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Jumping on the Bandwagon

Posted on April 24, 2017 by auburnchick

So, a couple of weeks ago, I jumped on the Thirteen Reasons Why bandwagon.

I’d read the YA book a few years ago and kept a couple of copies in my classroom.  The books are always being read by students.

I didn’t know about the Netflix series until a student told me about it.

Of course, I had to watch the first episode, and let me just say WOW.

It was powerful.

The book tells the story of a girl, Hannah Baker, who leaves a set of tapes for people to listen to after she commits suicide.  Each side of each tape is addressed to a specific person.  The catch is that every person must listen to all of the tapes or else a second copy, hidden away with another person, will release it to the public.

The tapes detail little and big things that led to Hannah’s suicide.

The book is told from Clay Jensen’s perspective after he receives the tapes.  He doesn’t know where on the list he falls, but it’s clear that he cared about Hannah.

The Netflix series, directed by Selena Gomez, takes a lot of creative license, and the story doesn’t follow the book exactly.

For a purist like me, it’s bothersome.

The series was also graphic in parts.  The foul language really bothered me (yes, it’s realistic, though…I do teach in a high school).  The drinking and drugs also bothered me a lot.  The sexual stuff…yeah, I didn’t feel comfortable watching that even by myself!!!

The message, bullying, hit home though.

My students are all watching the series.  Many have binged on it, much like I did.  It took me two weekends to watch all thirteen episodes.

I stayed up until nearly 2am last Friday night watching and only stopped when I hit Clay’s tape.

That episode wrecked me.

It’s so powerful…so gut-wrenching.

I decided, because I couldn’t put my hands on the copies I already owned, to purchase a couple more.

I kept one to re-read and put the other one in my room.

Yeah, it’s already been snatched up.  The kids cannot get enough of it.  I’m encouraging them to note the differences between the book and the series.

I am so glad that Netflix made this series.  It’s a story that needs to be told.

Over.

And over.

And over again.

Y’all, kids are really hurting these days.  It’s hard for many of them to see how one small comment can have devastating effects on another person.

This series is opening the door for real talk in my classroom.  I love that.

Hearing kids discuss it warms my heart.  I even heard some kids at my neighborhood pool talking about it last weekend.

Have you read the book or seen the series?  What are your thoughts?

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In Their Words – Part 5

Posted on June 29, 2014 by auburnchick

More book projects that my students completed at the end of the year (there will be one more post after this one, I think).

A popular book with my boys

Hands-down one of the most PROLIFIC and moving books I have ever read. EVERY teenager needs to read this. I can usually get my staunches non-readers all the way through this book because they CANNOT PUT IT DOWN.

When I see this, I think of the young lady who made it. She did not like to read. She was a very slow reader, as evidenced by the lines she made in the book to mark her stopping points (ugh!!!). She completely adored this book and told me constantly that I needed to read it when she finished. I did, and it made her day when she saw it on my desk, bookmark in place. To know that I was reading something SHE had recommended went miles toward healing what had been a strained student-teacher relationship. She came back to see me on her last day (she left for a trip a few days before school was officially over). I will forever love this young lady!

My students cannot put these books down (there’s a set of three), and I always seem to “lose” one or more of them during a school year. They relate to the setting and the characters’ problems. Although I’ve never read these books, I’ve heard that they are raw and very, very real. This young lady redid her project because she didn’t like the first version and didn’t want to show less than her best work when it was placed under the document camera for her presentation.

The student who read this book was one I never quite managed to connect with despite my various attempts…a fact that makes me very sad. He, as you can see, is a gifted artist. He was very, very intelligent and could analyze a book, its characters, and its various themes. He really liked this book. I need to buy it for my classroom.

Another Allison van Diepen book. Her books NEVER sit on my bookshelves. If you’ve never read her, please do. Follow her on Twitter. She is one of the nicest ladies ever and one I’m trying to find a way to have come down here to speak to my students.

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The Future of Us – A Book Review

Posted on April 12, 2012 by auburnchick

Last night, I finished reading The Future of Us, by Jay Asher and Carolyn Mackler…

A few things drew me to this book.

First of all, its main characters are high schoolers.

I’m all about young adult fiction these days.

The second thing that drew me was the theme of the book…what do you do when you catch a glimpse of your future?

The book takes place in 1996.  It tells the story of two best friends, Emma and Josh.  Their friendship hit a snag six months before when Josh makes a move on his best friend, wanting to escalate the relationship beyond friend status.

When Emma is given a new computer, Josh walks over with an AOL CD he received in the mail (remember those days?).  He’s not allowed to install it on his computer because his parents don’t believe in making the internet available at will.  Emma’s mom is supportive though, figuring it will help Emma with her homework.

After Emma signs on to AOL for the first time, she sees another window and is asked for her password.

She enters the one she uses for everything and…VOILA…she’s taken to a blue and white screen with the word “Facebook” at the top.

Remember that it’s 1996, and Facebook hasn’t been invented yet.

She doesn’t understand what she’s seeing…at first has no idea what the status updates are about; however, it doesn’t take her long to figure things out.

She gets a peek at who she’s married to and who she’s friends with (not to mention who she’s NOT friends with).

Out of curiosity, she looks up Josh’s name, and finds out he’s married and has children.

She and Josh temporarily mend their friendship as they wade through the waters uncertainty and fear while figuring out why their futures keep changing each day.

Through the process, they discover a lot about their present-day selves.

My Thoughts

First off the bat, I loved all of the references to pop culture from the 90’s.  Emma runs with a Discman strapped to her arm.  How funny, eh?  To access the internet, you had to use dial-up, tying up the phone line (boy do I remember that!!).  Emma has to go to the library to get a phone book with California phone numbers (as opposed to going to Whitepages.com).  The mere mention of Wayne’s World, which I never saw, made me giggle.  I also had to chuckle when I read that one of the boys had a beeper and had to find a pay phone to call his girlfriend when she beeped him.  Oh, and there was no LOL back then.  LOL!

Now to the less-superficial part of my review.

I had made the mistake of taking a peek at some of the reviews on GoodReads.com, a site where I keep track of my books.

Some of the people were in disbelief at how shallow Emma comes across and how the characters don’t have much depth.

I am a teacher…

Of high school students.

I’ve seen how ridiculously shallow kids can be.

Heck…I remember what it was like to be a teenager.

Teaching school has taken me back to the angst that accompanies these drama-filled years.

Here’s the thing, though.

Emma GROWS during the time she’s allowed to look into the future.

She discovers things about herself that some people never figure out during their lives.

Josh learns a few lessons along the way as well; however, he is much more grounded than Emma.

I flew through this book.  I couldn’t wait to read about what Emma was going to do next to try to change her future.

I made predictions along the way.

I kept thinking about how much my students would relate to this book with so much of their lives yet to live.

I think this book sends a good message about how the decisions we make today impact our futures.

I think the book also provides a strong warning to not obsess about the future but to enjoy the moment and trust your instincts.

As I closed the cover on this book last night, I couldn’t help but think about my own children as they face their own unwritten futures…unwritten but not unknown to the Lord.

My babies are going to ask some of the same hard questions of themselves, and they’re going to want to look into the future to try to make decisions easier.

Knowing wouldn’t help though as we’d only try to avoid doing those things that would shape our futures the most.

Overall, although I wouldn’t go to this book if I wanted to get down and dirty with the brain thinking thing, it was a pleasure to read, and it’s been fun to chew on some of the questions that the book makes you ask of yourself.

I think it would make a great addition to any young adult’s library.

Filed under: Books, Teaching | Tagged: , , , , | 1 Comment »

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