YA IN THE CLASSROOM - SPARK AND FLAWS

SPARK features two characters who have obvious "flaws": one has a birthmark, another a stutter. 

This topic lends itself to great high school class discussion...

We all have things about ourselves that we wish we could change. (If only, we all think, I were prettier, taller. Or, I wish I could make my nose smaller, get rid of the scar on my chin, not have such frizzy hair, clear up my skin…) If your fantasy could be granted, and what you perceive to be your biggest flaw was magically erased, how would it change you? Would you behave differently? Would you finally talk to your crush, go out for the lead in the play? Would you step into the spotlight? Would you finally be brave enough to make your mark?

Students can discuss the depiction of the external in SPARK--this includes costumes that appear throughout. They can also discuss the external vs. internal lives of the characters--and even of themselves. After all, sometimes, the best way to connect and interact with a book is by seeing connections between the text and the "real world." 

Children are always being told the inside of a person is the most important part--and it is! But what are the barriers to getting to view a person's interior? How do our own opinions of our exterior, our perceptions of our own "flaws" keep people from seeing our own insides?

Are you a teacher using SPARK in your classroom? Contact me at hollyschindlerbooks (at) gmail (dot) com for a Skype.

FOR TEACHERS: FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE (+ COLLABORATION)

My MG, THE JUNCTION OF SUNSHINE AND LUCKY, is brimming with opportunities to introduce your class to figurative / descriptive language. Auggie, the main character, becomes a folk artist, making sculptures out of "upcycled" materials. In order to do that, she can't see the world in a literal way--she sees a rusted pipe and thinks, "ballerina." Her ability to see the world in a poetic way is a big part of the reason why I felt her voice ought to be filled with metaphor and simile throughout--it only made sense that her poetic vision should be apparent even in the line-by-line descriptions.

I've made a small graphic including some of my favorite descriptive / figurative phrases from the book. Feel free to grab the graphic and use it in your own classroom:

I've also begun to create some boards on Pinterest featuring ideas for using my books in the classroom--and I'd love to get teachers involved! If you've used / are using THE JUNCTION in the classroom, and would like to take part in a collaborative board where we all share ideas on how to incorporate the book into classrooms or introduce the work to young readers, email hollyschindlerbooks (at) gmail (dot) com. You can also leave a comment at the board, if you'd prefer.

YA IN THE CLASSROOM - SPARK & METAPHORICAL EVENTS

Regardless of the genre or age category, my work tends to run on something of the lyrical side. I frequently use metaphor in my descriptions.

But my latest YA, SPARK, takes metaphor to a new level. Instead of using the device in order to flesh out description, I use it in the plot, as a way to drive events.

About SPARK:

Acclaimed author Holly Schindler writes a compelling contemporary tale with a dash of magic. The theater comes to life in this story of family ties, fate, love, and one girl’s quest to rewrite history.

The local Avery Theater was just a run-down building to Quin—until her mother told her about the tragic love that played out on the theater’s stage many years ago. Quin is convinced it’s the perfect story to re-create for her drama class. And when she does, the Avery begins to magically regain its former splendor, clearly setting the stage for her classmates Dylan and Cass to relive the romance from a time before. Quin can see the spark between them, but it’s up to her to make sure her friends—and the Avery—can both be saved this time around.

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Ultimately, SPARK also asks readers to determine for themselves what actually transpired: readers can debate, in class, whether they believe the magical events of the book are to be taken literally, or are to be read on a more metaphorical level, as the work of the protagonist’s “writerly imagination” (and have only played out in the theater of young Quin’s mind). Did the Avery Theater magically regenerate? Did Quin's friends get a chance to see themselves without their flaws? Or has everything that has transpired on the pages actually a metaphor for the power of the theater? The way the theater allows us all to escape--whether we're in the audience or onstage? 

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Maybe the best widely-known example of using metaphor to shape the plot is FIELD OF DREAMS (one of my all-time favorite movies): Did those magical events really happen? Did Ray Kinsella actually plow up his corn, allow the spirits of historic ball players another chance to enjoy the game? 

Or is the entire storyline a metaphor for a man trying to mend the fractured relationship with his father?

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SPARK can open your students' minds to thinking about metaphor in a new way--as something that not only fleshes out line-by-line writing, allows a reader to see a character or setting in vivid detail, but as a device that can also help shape the events of the book as a whole.

MR. DOSCH'S 4TH GRADE & WORDQUAKE

Mr. Dosch is just one of those teachers--open-minded and fun and on the lookout for new projects to
stir his students' imagination.

I met Mr. Dosch last year, when his class wrote letters to Auggie, the main character of THE JUNCTION OF SUNSHINE AND LUCKY. (Of course Auggie wrote them back!)

This year, he got his reading class off to a running start with my latest release, WORDQUAKE.

I wrote WORDQUAKE thinking of the "kinda-sorta" readers; the book features the misadventures of Izzy Ashby, a girl who'd rather be anywhere but the library.

To encourage both close and creative thinking, Mr. Dosch posed two questions to his class:

1. Izzy accidentally removes all the words from her school, making it impossible to do any bookwork. Shortly thereafter, the Izzy Ashby Fan Club is formed, and is said to have 100% membership. Dosch asked his class if they think this is a true 100%, considering the fact that Alexander Gum (a fourth grade scientist / inventor and the only person in all of Eastwood Elementary with working knowledge of wordquakes) loves his reading so much. Did Alexander join? Why would he? Or do you think that the membership of the fan club was 99.9%? Why?

2. Before reading the last chapter, Mr. Dosch asked his class to imagine how the book would end. Would Izzy save the day? How?

Mr. Dosch's class at work.

Mr. Dosch was kind enough to share the responses with me, and they were all just an utter delight! I loved getting a chance to hear how his students were interacting with the book--I especially enjoyed their predictions regarding the book's end. Some were already feeling Izzy's change of heart regarding the power of words; others had really imaginative ideas on how Izzy would put the words back in their rightful place. (Ideas involving wind or evaporation or scooping the words into a bag or even using her head flashlight to melt them back into place...)

Thanks, Mr. Dosch's 4th grade! I'm so glad I got to be a part of your new school year. Keep up the great work!

FOR TEACHERS - LOCAL COLOR WRITING

I drew from my own Southwest Missouri surroundings in order to describe the Avery Theater in my latest YA, SPARK. The following video can be used in your classrooms to introduce the concept of local color to your students, and to get them revved to do a local color piece of their own:

THE JUNCTION OF SUNSHINE AND LUCKY & FOLK ART ENVIRONMENTS

In my MG, THE JUNCTION OF SUNSHINE AND LUCKY, Auggie and Gus become folk artists. But they're not content to simply make a few fun trinkets, paintings, or small sculptures. Instead, they turn their entire home into a regular folk art environment!

For teachers looking to jump-start interest in the concept of folk art--and to give young readers some idea of just how incredibly wild Auggie and Gus's house must look--consider sharing a few of these real-life folk art environments with your students:

1. The Watts Towers in California - Hundred-foot tall spiraling structures made of rebar and covered in concrete and broken glass or pottery shards.

2. Vollis Simpson's Whirligig Park - Auggie and Gus make whirligigs to put in their own front yard!

3. The Orange Show - This one defies explanation. But Houston (the city where the Orange Show is located) also hosts an Art Car Show--which would certainly spark many boys' imaginations.

4. Thunder Mountain - A Native American monument.

5. Bishop Castle - Your kids will love this one! It includes an actual fire breathing dragon.

Fair warning: Folks art environments are completely addictive. Once you get started looking at these amazing, imaginative structures, you just won't want to stop. Here's an additional list of folk art environments to feed your new addiction.

As always, I'm available for Skypes with classrooms who have read THE JUNCTION OF SUNSHINE AND LUCKY. You can schedule a visit at any time by shooting me a message: hollyschindlerbooks (at) gmail (dot) com.

LOCAL COLOR AND SPARK

I love the fact that teachers have been using THE JUNCTION for classroom assignments--so much so, I wanted to get the ball rolling on some ideas for how to use SPARK in the classroom as well (the book is clean and lends itself to some great literary discussions; it's great for middle school readers on up). I put together a short local color vid in which I show young readers how I used my own surroundings as inspiration, and also challenge them to do a local color piece of their own: