, I think, to join them. Veryanxious, more than a little scared, susceptible now to anything that might happen" (224). DianaTree, another zine writer with whom John has corresponded, plays a part in John's readiness.They meet for the first time at the conference, and Diana is obviously taken with John, but Johnis too involved in working through his feelings for Marisol to respond romantically. He has,however, responded to her writng, and he appreciates her sensitivity to his feelings. At a

Kaczur 25campfire on the beach, Diana sings the song "Hard Love" seemingly to John. The song speaks oflove in an unhappy home and impossible love as hard love, but the lyricist recognizes that hardlove changes people and restores lives. He writes:And I'll tell you how you change me as I live from day to day How you help me to accept myselfand I won't forget to say, Love is never wasted, even when it's hard love. For the love that healsour lives is mostly hard love. (227)John loves Marisol, who as a lesbian cannot return a like love. She can love him only as afriend, and does. It is this hard love that has made John ready to join life.Like Myers, Wittlinger uses the format of the book to her advantage. The design of thenovel replicates characteristics of a zine. Each chapter begins with slanted print as if the bookhad come through a home computer's printer with the paper crooked. In addition, when zinearticles do appear, they are surrounded with illustrations as if they were in a zine.Just as Myers establishes psychological intimacy with Steve Harmon's journal entries,Wittlinger creates immediacy through the illusion that the reader is often reading John's zine, thatis, his writing. John's writing reveals who he is. Marisol realizes this. When reading one of hispieces, she says, "' There's the moment of truth. ... That's the line that lets me know this cockyguy is real, that he's not just a slick jerk who doesn't care about anything"' (76).John's notebook entry and his letters and poems are printed as if they were printed by handon lined notebook paper. Marisol's letter to her birth mother and her poem to John are neatlytyped, and Diana's letter to John is handwritten on what appears to be stationery. The formatclearly sets these pieces apart, calling attention to their importance in the story and revealingsomething of the character of each writer. Thus, like Myers, Wittlinger uses format visually todevelop character and to underscore theme.The Search for SelfThese four novels deal with three themes that are important to young adults. First, mostyoung adults struggle to come to terms with who they are, and Monster, Speak, and Hard Loveall contain characters who are searching for their identity. When the prosecutor refers to SteveHarmon as a monster, he begins to examine his life, trying to repudiate for himself the attorney'sclaim.When he is found "not guilty," the question remains. He opens his arms to hug O'Brien, hisattorney, at the moment of victory, but she turns away (276). Is it because he is black and she iswhite? Is it because she is young and thinks this would be unprofessional? Does she think he isguilty? In his cast of characters, Steve has described her as "the Defense Attorney with Doubts"(10). The conclusion that he imagines for the screenplay ends with a grainy black and whitepicture of him - "It looks like one of the pictures they use for psychological testing, or somestrange beast, a monster" (277).

Kaczur 26The novel itself ends with a short section written five months after the trial. It finds Stevestill trying to discover who he is by constantly filming himself. He says, "In the movies I talk andtell the camera who I am, what I think I am about" (279). His mother is simply happy that he isnot in jail, but the distance between him and his father grows (280- 281). Steve is trying to find"one true image" of himself because he is haunted by wondering what O'Brien saw that made herturn away. The novel literally ends with that question.Melinda Sordino in Speak, like Steve Harmon, must come to terms with what she did anddid not do. Unlike Steve, however, she is the victim. She seems to feel the guilt and shame thatrape victims often report experiencing. The terrible social isolation she is subjected toexacerbates her inability to deal with the attack. Little by little, she realizes that "it wasn't myfault" (198). She finally knows herself, and this knowledge enables her to talk about the eventand sets her free to be known and understood by others.Although self-knowledge is not a major theme in Hard Love, it is present as a supportingone. Hard Love deals primarily with John's emotional isolation and his need to connect withpeople, but the novel makes clear that knowledge of one's own identity is necessary before beingable to establish a meaningful relationship with others. Marisol realizes this. Early on John is noteven sure what his gender orientation is because he has not thought about it. John jokes, "Maybewe ought to take a poll. I could decide my sexuality based on the conclusions of a survey" (56).Marisol reprimands him about not caring and tells him in no uncertain terms that he should care:"If you don't know who you are, how is anybody else supposed to get to know you?" (56) Theissue of John's sexuality is quickly resolved because of his attraction to Marisol, but his successin breaking through the wall he has built to protect himself is much slower.In spite of Marisol's declaration about her sexuality, she has questions about who she is aswell, and, like many teenagers, she believes that she must leave her parents to discover herself.At one point she tells John:I have to leave to find out who I really am inside this person my parents have tried tomanufacture. But I don't run from my feelings. Believe it or not, I love my parents. Sometimes itscares me to think about leaving them and going off by myself. What if I can't make it on myown? (64)In spite of her affection for her parents and her self-doubt, her first goal is learning who sheis. Nor does she lose this desire as the novel continues. The women she met at the zineconference invite her to return to New York with them, and she explains her decision to go inthese words: "I have to do this, Gio. I have to see who I am without my parents hovering overme. Or you" (210). Thus, while not a major theme, discovery of self is a part of John's journey toconnection and Marisol's journey to independence.FriendshipFriendship is a second major theme shared by three of the four novels. Skellig deals with thepower of love both within a family and among friends. Michael shares his discovery of Skelligwith Mina, and she eventually helps Michael move Skellig to a safer place. They share visits to

Kaczur 27Skellig as well as his care, and experience a mystical dance with him in which both children haveangel wings like Skellig's. When Skellig disappears, he leaves three white feathers, one each forMichael, Mina, and the baby. Through their friendship with Skellig, both Michael and Minalearn much about the spirtual power of love.Michael's friendship with Mina includes more than their shared relationship with Skellig,however. He learns things from her necessary to his full participation in the miracle of Skellig. Itis through Mina that Michael becomes acquainted with William Blake's poetry and ideas.Through these he casts off some of his repression and becomes more open to the possibility ofangels. Moreover, he gains comfort and companionship during his baby sister's illness. It is inMina's home that he encounters the myth of Proserpine and comes to understand its significancein regard to his sister's struggle for life.The subject of friendship occurs in Speak also. Social isolation is the opposite of whatMelinda knew in middle school. There she had friends; she had a best friend. When Rachel, herformer best friend, starts to date Andy Evans, Melinda's fear for Rachel's safety moves her toaction. She sends Rachel an anonymous note, warning her about Andy. Rachel goes to the promwith Evans in spite of the note, but when he begins to behave inappropriately, she leaves him inmid-dance. Perhaps Melinda's warning prepared Rachel in some way that enabled her to actquickly, thus extricating herself from possible rape. Although Melinda and Rachel's friendshiphas been irreparably damaged, the remnant that survives helps both girls. The results of theabsence of friendship and of a single act of friendship in the novel testify to the importance andpower of friendship in the lives of young adults.Hard Love also speaks of the power of friendship. Through a mutual commitment towriting, John meets two young women who become his friends. The first, of course, is Marisol,the gifted Puerto Rican adoptee. Although John's feelings for Marisol turn romantic, at first theirrelationship is friendship. It is through Marisol and the writing that she encourages that Johnovercomes the sterile emotional existence he has held onto as protection from the pain in his life.An irony associated with this friendship is that he becomes more dishonest as his relationshipgrows with a woman who demands absolute honesty from her friends.John's second friend is Diana Crabtree. As with Marisol, his first encounter with Diana isthrough her zine. He responds by letter, and she invites him and Marisol to the zine conference.Unlike his relationship with Marisol, honesty characterizes this friendship from the beginning.John lies to Marisol that Giovanni is his real name, and it is not until they are double-dating atJohn's prom that she discovers that Gio is plain John. It is perhaps a small point, but when Johnsigns his letter to Diana, he thinks about which name to use and decides to use John. It is thisfriendship, built from the beginning on truth, that promises at the end of the book to develop intosomething more.It is important to note that in two of the three novels that deal with friendship, the friendshipis between a boy and a girl, not between people of the same gender. Such friendships havebecome more prevalent as more freedom is ac- corded to women. Once girls had to worry toomuch about impressing boys, whereas today they can be themselves. This enables realfriendships to develop between the genders, a condition well documented in these books.

Kaczur 28TruthAll four of the Printz books have one thing in common. Each comments on truth in someway. In Monster, the question is, "What is the truth about Steve Harmon?" Was he the lookout inthe robbery gone awry? Does fear distort truth to the point that it becomes slippery? These arenot easy questions to answer. In the meeting between Steve and King, his co-defendant, whereKing explains the role of the lookout, he asks, "You down for it?" Steve never answers; hesimply looks away (150). Moreover, it would appear that Steve was in the store shortly beforethe robbery attempt. In his journal he writes: "What did I do? What did I do? Anybody can walkinto a drugstore and look around" (115). Another, later journal entry reads: "What did I do? Iwalked into a drugstore to look for some mints, and then I walked out. What was wrong withthat? I didn't kill Mr. Nesbitt" (140). Yet on the witness stand, Steve testifies that he neverdiscussed acting as a lookout and that he was not in the drugstore on the day of the robbery(223). Bobo Evans, the second robber, has testified that because Steve gave no signal as he leftthe store, he and King proceeded with the robbery, thinking no bystanders were in the store(182). Events are ambiguous, and testimony is conflicting. The reader and the jury must sort outthe truth, and their conclusions may or may not be the same.Myers presents several prisoners who convince themselves that they are not guilty of thecrimes with which they are charged. Does Steve's fear of punishment make him deny his actionsand in fact make him believe he is not guilty? At one point Steve tells his attorney, "I'm notguilty," and she replies, "You should have said, "I didn't do it."' Only when prompted in this way,does Steve say, "I didn't do it" (138).The truth may be absolute, but fear can distort it and make it difficult to recognize. Myers'novel drives that point home. In addition, because Steve is the narrator, the reader sympathizeswith him. The reader is touched by this sixteen-yearold who is alone in prison, but never alone,this boy who is so afraid for his present safety and for his future. Does the reader's connectionwith the narrator make the truth even more difficult to grasp? Myers' novel may well raise morequestions than it answers, but it will surely stimulate the reader to think about the nature of truth.If Monster questions what is true and how fear affects truth, Skellig questions what is true(real) and whether the truth must be real. When Michael first discovers Skellig, he thinks Skelligis dead, but he quickly says, "I couldn't have been more wrong. I'd soon begin to see the truthabout him, that there'd never been another creature like him in the world" (1). Thus, truth isassociated with Skellig from the first, and as previously discussed, Almond uses allusions to helpthe reader accept the existence of Skellig. However, Almond also introduces the possibility thatSkellig is a dream. When Michael decides to take Mina to see Skellig for the first time, he says,"I don't even know if it's true or if it's a dream," and Mina replies, "... Truth and dreams arealways getting muddled" (52). Then when Michael actually takes Mina to see Skellig, he worriesthat she will not see him, that "maybe dreams and truth were just a useless muddle in my mind"(74). However, like Michael, Mina sees Skellig. Is this a dream? No, Michael and Mina discusstheir visits to Skellig while they are completely awake in the daytime throughout the book.Michael's mother also sees Skellig. This occurs, however, under dubious circumstances, becausewhen she tells her husband about it, she acknowledges that she has been in and out of sleep, butshe describes seeing this filthy winged man pick the baby up and dance with her. She says that

Kaczur 29the baby also appeared to have wings. At first she had been afraid, but then she was reassured bythe occurrence (158- 160).Although the reality of Skellig is an intriguing question, the issue may be resolved bysimply recognizing the novel as a fantasy. A more pressing issue is whether or not the truth mustbe real. Can the abstact, the imaginary, the spiritual be true? Almond strongly suggests that itcan. The children are discussing the possible evolution of the archaeopteryx into today's birdsand beyond when Mina whispers the name Skellig. Michael's reaction is "I stared back. I didn'tblink. It was like she was calling Skellig out from somewhere deep inside me" (99). What is deepinside Michael, that Skellig represents, is the power of love. The lines attributed to Blake andspoken by the doctor contain Almond's answer: "Love is the child that breathes our breath/Loveis the child that scatters death" (161). Human beings are at least part love, and in the instance ofMichael's baby sister, love conquers death.Truth is an essential issue in Speak as it is in the other novels. Although the incident itself isnot revealed in detail until mid-book, the reader soon understands that Melinda has been raped.Melinda, like many rape victims, struggles with the question of whether she is somehow toblame. However, Melinda does finally realize that the attack was not her fault (198). When sheunderstands the truth, she is able to speak again. When she can can recognize the truth and speakit, Melinda is free to move on and, like her tree, to attain new growth.Truth plays its part in Hard Love, too. From the first of their friendship, Marisol lets Johnknow how important the truth is to her. She chastises him for feigning that nothing is importantto him , and she declares, "I don't lie, and I don't waste time on people who do" (27). It isapparent that Marisol demands the truth from her friends because she has had the courage toreveal her gender orientation. She says, "You tell the truth even if its painful, especially if it'spainful" (27). Although John promises Marisol that he will not lie, he realizes that he starts lyingmore after he meets her (85). He lies about his name. He lets Brian and Emily think that Marisolis his girlfriend (99), and he lies to himself about Marisol's gender orientation. Their relationshipis threatened when he tries to kiss her at the prom she has agreed to attend as his friend. Sheeventually writes John a poem telling him that he is not listening and that that makes her"invisible" (145). John finally does accept the limitation that Marisol's gender orientation placeson their relationship and thanks her for touching him. She responds that she loves him as muchas she can (223). Accepting the truth is a lesson in "hard love."Thus, each protagonist in these novels must deal with the truth in some way. Steve Harmonmust decide the truth about who he is, while Michael must decide what is true about the spiritualworld. Melinda Sordino must accept the truth that the rape was not her fault, and John Galardimust listen to the truth Marisol speaks before he can set his stalled life in motion. Throughanalyzing the nature of truth and its impact on fictional lives, young adult readers should bebetter able to explore its intricacies in their own lives.The selection committee has chosen a variety of well-written and stimulating books toreceive the first Printz Award and the honor designations. Each novel is an enticing story told ina strong voice about well-developed characters elucidating thematic ideas important to youngadults. Appropriately Monster, the prizewinner, is the most innovative of the four books, with its

Kaczur 30one voice at two distances. The inaugural selections give the award statue. If such outstandingbooks continue to be chosen, the award will soon become wellknown and respected as a guide tothe best in young adult literature.Note: Thanks go to Ms. Carol Ball, librarian at Northern Hills Junior High School and atthe Topeka and Shawnee County Public Library. When I could not locate these lines in Blake,she employed her electronic expertise to conduct a search, using Granger's Poetry Index,Bartlett's Quotations, and an online Blake concordance, none of which identified these lines asBlake's. -jpdWorks CitedAlmond, David. Skellig. Great Britain: Hodder Children's Books, 1998. New York:Delacorte, 1999.American Library Association (ALA). Michael L. Printz Award Committee Polices and Procedures.26 August 1999. ALA. 11 April 2000. http://www.ala.org/yalsa/yalsa/info/printzinfo.html.American Library Association (ALA). Walter Dean Myers Wins First Michael L. Printz Award. 26January 2000. ALA. 5 June 2000. http://www.ala.org/yalsa/printz/2000winnerpr.html.American Library Association (ALA) Who Was Michael Printz. 18 January 2000.ALA. 5 June 2000 http://www.ala.org/yalsa/printz/mikeprintz.html.Anderson, Laurie Halse. Speak. New York: Farrar Straus Giroux, 1999.Myers, Walter Dean. Monster. New York: Harper Collins, 1999.Skellig Michael. 22June 1998. 14 May 2000. http://www.unesco.org/whc/sites/757.htm.Skellig Michael. Skellig Rocks. Michael Skellig Website. 14 May 2000.http://homepage.eircom.net/~caoim/oileain/sceilg.html.Wittlinger, Ellen. Hard Love. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1999.Jean Pollard Dimmitt is an associate professor of English and coordinator of English Educationwho teaches young adult literature, English methods, and advanced composition at WashburnUniversity, in Topeka, Kansas.Editor's Note: Laurie Halse Anderson discussed Speak in the Spring/Summer, 2000, issue of TheALAN Review, pages 25-26.Reference Citation: Dimmitt, Jean Pollard. (2001) "The First Printz Award Designations: Winners AllThe ALAN Review, Volume 28, Number 2, p. 54.

Kaczur 31URL: http://scholar.lib.vt.edu/ejournals/ALAN/v28n2/dimmitt.htmlMonsterAbout the Book“The best time to cry is at night, when the lights are out and someone is being beaten up andscreaming for help.” With this dramatic sentence Steve begins the story of his jail experience andhis trial for felony murder. The charge has resulted from his alleged involvement with a grocerystore holdup in which the owner was shot and killed. Because Steve increasingly feels like anoutside observer of his own life, and because he studies film at a prestigious New York City highschool, he writes most of his story in the form of a screenplay. In his mind he calls the movieMonster, after what the prosecutor has called him. The word torments him—along with fearsabout what will happen to him, concerns about how his family is responding to his arrest andtrial, and questions about the nature of truth.Reading StrategiesSince most of the book is in screenplay format, before reading you may wish to assign roles andhave the class read Monster aloud together. Students can pick roles out of a hat so that no onefeels he or she is being stereotyped.Analyze Point of ViewWe hear Steve’s story through his own point of view. How does this affect the way the story istold? As students read, ask them to think about when Steve’s point of view might be differentfrom an “objective” one.Evaluate Fact and NonfactPoint out to students that the job of a reader is in one respect similar to that of a juror: both mustsift through stories and determine what they do and do not believe. As students read, ask them torecord examples of statements they think, within the context of the novel, are Fact and Nonfact.Afterward present students with these questions: Are fact and nonfact the same as truth andnontruth? How might characters in Monster answer this question?Questions for Group Discussion• Is justice served in Steve’s case? Do you think Steve served as lookout man for therobbery? If he did, do you think he should have been charged with, or convicted of,felony murder? Ask students to role-play lawyers in the case and present arguments forboth sides. Follow up by asking how they would vote if they were on the jury.• Steve imagines the defense attorney is looking at him wondering “who the real SteveHarmon was” (p. 92). How would you answer this question? Steve himself says he filmshis life to try to “look for one true image” (p. 281). Why do you think the question ofwho he is remains so important to Steve?

Kaczur 32• Reread the prisoners’ debate about truth (p. 220). Who is right? What happens to truth inthe legal system? Are the lawyers seeking the truth? Which witnesses in the trial do youthink were telling the truth and which were not? Look back at the testimony and try todetermine what led you to form your opinions.• What do you think of the screenplay format as a way to tell this story? When is the formmost effective? When is it least effective? The advice Mr. Sawicki gives about film is tolet the audience “predict without predicting” and to “keep it simple” (pp. 19 and 214). Doyou think Steve achieves this with his movie? Use examples from the text to support youranswers.Discuss QuotationsPresent the following (or other) quotations from Monster to the class. Ask students to explainwhat the words mean in context and discuss how they feel about the ideas expressed. (Unlessotherwise indicated, the speaker is Steve.)• “This is not a movie about bars and locked doors. It is about being alone when you arenot really alone and about being scared all the time” (pp. 3–4).• “Most people in our communities are decent, hardworking citizens who pursue their owninterests legally and• without infringing on the rights of others. But there are also monsters in ourcommunities—people who are willing to steal and to kill, people who disregard the rightsof others” (Petrocelli, p. 21).• “It’s funny, but when I’m sitting in the courtroom, I don’t feel like I'm involved in thecase. It’s like the lawyers and the judge and everybody are doing a job that involves me,but I don't have a role. It’s only when I go back to the cells that I know I’m involved” (p.59).• “Half of those jurors, no matter what they said when we questioned them when we pickedthe jury, believed you were guilty the moment they laid eyes on you. You're young,you’re Black, and you're on trial. What else do they need to know?” (O’Brien, pp. 78–79).• “ ‘All they can do is put me in jail,’ he said. ‘They can’t touch my soul’ ” (Acie, p. 89).•• “I think about myself so much, about what’s going to happen to me and all, that I don’tthink about my folks that much. I know [Mama] loves me, but I wonder what she’sthinking” (p. 91).• “Seeing my dad cry like that was just so terrible. What was going on between us, mebeing his son and him being my dad, is pushed down and something else is moving up inits place. It’s like a man looking down to see his son and seeing a monster instead” (pp.115–116).• “What did I do? I walked into a drugstore to look for some mints, and then I walked out.What was wrong with that? I didn’t kill Mr. Nesbitt… Sunset said he committed thecrime. Isn’t that what being guilty is all about? You actually do something?” (p. 140).• “His film footage shows me what he’s seeing and, to a large extent, what he’s thinking.And what he sees, the humanity of it, speaks of a very deep character....• It is my belief that to make an honest film, one has to be an honest person” (Sawicki, p.237).

Kaczur 33• “They are all equally guilty. The one who grabbed the cigarettes, the one who wrestledfor the gun, the one who checked the place to see if the coast was clear” (Petrocelli, p.261).http://www.harperchildrens.com/schoolhouse/TeachersGuides/myers.htm#monster

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