How to Spy on the Neighbors AKA The Wig in the Window

"Never underestimate Nerds." "I wouldn't dream of it, nerd

Kittscher, Kristen. Wig in the Window, The. HarperCollins Children's Books, 2013. 368p. $16.99, 9780062110503.

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Genre:Mystery (real and not real)
Cover Appeal: A good representation of the girl's personalities. Youngish with the character's drawn more cartoonish than graphic. Will appeal to 4th and 5th and some early 6th graders.

Immediately After
"I'm like...Mr. Miyagi and Yoda rolled into one." Michael Scott, The Office (substitute this book is for I'm)
Right Before
Grace is all about the spy business. She's got the clothes and the lingo down. Sophie considers herself more of a shy-retiring type who needs Grace to bring a little action into her life. The girls have upped their spying game by sneaking out of the house at night and investigating FBI bulletins, pretending that the people in the neighborhood represent wanted criminals and are just hiding out in their town.

Things take a turn towards the serious when they accuse someone of murder and then find themselves being watched. To Sophie's horror, she also now has to spend MORE time with the suspect. Resentment starts eating away her and Grace's friendship.

Were they ever true friends or was she just someone Grace used and pitied?
During
I was drawn in by Sophie and Grace's quick banter. They seemed to know and love each other. There was lots of eye-rolling and compromise. Just like a normal friendship. Using the Walkie Talkies gave them an additional sense of being connected even though Grace was homeschooled, so didn't share in Sophie's daytime world.

The friendship gets strained when Sophie finds a new friend in Trista. Even though Grace has friends from Chinese school and piano lessons, she's never had to compete for Sophie's attention. Soon Trista has Sophie questioning herself and Grace's relationship. Not as a way to get Sophie to herself though. She just calls it as she sees it.

Sometime After
The mystery, a little gruesome and over the top, was well-developed but didn't seem like the heart of the story. That was the girl's friendship. As such, I was baffled by how much the parent's trusted Dr. Agford, the school counselor. I understand that they were stressed at work, but the strong girl characters we were getting to know, should have stemmed from loving, concerned, and involved parents. Sophie's parents didn't even pretend to listen to her side of the story and they never confiscated her spy equipment, not even the rope she'd used to climb out the window. While Grace's homeschool teacher conveniently leaves the picture, meaning Grace could be at home alone during the day.

On the mystery-side, I was able to follow along with Sophie and Grace's spy work and uncover the culprit but I liked that Kittscher threw in a couple of red herrings. Though I guessed the identity of the white truck owner, it took some doing to figure out rest. 

Fun Quotes
"At one point she went after the school librarian. The librarian! Could there be a more noble soul?"

"...on the bright side, our school counselor is not a fugitive."

"If I'd known dropping teeth into drinks could so effectively remove Jake from my presence, I would have made it a more regular practice."

Overall
It was refreshing to read a book about two twelve-year-old girls who sounded like two twelve-year-olds. Many middle grade novels make the characters sound too young while the young adult books cast them as precocious. When Grace joked that Sophie and her should trade families, I laughed because my daughter has a friend who's similar to me and they joke about trading all the time.

I give this 4 out of 5 stars for the mystery and the realistic portrayal. It lost a star due to the lack of parenting. Though the SMILE organization almost brings it back to the top, the confusing love interest struck me as unneeded and brings it back down to 4. 

Tune in tomorrow when Kristen Kittscher guest stars on The Brain Lair!

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Want to use The Wig in the Window in a group setting? Here's The Wig and The Window Discussion Guide!

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Batty About Summer of the Mariposas by Guadalupe Garcia McCall - The Departure 2

Batty About Books presents    

Summer of the Mariposas

by

Guadalupe Garcia McCall

It's been a while, I've had a lot going one, but Maria and I are back.

Today we discuss the first part of Summer of the Mariposa's called The Depature. Check out our cover discussion below.

Cover Art Discussion

Don't forget to stop by Maria's Melange and get her take on the first part of McCall's book.

Summer of the Mariposa's was nominated for an Andre Norton award for 2013. If you are looking for some Young Adult Science Fiction or Fantasy reads, check out The Andre Norton Award for ideas.

Week 2 - The Departure - pgs 1 - 102

This first part covers the discovery of the body, an introduction to Odilia, the story of Llorona, and the beginning of the heroine's journey. Weirdly, I love the paper in this book. It feels luxurious to my hand! Can I say that I agree? I love books that feel lovely. I’m particularly hooked on the trend for silky feeling covers. (This book didn’t have that feature, but many recent releases have.)

The Call to Adventure

In this first summer where the moms not around to call the shots, Odilia and her sisters decide they just want to have fun. As they are out at their favourite swimming hole, the come across a dead body. Juanita decides they need to take the man’s body back to his family.

Here we see the relationship of the sisters unfold. They are the Cinco Hermanitas- the five Garza sisters- together forever, no matter what! We have Odilia, the oldest at fifteen, is like a second mom and the voice of reason. Juanita, fourteen, is the compassionate one. The twins Delia and Velia, 13, are the heck raising middle sisters and Pita, 10, just wants to be taken care of, to stay the baby a little while longer. It will be interesting to see what role each girl plays as we move through the novel. I discuss this, too! I love how almost any student will be able to find a mirror for their own family role in this group.

Refusal Of the Call

Odilia refuses the call at first. I love how she thought she was tricking the sisters but they'd already worked a plan. What would have happened if she hadn’t jumped in the car? I adore how she tries to be in charge, but is forced to change her plans. It seems like the girls know each other really well.

Supernatural Aid

I'd never heard the story of La Llorona! I did find mentions of several picture books that recount the story of the Legendary Weeping Woman who drowned her own children and hope to pick them up soon.. It would be interesting to have students find and compare several versions of the story. It would also be interesting to compare those tales to the Llorona we meet. I adore mythical stories from other cultures. I need to learn more about this one.

When she gets the earring, I thought each ring would somehow help each sister directly since the earring has five rings. Does the number five hold significance in Mexican culture? I had a similar thought, but didn’t write about it. There was also a scene with the 5 shooting stars. I’d love to know if it just ties to the girls, or if 5 is a magical number in this culture.

Crossing the Threshold

“I listened to my inner nut and sped out of the caseta, leaving behind everything that was familiar and normal and full of life and crossing over the threshold into the darkness of a dead man’s life.”

Not much else I can say here. I love that sentence. The cadence. How she didn’t use commas and used ands so you can feel the rhythm and pretend you were driving with the Hermanitas! I loved this, too!

Belly of the Whale

This section was, by far, my favorite part of the novel. Things took a darker turn and here we will see how the sisters stick together and Odilia will for sure come into her own! I want to find out about the dead man, and how he came to be in the river, and why his children are so much older than the pictures? Why don’t they miss him?? What did he do? I’m so glad we’re done chatting about this section now so I can plunge into the next part of the tale!

Overall

I am not sure what I think! I like it but so many things happened in my personal life this month that reading was pushed aside. Which meant having to scramble to do my committee reading. Which meant this fun reading felt like less fun.  I don’t think it’s the book. Things should start easing up since I’m practically done with work. I’ve had weeks like that - weeks where I felt like “it’s not the book, it’s me” felt real. I hope that now that things are calming down you’ll be able to relax and enjoy.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons license.

The Sunday Salon - Summer Reading is Coming to Town - June 2, 2013

Our school year is coming to an end.  The students in my TV Studio class did some really nice book trailers. Despite the spelling and grammar mistakes, I can see how their video skills have improved.  It will be sad to say goodbye to them, but I'm so happy to get back to full-time in the library!  I look forward to having more time to partner with teachers in the fall!

The other thing I'm looking forward to - seeing the TIGER EYES MOVIE and meeting JUDY BLUME! 
CANNOT WAIT!

 Saturday, June 8th, 2013 at  the Tivoli Theater! Sign up here!

And at the end of this week - two of my favorite things come into play! The 48 Hour Book Challenge (#48hbc) and  Summer Book-A-Day (#bookaday)! YIPPEE! This is how I mark the end of the school year and the beginning of summer reading!

This year the 48 Hour Book Challenge runs from 7 am Friday, June 7th until 7 am Monday, June 10th. You can pick any consecutive 48 hours in that time span to read as much as you possibly can! This year's challenge will be hosted by Ms. Yingling and Abby The Librarian.

 Last year I met my goal of reading 20 hours and donated $20 to Reading is Fundamental!  This year, as noted above, I'll be taking some time to see JUDY BLUME so I won't have as much time to read.  Will have to figure out my goal by Friday!

This Saturday will also kickoff my 4th year participating in Donalyn Miller's summer reading challenge.  One goal is to encourage students to prevent the summer slide by setting an example for them. Another goal is to catch up on books you've been meaning to read or to find new books to introduce to students in the fall. Either way it's win-win!  And all books count! Children's books, adult books, picture books, graphic novels, memoirs, narrative nonfiction, committee reads, and mind-candy! Just read!

My break officially runs Saturday, June 8 - Sunday, August 11, 2013. That's 65 days which means my Summer Book A Day goal is to read 65 books!

You can read several books in one day or no books on some days.  It's an average! No pressure! That is the beauty of this challenge. It's only a challenge against yourself!

Happy Reading! And, look for the return of the Summer Throwdown - School Librarians vs Teachers reading challenge in July!

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The Sunday Salon - Riffle Books

from www.rifflebooks.com

I tend to avoid any new social media sites since they appear with such regularity. I liked the sound of Riffle
and decided to try it out.  I was looking for ease of use, integration with my current PLN (professional learning network), and where it fits with sites I already use such as Twitter, Goodreads, and Pinterest.

Riffle - to turn hastily; flutter and shift: to riffle a stack of letters; to riffle through a book.

Do I want to encourage anyone to get through a book quickly? No. My goal is to get people into reading. To savor books. To highlight and comment and come back for more. As a reader, I want to discuss books with people. As a librarian, my job depends on me deepening the love of reading in students and asking them to riffle through a books seems contrary to that mission.

Does Riffle add anything new to my current social media favorites?

I enjoyed adding lists on Riffle, it was easy and fast.  I also love the quality of the book covers. It was almost like Pinterest for books. Almost. You can like but you can't repin or comment. Since you can't comment, it's very limited in terms of the social aspect of reading. Liking is not a conversation. When opening Riffle, you can choose to display "updates" in a row or grid, by books or lists or both.  Unfortunately, unlike Goodreads, I'm not sure if this is a chronological update. I'm only following nine people, but since Riffle is showing you the book cover or the list title and they are a good size, it limits what you can see. If it's a book cover, you look underneath to see if the person recommends it or is reading it. If it's a book list - my favorite aspect of Riffle - you can mouse over for a description of the type of books on the list. The good think about Riffle is you can tweet your lists.

What now?

Riffle is out of Beta and anyone can join. You can sign up via email, Facebook, or Twitter. When I signed up, you could only use your Facebook account, which I don't really use for bookstuff. I would have preferred just to use the email address that's associated with my blog. I only have a few lists on Riffle right now. I'm thinking in future, I'll blog about the list and either link to it or embed it.

Are you on Riffle? What do you think?

My Riffle Lists

I Will Survive - Books to feed your (finishing of the) Hunger (Games)
Middle School Book Club - These are books we read or will read for different book clubs. We have grades 6 - 8
Seeing is Believing - Great graphic novels
Narrative Nonfiction - Books to help meet the Common Core initiative of increased nonfiction reading

Batty About Summer of the Mariposas by Guadalupe Garcia McCall - Cover Art

Batty About Books presents     

Summer of the Mariposas

by

Guadalupe Garcia McCall

This week we discuss the cover. I'll talk about why I wanted to read this one and Maria has provided us with links to her Connect the Pop guest post she did at School Library Journal (SLJ) about The Hero's Journey, my current obsession.  We hope to discuss Summer of the Mariposas through the eyes of the Heroine's Journey.  Stop by Maria's Melange to get a more detailed look at the cover.

The Front

 I love the simplicity of the cover. The font of the title seems to want to fly while the author’s name seems to ground the image.  I like the stylized version of the mariposa (butterfly in Spanish) as a constellation. I also like the five girls on the cover but wonder if it will limit who picks the book up.  I had the same thought, about the girls. I’m hoping that the fact that they aren't lounging in dresses or gazing coyly at the reader will help. If boys who love mythology hear there is an Odyssey connection that may also help.

The Back

Cinco Hermanitas. Five Little Sisters, Together Forever, No Matter What.

I love that. It’s simple. Although, beyond telling you that the five girls on the front are sisters, it doesn't tell you much about the book. Sometimes I don't want to know too much. I love this tagline.

On the Jacket Flap 

I love the opening of the synopsis: “When Odilia and her four sisters find a dead man in the swimming hole near their hometown of Eagle Pass, Texas, they embark on a journey to return the man’s body to his family in New Mexico.” The whole idea of finding a dead body reminds me of the movie Stand By me, which I loved. I'm a little concerned with the several references to the Odyssey. Will it turn off students who haven't read it? I'm thinking the mythology references will be a plus to my population (even if ends up being a book I can only recommend to students once they leave me).

Why I Wanted to Read This

It’s a nominee for a committee I'm on, so I have to read it.  It’s a nominee for the 2013 Andre Norton Award for Young Adult Science Fiction and Fantasy and every year I promise myself I will read those books and I'm finally fulfilling that by reading one per month. This book is also diverse, something else I’ve been thinking more and more about and through reading more books with multicultural characters, not only will I be able to help my teachers broaden their selections but my students, too.

Last week, Maria and I had a great conversation about the hero’s journey and she mentioned the “heroine’s journey” which I'd never heard articulated.  She really sparked my interest! I'm excited to learn more about this from her as we work our way through Summer of the Mariposas.

LINKS OF NOTE

Maria’s post for School Library Journal’s “Connect the Pop” series on using fandom to teach the Hero’s Journey - includes links to simplified HJ page and video. 

http://blogs.slj.com/connect-the-pop/2012/07/movies/guest-post-by-maria-selke-harnessing-fandom-to-teach-the-heros-journey/

Thoughts on the Heroine’s Journey from Fangirl Cantina 
http://fangirlblog.com/2012/04/the-heroines-journey-how-campbells-model-doesnt-fit/
http://fangirlblog.com/2012/03/the-heroine%E2%80%99s-journey-defining-concepts/ 

Author Website - Guadalupe Garcia McCall

Summer of the Mariposas Discussion Questions

Summer of the Mariposas Five Chapter Sample

I Wish I Was Going to BEA! Books to Pine For

One day. One day, I'm going to go to BEA! Now that I've said it out blog, I need to make this happen. Maybe 2015? Anyway, PW just published their annual Children's Galleys to Grab and I'm super-excited for the following titles.  That means, if you come across any of these galleys, send them to me. PLEASE! I PROMISE TO LOVE YOU FOREVER! And not in a Robert Munsch crazy way. Maybe.






Steelheart by Brandon Sanderson
I love Sanderson's work. He's fantastic at worldbuilding! I've read the 1000+ pg Way of Kings twice will

dive into it once more to get ready for Words of Radiance. I also loved Warbreaker! I pre-ordered Rithmatist and am now adding Steelheart to my want list! It sounds awesome. People get super human powers adn decide they don't like humans anymore. They are called Epics and they will do what it takes to keep man down.  In come the Reckoners who want to set things to right, especially one who needs revenge.

Enchanter Heir by Cinda Williams Chima
Do you like epic fantasy with hints of romance? Then don't miss Chima's Seven Realms Series! You can read those then start on the Heir series to be ready for Enchanter Heir this fall!










The Eye of the Minds by James Dashner
We used Maze Runner for our first One Book, One School venture two years

ago and students are still reading Dashner's books. It's a great word of mouth title. I know the holds will be heavy on this one! This one's all virtual reality hacker style.

Broken by Elizabeth Pulford
I don't know this author nor this publisher but the synopsis reminds me of Inkheart except with comics.  She is trying to find her brother. IN HER HEAD! This is a graphic novel-expository mashup. Looks fantastic.










The Hypnotists by Gordon Korman
GORDON KORMAN! I have read many of Korman's books and this past
December, some of our students had the opportunity to Skype with him about his latest, Ungifted. He was great, even with our spotty technology.

The Dream Thieves by Maggie Stiefvater
The sequel to Raven Boys! The sequel to Raven Boys! Give it to me.










The Lord of Opium by Nancy Farmer
Oh.My.Word. Have you read House of the Scorpion?? I handsell that as often as
possible. I recently bought the ones with the new cover. And now there is going to be a sequel. That title alone has the power to make me happy. But, I won't settle for anything less than the book itself.

Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell
I've already read Eleanor & Park twice. The second time I listened to the audiobook, which I recommend you hear soon! I also read Rowell's post on Why Park is Korean. Touching. This one is about sisters growing up and growing apart and trying to find your own self.  I can hardly wait. Get it for me so I don't have to wait long.






A Wounded Name by Dot Hutchinson
A retelling of Hamlet. I'm always on the lookout for retelling to give

my students more incentives to check out classics beyond what's required in the classroom.

Wow, those are just a few of the books I want. Must go begging. Also, did you notice the blue??? Is that the official color of scifi/fantasy for Fall?

It's Monday, What Are You Reading? April 29, 2013

Welcome to my (mostly) bi-weekly posting of what I read! Check out the lovely ladies at Teach Mentor Texts for more books to add to your TBR pile!











In the Past

House of Stories by Chris Columbus and Ned Vizzini - had high hopes for this one but they were sorely dashed. fantasy, middle grades, pirates, savages, witches. (Edelweiss Selection)

Colossus Rises, The (Seven Wonders, 1) by Peter Lerangis - Batty About Books selection. Read our thoughts Cover, Part 1, Part 2, Part 3. fantasy, science fiction, middle grades, superpowers, ancient beasts.

Who Could That Be At This Hour? (All The Wrong Questions, 1) by Lemony Snicket - realistic, mystery, middle grades, punny.

Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell - not pictured but I re-read this one on audio. Even better on audio. My favorite Young Adult book so far this year.

In the Present

Black Like Me by John Howard Griffin - reading with daughter who is reading for school.

Summer of the Mariposas by Guadalupe Garcia McCall - Andre Norton Nominee, YHBA, Batty About Books for May.

Pathways to the Common Core by Lucy Calkins and others - we are still reading this.

Out of the Easy by Ruta Sepetys - Goodreads Mock Printz group selection.

Under the Never Sky by Veronica Rossi - YHBA

In the Future

Jane Austen Goes to Hollywood by Abby McDonald - Netgalley
Kit's Wilderness by David Almond - Nerdprintz!

It's Screen Free Week

 April 29, 2013 - May 5, 2013 

and I'm hoping to get lots of reading and cleaning done.  

I'll be back on Monday, May 6, 2013 for sure!

Batty About Books - The Colossus Rises by Peter Lerangis Pt 3

We are here with our final discussion of 

The Colossus Rises (Seven Wonders, 1)

by Peter Lerangis 

It’s Done - pgs. 238 - 348

I’ve read this section three times and still don’t have much to say. For as little as I felt connected to the characters, there were some choice that were so out of character as to not make much sense to me. I also felt like Lerangis is trying to switch our hero focus from Jack to Marco, which I’ll explain below.

Previously in The Colossus Rises

The Cover - Maria and I discussed the cover and the blurb by Rick Riordan.  We linked to a prequel and the trailer. 

Part 1 - We meet Jack and the other G7W candidates. Learn what G7W means and why Professor Bhegad has kidnapped The Select.

Part 2 - Jack and crew face some challenges while trying to solve a riddle. I compare Jack’s journey to the Hero’s Journey and we find him in the middle of Transformation.

Now - Part 3

As always, Maria's thoughts are in purple and mine are in blue.  Don't forget to head over to Maria's Melange to hear what she has to say about this part and how she plans to use it with her students.

Hero’s Journey - Transformation continues

We are still in the midst of the transformation since we still have not found what we are ultimately looking for, the Loculi.  I wonder how many books Lerangis will stretch this part over or will we see some sort of JK Rowling move and the hero’s will return in between each quest? I assumed it would be 7 books - one for each Loculi. Though not much was revealed about the Loculus and Bhegad didn’t even get to see it!

I experienced a lot of confusion in the beginning of part 3 and Lerangis had to keep explaining things to me because I just didn’t get the connections at first.  Now the book title and the series title makes sense, though I wish more time was spent on the Colossus itself.  Does this mean the cover depicts The Colossus since the griffin was red? Yes! That is disappointing. The Colossus felt like such a small part of the story, but it was the title. Maybe that is part of my lingering discontent as well.

Hero Switching - My Disbelief

I was convinced that Jack was the hero until we reached Greece. Now I think it’s Marco, which I think might be a setup for the next book. Maybe the hero is each person and they each get to go through the transformation phase before we get a return in book 7? Hmm... that could make sense. Though I would have preferred that book 1 rounded out each character more so that I cared about them, and THEN devoted a book to each of them. Yes! Hopefully Lerangis will see our notes and make some changes, though book 2 releases in October so he’ll need to wait for book 3.  I want some character development!

They retrieve one Loculus but then Marco decides to refuse the call to return and instead he goes on what is called Magic Flight where he decides to keep the gift for himself. This is where Lerangis totally loses me. Just looking back over this section I see several instances where Marco puts others ahead of himself:

p. 252 - he jumps in front of the griffin

p. 258 - he hits the griffin with rocks and taunts him

p. 294 - tries to stop Monks from shooting griffin so they can still find Cass

p. 300 - another griffin attack

p. 324 - throws rock at griffin (he loves throwing rocks!)

I just cannot get behind the Marco change in the end. I cannot. Okay, I agree with you - if this is really what has happened. I may be missing something, but I don’t think that we know for sure why Marco took off with the orb. I think it’s equally likely that, since Marco sees himself as “immortal” now, he took off with it to do something he thought was too dangerous to risk his friends.

Or he could have been kidnapped. I hope it’s something along those lines and this is just a red herring.  Ok, I’m starting to feel better.

Overall

Last week, I thought I would give the book 3 stars but I’m leaning towards 2.5 now. There were too many instances where, even though things were described in detail, I could not picture them and would have loved sketches. Does the Loculus change sizes? They were all able to put their arms around it to fly but then Jack had it under his arm when he decided to give it to Marco for safekeeping.  Also, how did all three hold on to it? Especially when Marco was holding Cass. Why did Jack decide to give the Loculus to Marco at the hotel when he wouldn’t give it to him when he was facing down the griffin? How does a 13-year-old child rent a hotel room? Why hadn’t the professor known about Marco? Wasn’t he tracking them? I am left with many, many, questions but I’m not sure I will pick up book 2, Lost in Babylon, when it releases in October. At this point, I would not.

I’m playing a “wait and see” to hear what my students think about it. I have a feeling a few of them will read it - as long as the first student talks it up. If they love it, I would get others for my classroom. I’m pretty sure I won’t invest the time myself unless they insist that I should.

Alas, there are many, many, books in the school library that don’t reflect my tastes.  Which is a good thing, since it’s not my library. I’ve already ordered an additonal copy of this one because I think the students will enjoy it.  I will display it with Heroes of Olympus and the Pittacus Lore series for three different levels of reading.

Can't wait to see what other's think of this new entry into the Middle Grades SciFi/Fan family. Join us next week when we kick off our discussion of

Summer of the Mariposas 

by Guadalupe Garcia McCall.

Batty About Books - The Colossus Rises by Peter Lerangis Part 2

We are back with more on 

The Colossus Rises 

by Peter Lerangis  

Check out our other posts

Cover discussion

Part 1

As is the custom, Maria's thoughts are in purple and mine are in blue! Head over to Maria's Melange for her side of the story! We were really gelling today and even had time to google chat! So fun!

Part 2 pg. 123-237

I went into this section full of hope, especially the hope to get to know the characters better and form a connection with them. Though, I don’t think a connection is necessary to enjoy a book, I do think it helps, especially with fantasy novels.  Many times the situations or elements are so foreign, the only way into the story is through the characters. So funny! I’m such a habitual fantasy and science fiction reader that I find I have trouble getting into realistic fiction sometimes, because it seems boring (I’m having trouble with my current Newbery read for this exact reason.) That’s so weird! I love realistic fiction! Especially romance!! Science Fiction/Fantasy used to be my book gap!! Where I taught elementary, teachers mostly use realistic fiction.  Probably why boys have such a hard time....  I agree. I know my students are always pleasantly surprised by the number of fantasy and science fiction books I include. I absolutely do historical fiction (that is my second favorite) and some realistic fiction... but when I pick a book for my own enjoyment it is almost always scifi or fantasy. I do not like historical fiction! It feel as if so many of the Newbery type books are historical fiction! I actually gravitate towards romance with a little fantasy thrown in! When I need a break, those are my books of choice!

In addition to my hope for a connection, I was curious to see how closely, if at, Lerangis was following the hero’s journey. I’ve recently started doing some reading on the journey and was eager to apply my learnings.  

Hero’s Journey - The Separation

In part 1, I felt Lerangis had Jack in the beginning of the journey - the separation.  We need Jack to be separated from his family so that he can start growing up and coming into his own. He is taken to the Karai Institute where he is on the threshold of his journey.  He initially resists this “call to adventure” by trying to runaway and has to be saved. He meets his “helpers” - Cass, Marco, and Aly, and his “mentor” - Professor Bhegad. He learns about the journey he’s supposed to take and the challenges he may face.  He also acquires new knowledge - the information about GW7 and his possible connection to Atlantis. I love how you analyzed this! I’ve often had students do a hero’s journey story with me (usually Book of Three for 4th grade) and then choose another book to analyze on their own. I’m happy to add another possible read to the list. I would like to know more about how you teach this. I’m contemplating some sort of book club for fall with this focus.  You are in luck! I wrote a guest post about this for School Library Journal’s Connect the Pop blog. I also often tie into biography after finishing up the Hero’s Journey and ask students to choose an historical figure and see which of the journey steps that person also completed.  AWESOME!! I love the idea of tying in a real person!!! What a great way to use biographies!! Will tie in with some of our Common Core areas! I’m all about connections. I think it’s the way my brain works. 

Hero’s Journey - The Transformation

This second part sees Jack immersed in stage 2 of the journey!  At the end of part 1, he passes out after being in the Wender Hall.  At the beginning of part 2, he’s had his first treatment and when he wakes up, we see he’s designed an entirely new system for getting dressed! Jack also solves the clue on the rock! And we are on our journey

The Mountain

Jack and crew set off to find the next set of clues after solving the riddle of the rock. They are heading up Onyx Mountain. Torquin is leading him but they soon decide to ditch him.  Marco teaches them to do a vertical climb up the mountain including belaying.  Really? They MUSt be gifted to learn it that quickly! They get to the top and bad stuff starts to happen and only three people leave the mountain! This was one of the elements that pulled me out of the story. I can easily see Marco doing it like this, but having the others jump in so quickly didn’t feel right. AGREED! Especially with Cass’ noted fear of heights!

The Cave and The Water

The three convince Bhegad to put together a search team to go back and find their lost teammate.  Here is also where I started to make a little more of a connection with the characters, especially Cass! When they get separated in the cave, we learn about his past and I was able to put together a little bit more about him.  We also see Jack’s leadership qualities start to emerge.  After the fire, he has to take charge even though he’s tired, hurt, and hungry.  

The Cave and the water are classic hero’s journey symbols representing rebirth and transformation. We get both in this part including the scene where everybody gets better! Even one that shouldn’t!! I could see both Cass and Jack following the pattern and can’t wait for part 3, which should be The Return. Seeing the story in this light is making it much more appealing to me. Then you add in that broken sword, which is another classic hero’s journey symbol set. The water helps take over the “female aspect of deity” in the story, too. OOHHH, didn’t know that about the sword or the water-deity connection!

Overall

This section read quickly for me but I didn’t find myself taking any notes because nothing stood out as I was reading.  But, three days later, I find I could remember a big chunk of this section and more stood out then I thought.  My comparisons with the hero’s journey and Jack’s journey are completely from memory and I’ve read other things since then!! As I mentioned, I made a connection with Cass and a little bit with Jack. I’m hoping that more connections are in my future.  I’m still not in love with this book though. I can actually see myself booktalking it more to new 6th graders who may not enjoy reading rather than older, more experienced fantasy readers. Exactly. I can’t see this appealing to the older crew. I envision this being a hook for my younger readers (like my 3rd and 4th graders) to get them into this kind of story structure.

Tune in next week for the final section of Colussus Rises!