I found it interesting that many students noted that they enjoyed reading realistic fiction. I too am most drawn to this category, however, I expected more students to lean towards fantasy or sci-fi. Miller does mention that the reason that many people chose realistic fiction is because they can more easily make personal connections to this book. It is still important that everyone has their own favorites and preferences, and that as future teachers we remember to make available a variety of genres.

I think is it so important to remember that “Preferences are not fixed. Wild readers move between types of reading material depending on their needs and interests at any given time” (169). In order to meet our students needs in this way, we ourselves need to be knowledgable in many genres. I hope to work on this myself by creating a more specific outline of my reading goals. I really enjoy reading and have a hard time putting down my book once I get started, but getting to that part is more difficult.

Bone Gap by Laura Ruby is very different and unique from other books I have read. It is about a high schooler, Finn O’Sullivan, trying to figure out what really happened after he saw the kidnapping of a young girl named Roza. A search went out to try and find Roza and it seems as though she just vanished. Throughout the book, you get to meet and know more people of Bone Gap and discover how the town got its name. It is a very interesting and kind of weird, but I really enjoyed it and would recommend it to others looking to read something new.

Finn is the main character in Bone Gap. He is tall and handsome, but he’s more of an outsider in town. Many people have nicknamed him “Moonface” because his mind always seems to be somewhere else. We also learn that Finn is “Face-blind,” meaning that he has a very difficult time ever being able to recognize anyone’s face. Instead, he notices things like obvious physical characteristics and how the move. This quote does a good job of summarizing Finn and his place in his community, “He was tired of everyone believing they knew everything there was to know about him, as if a person never grew, a person never changed, a person was born a weird dreamy little kid with too-red lips and stayed that way forever just to keep things simple for everyone else.”

I took a look at Diamond Bookshelf. At first I was a little confused by the website and was not sure where to start. However, as I further explored it, I found many useful resources. There is information regarding new graphic novels and news dealing with graphic novels. I also found suggestions for why to use graphic novels. There are also many lesson plans that are fairly detailed and there are lesson plans for a range of ages.

I read Pashmina by Nidhi Chanani. Pashmina tells the story of a girl, Priyanka Das, who lives in the United States and whose mother immigrated from India. The Priyanka’s father is not in the picture, but she has an uncle with whom she is very close. Priyanka is very curious about her mother’s home country, but her mother seems very cautious and evasive when Priyanka tries to ask her about India. One day, Priyanka finds a pashmina hidden inside a suitcase which was carefully packed away. When she wraps the pashmina around herself, Priyanka is transported to a magical place where she is able to learn a little about India. At least, a magical and perfect version of India. But what will Priyanka discover when she gets the opportunity to visit her aunt in India?

When reading a graphic novel, I read it very similarly to how you would read a book. I read a graphic novel, going through it one panel at a time. I usually start with the picture and then read the words, if there are any. One this I do differently, it that I will often go back to the top of the page before continuing on, to look back at the pictures. I often feel that I can better understand the pictures that were at the beginning, after gaining more context of the story. I would like to discuss with other how they read graphic novels and why. Trying a new method could lead to opening up more doors to learning and understanding.

 

Enchanted Air is a memoir of a girl, Margarita, who is split between two places, Cuba and the United States. She struggles to find the balance between her two worlds, and it only worsens as revolution breaks out in Cuba. Margarita finds herself asking why the two worlds must even be so separate. This book is written through a series of poems. I enjoy reading it this way because I feel that the way it is written can cause the reader to slow down and put more emphasis on certain parts–almost creating an atmosphere of its own as you read. This book would be a great starter to discuss multiple subjects in a classroom. For example, it might lead the way into a poetry unit or to discuss hispanic culture.

 

 

so much depends

upon

 

eyes open wide

to see

 

a dancing tree

swaying in the wind

 

a bounding horse

flying across an open field

 

a girl with wings

to take her anywhere she dreams