Yesterday, May 13, 2009 , I was invited to my granddaughter's forth-grade class to discuss my books and writings, and getting published in general. Having never talked with such a young group before, I must admit that I was a bit nervous and concerned about what I could and could not discuss without crossing some imaginary line of decorum.
My books, although categorized as
general audience, I wasn't sure they would be interesting reading for the under-twelve. However, the boys' ears perked up when I told them that
Amos Jakey was a type of old west story and the girls seemed to show more interest in
Nicolina as it was a little more romantic.
The book discussion went better than I would have ever anticipated. Mrs. Shelton and Mrs. Harrelson the forth-grade class teachers have done a remarkable job with the children of Greene County Tech. I have never talked with a more intelligent group of people than these children. They asked questions that I would have expected from much more mature individuals. Now keep in mind that these are ten-year-olds-several of them have actually written books, short stories, and poetry. Here are a couple of books that I have had the honor to read and review and with great pleasure, share with the group at SearchWarp.
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(a book review of
A Crazy Tree by ten-year-old author, Kelsey Brumley, Greene County Tech Elementry)
A Crazy Tree is the delightful story of a little girl who discovers a tree of unusual characteristics and abilities. She recognizes right away that the tree is different. Although everyone else called the tree crazy because it was different, Kelsey saw the inner beauty of the tree and instead, called it
super special. The tree was not tree-color' but was red with purple polka dots and had green leaves.
One day when Kelsey (who was called Wasper by her friends) was five, she wished upon a star that her tree would be magic. To her horror, however, her mother told her that the tree was dying. So Kelsey spent everyday going down to the tree to water and feed it.
Suddenly the tree began to grow blueberries, strawberries, bananas, oranges, raspberries, and cranberries! Kelsey began filling bags with fruit and selling them for five dollars each. Everyone lined up to buy her fruit bags.
Kelsey writes about the tree in a journal that she calls her drama book. And every day that a new movie comes out like "
UP", the tree grows more. The tree finally reached over 200 feet tall. When Kelsey arrived at school that day, her teacher, Mrs. Harrelson asked her what she did with the tree? Kelsey must have decided to keep her tree a secret, so she just said, "Oh, I don't know. Not much." And all was forgotten as the class began.
It would seem that this was the end of the story, but it wasn't-the tree is still growing and it is only twelve years old. And Kelsey knows that you can love someone (or something) even though they may be different.
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(a book review of
The Stone by ten-year-old author, Abbi Adams, Greene County Tech Elementry)
Abbi Adams is a remarkably gifted child and will hopefully continue to write. Her tale of
The Stone shows great promise and should delight all her reading companions.
Joe and Rebecca, two young and curious little foxes, have found an unusual oddity in their forest. After much investigation, they come to the conclusion that they have found the sun, although, Joe is still skeptical as he knows that the sun burns only high up in the sky.
Soon the two pups lose interest in the shiny stone and run away to the fragrant smell of a rabbit dinner. Their mother, Lee, fusses at the two youngsters for being late, then curled up in the corner of the den for a nap. Soon the pups-having had their fill of rabbit legs-joined their mother and snuggled up close to her warm body and were soon fast asleep.
After they awoke from their nap, Rebecca and Joe took Lee to see the unusual object that they had found half-buried in the ground. Upon their arrival, they noticed a white fox sniffing around the stone and mumbling to himself. When the white fox saw the new arrivals, he quickly disappeared in a puff of smoke.
They walked up to the glowing stone and Lee told her children that other foxes said that the stone was magical and could help them in their time of need. So they took the stone to their den. When they woke, the den was bright and warm, even though it was freezing outside. Although Lee had thought the stone would keep them from getting hungry with its magic, it did not work for her or Rebecca; but it did work for Joe since he was a baby.
Lee finally decided she would have to go out into the freezing cold to find food for herself and her children. She went out into the dark night; never to return again.
When light finally came, Joe and Rebecca took the stone and went to the city to find sanctuary. But on the road they were stopped by a tall two-legged human animal. Joe hid in the bushes while the human animal picked up Rebecca and killed her. But Rebecca's spirit-the white fox-left her body and entered the body of the human. The human became very frightened and ran far, far away.
Abbi Adams has brought the magical world of make-believe to life in this well written little tale of happiness and sorrow. Thank you, Abbi, for sharing your thoughts with us.
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