Our featured author, Mitali Perkins talks about the impact a story of hardship had on her own life and the lives of her children. Whether writing about hunger, divorce, death, or war, we authors hope our stories about tough topics will inspire, heal, and create compassionate readers.
Come along with us as we showcase several books which we expect will touch the readers in your life.
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MITALI PERKINS
Stories are powerful allies as we seek to raise a generation of compassionate children. I remember the moment when I grasped the beauty of sacrificial giving. I was nine years old and befriending Sara Crewe in Frances Hodgson Burnett’s The Little Princess for the first time.
It was the middle of the story, and my heroine had plummeted from wealth to poverty. She was trudging through a snowstorm, hungry and wet, when she actually found a four-penny piece. Oh, how I rejoiced over that find!
As she entered a baker’s shop, though, Sara passed “a little figure more forlorn than herself … with big, hollow, hungry eyes.” She bought four buns and the kind baker added two more. One by one, Sara placed five buns in the other girl’s lap, keeping only one for herself.
I remember being astounded by the gesture because at that point in the story my heart was aching over Sara’s suffering. And now my literary friend had given away the food I had so wanted her to relish! But somehow I knew it was the right thing to do. From that point on, in my travels across the globe, as I encountered children begging on the streets, I would remember that scene in The Little Princess and be stirred to respond.
Years later, I would read The Little Princess aloud to our twins when they were nine. We reached the narrative about Sara giving away those fresh-baked pieces of bread, and my voice quavered a bit, but I powered through to the end of the chapter. The room was quiet with that listening stillness easily recognized by every reading parent or teacher. Looking up, I saw the thoughtfulness in the boys’ expressions and the compassion in their eyes. I didn’t comment, and we moved on. But I knew that once again, Burnett’s powerful story had accomplished its heart-shaping work. We were one step closer to our goal of raising children to change the world.
Mitali Perkins has written ten novels for young readers, including Rickshaw Girl (chosen by the New York Public Library as one of the top 100 books for children in the past 100 years) and Bamboo People (an American Library Association's Top Ten Novels for Young Adults). Her newest novel, Tiger Boy, won the Charlotte Huck Honor Award and the South Asia Book Award.
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NOAH Z. JONES
From Those Shoes by Maribeth Boelts, illustrated by Noah Z. Jones.
"All Jeremy wants is a pair of those shoes, the ones everyone at school seems to be wearing. Though Jeremy’s grandma says they don’t have room for "want," just "need," when his old shoes fall apart at school, he is more determined than ever to have those shoes, even a thrift-shop pair that are much too small. But sore feet aren’t much fun, and Jeremy soon sees that the things he has — warm boots, a loving grandma, and the chance to help a friend — are worth more than the things he wants." Amazon
Please visit Noah's website to see his imaginative illustrations.
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by Joyce Hostetter
Invite students to share some titles of books about tough topics. List those topics on the board. Invite them to mention other difficult topics they'd like to read about. Discuss the pros and cons of exploring painful subjects in literature.
Ask students to choose one of the following writing assignments:
1. Write about a book you've read that helped you through some difficult situation in life. Briefly introduce the book and the main character's dilemma. How did you connect with the problems in the story? How did reading this story affect your life?
2. Write about a fictional character who inspires you because of that character's ability to face a difficult situation. What qualities does that character possess that enable him or her to face their situation? What did the character learn and how did that character grow? What have you learned from this character?
3. Write a story about a fictional character facing a difficult situation. What does your character feel? Give the character several possibilities for how to handle the problems in the story. Remember that stories don't always have to be neatly wrapped up and not all problems need to be solved.
Recognizing that some students may want to guard their privacy, invite students to share their writing with the class. But only if they want to.
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A Teen's Take on Three Books
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Prisoner of Night and Fog
by Anne Blankman
Ever since her father’s sacrificial death for the Reich, Gretchen Muller has been brought under the protection and guidance of Hitler himself. He tells her stories of the magnificent deed accomplished by her father. But after encountering an intelligent Jewish reporter, Gretchen learns that perhaps her father’s death wasn’t everything she’s been told. Working alongside the Jew, Gretchen fights to find out the truth of that fateful day, and slowly, steadily, she sees that perhaps Hitler has been lying to her about more than just the past.
Bamboo People
by Mitali Perkins
Burma is in chaos. For Chiko, that means living without his father, who was taken as a political prisoner months ago. With his mother starving and the rent unpaid, Chiko is desperate to be a man. To protect. The way he promised his father he would. Through a series of trickery and violence, Chiko ends up serving in the Burmese army. He must endure in order to protect his new friend and those ideas his father had cherished so tenderly and gifted to his son. This story of love, forgiveness, and sacrifice strikes to the heart and probes at the mind.
How the Other Half Lives
by Jacob A. Riis
Publicizing solid unflinching facts, author Jacob Riis shows the horror of poverty as it rose in America, particularly in New York City. The suffocating homes, the bare feet, the starving minds. Striking, haunting, and complete with original photographs. These tiny windows into the life of the impoverished not only serve to sober the modern mind, but worked to bring about change, awareness, and reform in the past.
Sydney Kirsch is a young writer, word enthusiast, and story collector who lives in upstate South Carolina. She is the oldest of ten and when she’s not hidden away with a book, she can be found at a piano, teaching historical dance, or singing musicals with her younger siblings. A high school junior, follow her on Twitter @hmskirsch.
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We love to hear from our readers!
You can contact us through the newsletter or individually at the following addresses and websites.
We're also both available for school visits.
Joyce
Carol
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Have you noticed the "Share" button on the top of this newsletter? If you share TALKING STORY either on social media or email it to a friend, we will enter your name in our giveaway. Please email by January 23, tell us what you have done, and your book preference (we try to honor requests) and we will add your name to the hat!
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Send us an
and we'll enter your name to win one of the three books below.
Each will intrigue a young reader in your life.
If you have a book preference, please mention that. We try to honor requests.
Enter by
January 23
(Or better yet, enter right now!)
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Read Carol's review of
(Audio CD)
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Joyce is giving away a copy of either
AIM, BLUE, COMFORT
or HEALING WATER.
(Winner's choice!)
See
to discover what tough topics are covered in these books.
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Picture Books/ Elementary
by Patti Kim
Illustrated by Sonia Sanches
by Margriet Ruur
illustrated by Nizar Ali Badr
by Lois Brandt
Illustrated by Vin Vogel
by Carole Boston Weatherford
Illustrated by R. Gregory Christie
by Eve Bunting
Illustrated by Ronald Himler
Middle and High School
Shaun Tan
Allan Wolf
Holly Thompson
Michaela MacColl
Rosemary Nichols
Karen Harrington
Tanita Davis
Judy Blundell
Russell Freedman
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Carol Baldwin
While writing my first young adult novel, HALF-TRUTHS, I've wrestled with several tough topics: rape, slavery, racism, passing, and marital infidelity. I've done that with the help of experts. Several older African Americans from Charlotte, NC shared their memories of "separate and not equal."
In addition, I've drawn from Allyson Hobb's excellent book,
A CHOSEN EXILE. My book, the story of how a white girl and black girl share the same great-grandfather, is richer as a result of my experts' stories.
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Congratulations to the winners from our Fall issue.
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Michelle Leonard won RADIOACTIVE!
Joy Acey won
AIM.
Dosia Carlson won
THE LAST CHERRY BLOSSOM.
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#MGGetsReal
is a collaborative effort by 5 authors of middle grade novels that deal with tough topics.
Kerry O'Malley Cerra has compiled this
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- Mitali Perkins for being our featured author.
- Noah Jones for his illustration.
- Charlesbridge for TIGER BOY.
- Sydney Kirsch for introducing books.
- Recorded Books for SOLDIER BOYS.
- Joanne Hunsberger for proofreading.
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