Skeletons in the Closet

Skulduggery Pleasant is not terribly original. Child experiences loss. Child learns of the magical world that has always existed right under her nose. Child learns she has great unrealized powers...and it is up to her to save the world. (And yes, I do take pleasure in knowing our lead character, Stephanie, would balk at being called a child!) The book is not without redeemable qualities, however.

For starters, our protagonist is a female. This is not to be ignored, because, let's face it, the books aren't called Hermione Granger and the Society for the Protection of Elvish Welfare or Holly Short and the Lower Elements Police. In a world of magical literature dominated by men, it's gratifying to read a story of an ambitious and strong-headed young lady. That being said there are a handful of girly references that seemed unnecessary such as Stephanie and Tanith's fits of laughter at their own incompetence, or this narration: "She always ate chocolate when something bad happened, but these days chocolate just wasn't enough."

Derek Landy also creates a magical world all his own. It is woven into the fabric of our cities, not hidden from our view like in Harry Potter, Percy Jackson, or Artemis Fowl. Elemental magic is described as almost scientific. Stephanie practices feeling the air as a series of interlocking objects that she can then manipulate to her will. There are no wands, few spells, and some manipulations of nature have consequences for the mage that are out of his or her control. Skulduggery and his fireballs seem reminiscent of Ghost Rider, but his dry wit is all his own. As her mentor he is quite detached so that Stephanie's choices are that much more her own.

What do this "ace detective" and teenage descendant of the ancients have to do with the four genius children spying on an evil mastermind in The Mysterious Benedict Society? Reynie, Kate, Sticky and Constance are also faced with saving the world, but they do not have the benefits (or drawbacks) of using magic. Instead they must each realize their own skills- logic reasoning, acrobatics, memorization, cantankerousness, etc.

Though both books feature children as experts and problem solvers The Mysterious Benedict Society is much more timeless. There are no Bentleys or characters guzzling Coke. In fact, it is unclear whether the story takes place in the 1950s or today. Despite having a more complex vocabulary than Skulduggery and being significantly longer, TMBS reads a good deal younger. The characters are more wholesome and the violence is all psychological. The characters long to be loved and part of family more than they seek adventure or power.

Another feature that sets TMBS apart from the world of fantasy is its blatant political statement about television as a means of mind control and manipulation. What could be more terrifying than subliminal messages being broadcast out of our own beloved TV sets? As a teacher, as a librarian, and as a teacher-librarian I can totally get behind that cause. Turn off the boob tube, kids, I've got just the book for you...

Celebrity Death Match: Harry vs. Percy

No contest. No contest! Maybe The Lightening Thief wouldn't have been so disappointing if someone hadn't referred to it as "the next Harry Potter." Yes, it's true- they are both tales of young boys who only discover in middle school their true identities. Both children are whisked somewhere supposedly safe so they can hone their new found talents. Both find that, due to extenuating circumstances, they must put their magical abilities to the test, well, immediately, in order to save the world.

Plot-wise, The Lightning Thief is a page turner, but Jackson stumbles into random circumstances that often feel contrived. For example he lands in a magical Vegas hotel that serves no purpose other than to shave five days off of his remaining time to find Zeus's master bolt before the summer solstice.

As a character Percy is woefully blind. He is told he will be betrayed by a friend and not to trust gifts. He then receives gifts from friends and doesn't think twice about it? (Spoiler alert!) The second Luke gives Percy a pair of winged shoes and checks to make sure Percy is wearing them it is painfully obvious to the reader which hero is acting as the gods' thief. Of course, this does not cross Percy's mind even after the winged shoes try to fling Grover down into the pits of Tartarus. Let's not underestimate our tween readers' inferencing skills, please. On the other hand, even as an adult reading Harry Potter, I rarely figured much out before he did.

My main qualm with The Lightning Thief is Jackson's story telling voice. Coming from the mouth of a 12 year old the story seems trivial. For example Percy tells us, "I'd love to tell you I had some deep revelation on my way down, that I came to terms with my own mortality, laughed in the face of death, et cetera. The truth? My only thought was: Aaaaggghhhhh!" It's as if Percy is recounting the story to a group of friends at recess. There is appeal in this tone, especially for reluctant readers. Just don't ask me to call it quality literature- and don't get me started on how poorly it served him when reflecting on the loss of his mother.

The Harry Potter series is infinitely more successful at humor. Kids talk like kids, but only in the context of trying to entertain their peers, not just for affect. Consider Lee Jordan's commentary during a quidditch match:

Lee Jordan was finding it difficult not to take sides.
"So- after that obvious and disgusting bit of cheating-"
"Jordan!" growled Professor McGonagall.
"I mean, after that open and revolting foul-"
"Jordan, I'm warning you-"
"All right, all right. Flint nearly kills the Gryffindor Seeker, which could
happen to anyone, I'm sure..."

I claimed that both boys must fight to save the world, but this is only partly true. While 11 year-old Harry does have to confront Lord Voldemort as early as the first book in the series, he does not fully understand Voldemort's aims or the implications of his return. Perhaps more importantly, he does not understand his own identity or his connection to Voldemort. These concepts are leaked out slowly, sometimes painfully slowly (for fans waiting for the next book to come out) over the course of the series. It is perfectly timed so that each step of the way Harry comes to understand more about his past, Voldemort's life, and the magical world in which they live. Initially Voldemort is a personal enemy- his parents' assassin, someone trying to kill him. This fits with a younger child's egocentric view of the world. As Harry ages he sees Voldemort's plans for the magical and muggle worlds, he realizes the greater threat. Not until the last three books does this struggle realize itself as an epic showdown between the forces of good and evil.

Percy Jackson has a different pace. He not only learns the entire premise behind his world of Greek gods, mortals, and demigods, or heroes, in the first book, but there was also an infusion of politics that seemed watered down for the 12 year-old hero. The gods are siblings vying for power over the mortal world and they bicker like siblings. Compare this to the grabs for power in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. Wizard politicians, set on maintaining power, manipulate the press and education system in order to suppress news of Voldemort's return. It is a much more powerful political commentary and a more sophisticated read. The saving grace of this aspect of The Lightning Thief (spoiler alert!) was that the driving force behind the conflict turned out to be Kronos, the father of the gods. In that context, the sibling rivalry works as Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades could only be manipulated by a force greater than themselves.

The difference in pacing and quality of the books is not entirely surprising in light of their release dates. The Harry Potter series was seven books published over ten years (1997-2007). During that time Rowling did not publish anything else (with the exception of two short HP supplement books, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them and Quidditch Throughout the Ages). On the other hand Rick Riordan put out five Percy Jackson books in just five years (2004-2009) during which he also published two books in the Tres Navarre series and started to publish the series 39 Clues by 2008. While well-researched in terms of mythology, The Lightning Thief is a fast read that reads like it was a fast write.

All the World's a Stage

I gave my second book talk this week. I chose Holes because I know it so intimately- reading a book once a year for children will do that- and could focus on the presentation rather than the content.

Giving a book talk is not unlike giving a minilesson. Start with a hook to get the students' attention, present the information in a concise yet creative way and finish with something thought provoking to get them started on their own. It made me miss the classroom.

It was on my first day of teaching that I realized that teaching is acting. If you expect to be the center of attention (hopefully only briefly and for the express purpose of instruction) it is important to be articulate, animated, and attentive to the audience. Students will tune you out if you don't put on a good show.

Today I visited a Brooklyn grade school and the librarian taught her first grade class how to book talk. She modeled book talks for them, showed them kids and other teachers doing them from schooltube.com. Independently the students will have the opportunity to present book talks on books they love to their peers at the start of each library class. This is a fabulous idea to get kids to think about which parts of a book stay with them and get them to talk about the books with their classmates. It will also promote reading since kids are so influenced by their peers.

At the end of the book talks the librarian did not have multiple copies of each book she talked. This made me wonder- should you only book talk when you have multiple copies on the shelves? What procedure or routine could prevent students from bickering over books. One idea is to book talk several books at once but in a class of 25 this is not a complete solution.

The school where I teach is Spanish/English dual-language, but there is a considerable amount of dissent from students when it comes to working and learning in Spanish. Most are more comfortable in English and their Spanish competence is therefore disproportionate to English. Book talking in Spanish is going to be a fabulous way to entice students to read en Español. It will also provide them with support as they begin the book because they will already have a sense of what it is about.

Here is a list of book talking resources from YALSA:
http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/yalsa/profdev/booktalking.cfm

"Bibliophiles Not Baby Sitters," the op-ed piece in the New York Times, brings up the valid concern of adolescent behavior in libraries. However to assume you can work in a public space that welcomes children and have no training on how to manage them is absurd. The title alone offends my educator ears. No, librarians are not baby sitters. But neither are teachers. Teachers often feel like baby sitters when they are unable to accomplish the learning they want in the classroom. Those teachers are being ineffective and require more professional development to help them get their classes under control. Still, Don Borchert describes that the children "been good and relatively quiet" while in school. If he expects librarians to recreate the feel of a well-managed classroom, then librarians must be trained in management techniques just like teachers. Perhaps the best example of this was mentioned in the article. One library in Norwalk, Connecticut trains their staff to work with teens and revokes computer privileges if teens do not comply with the library's expectations. Kids appreciate boundaries. They learn best from immediate and clear consequences. They feel safer when they know what to expect.

These structures are lacking in Logan's life in This is What I Did. Logan is loved, yes. His parents are well-intentioned, yes. He has a comfortable home and enough to eat. But he does not trust the adults in his life- he does not believe they have authority. Of course, he has learned by watching his friends' parents that some adults are not trust-worthy. That, in fact, some adults are to be feared. But what of his parents and teachers? Maybe it was purely out of loyalty to Zyler that he never spoke up, but I doubt it. I think that if his parents had been better equipped to talk to him about abuse then he would have felt more comfortable broaching the subject. Parents, like librarians and too many teachers, often don't receive training about how to communicate with adolescents.

In his suggestions for how to cope with unruly teens, Borchert suggests programs where teachers and principals chaperone after school hours. I am appalled by this suggestion. I appreciate that he considers teachers to be competent at managing children, but feel that we are already an over-worked bunch within the confines of our buildings and don't need to extend our work hours any more. That kind of short term solution draws attention away from a more lasting solution like demanding increased funding to hire more staff. What would be a beneficial teacher/librarian collaboration, however, are educator-led training sessions on management techniques.

Despite everything I've written I don't mean to imply that teachers have all the answers that librarians are lacking. In fact, many teachers don't get enough management training either. However if want to support the Logans and Zylers of the world, we cannot hope it will fall into place on its own.

Below are great books on classroom management that could apply to a library setting:

The Good, the Bad, and the Invisible

Fitting in is never easy, but it never feels harder than in middle school. Developmentally kids are suddenly aware of their own limitations and increasingly crave the approval of their peers. Last year a student said to me eagerly, "Look at my painting!" and then quickly followed with, "It's terrible." This defensiveness is endemic in the tween population and it seems we in schools often address it ineffectively.

Two books address these feelings- Every Soul a Star by Wendy Mass and The Schwa Was Here by Neal Shusterman.

Every Soul is wholesome, to borrow a word used in class, but does a good job of illustrating that kids build self-esteem best when they are able to develop the skills they feel are lacking. This is most notable in Jack, who, after enjoying success in the dreaded fields of science and friendship, then becomes bold enough to begin sharing his art with his new friends.

This book is a special treat for those of us mired in testing drills, trying to get struggling readers and mathematicians to succeed at filling in bubbles. Instead of focusing on academic achievement it melds a real-life application of science into a tale of friendship that examines important markers of emotional development- Am I comfortable with who I am? What is really important to me? And, What do I want to get out of my life?

Schwa, I feel, is a deeper and darker story. The Schwa does not just have low self-esteem- he feels invisible. By feeling invisible, he is invisible. Antsy resents his role as the mediator in his family and feels himself growing apart from his friends. The stakes seem higher here than in Every Soul and I was worried that the Schwa would become suicidal. That is not where Shusterman takes us though, and instead allows the characters to know themselves better through each others' eyes. Antsy sees that he is the paperclip, Schwa sees, well, himself.

I can't count the number of meetings I've had with parents, other teachers, and administrators in which I've said, "She/He has really low self-esteem." We have our responsibility as educators to support the students' development academically and socially, to provide the kids with opportunities for success (like Jack's science teacher in Every Soul), but in these books it is powerful, lifelong friendships that help these kids see themselves in a way they like. How can we make school environments places where kids bond rather than compete? How can we reduce bullying and increase peer-support? I'm going to start by putting these books in the middle school library.