fiction Archives - Page 654 of 666

Night on Fire
by Ronald Kidd (Author)

Booktalk: Thirteen-year-old Billie Simms doesn’t think her hometown of Anniston, Alabama, should be segregated, but few of the town’s residents share her opinion. As equality spreads across the country and the Civil Rights Movement gathers momentum, Billie can’t help but feel stuck–and helpless–in a stubborn town too set in its ways to realize that the world is passing it by. So when Billie learns that the Freedom Riders, a group of peace activists riding interstate buses to protest segregation, will be traveling through Anniston on their way to Montgomery, she thinks that maybe change is finally coming and her quiet little town will shed itself of its antiquated views. But what starts as a series of angry grumbles soon turns to brutality as Anniston residents show just how deep their racism runs.

The Freedom Riders will resume their ride to Montgomery, and Billie is now faced with a choice: stand idly by in silence or take a stand for what she believes in. Through her own decisions and actions and a few unlikely friendships, Billie is about to come to grips with the deep-seated prejudice of those she once thought she knew, and with her own inherent racism that she didn’t even know she had.

Snippet: One day in the spring of 1961, my street was the center of the world.

People read about it in newspapers and watched it on TV. They heard about it on NBC, the BBC, and Radio Moscow. The president held meetings. The FBI investigated.

Six Traits Mini Lesson

Traits: Voice The opening line of this young adult novel makes it clear that story is being told in first person.

One day in the spring of 1961, my street was the center of the world.

The words “I,” “me,” and “my” are the clues we need to figure out that a story is being told by a first person narrator–and this story takes place on:

my street

This opening sentence stands alone as the first paragraph. The four sentences in the second paragraph fill in the details. They back up the narrator’s claims.

People read about it in newspapers and watched it on TV. They heard about it on NBC, the BBC, and Radio Moscow. The president held meetings. The FBI investigated.

The words “I” or “me” or “my” are not in the second paragraph, but that doesn’t change the voice of the story. Thirteen-year-old Billie Simms is the narrator and she is telling her story.

Story characters use the words “I,” “me,” and “my” in their dialogue, but this is NOT dialogue. There aren’t any quotation marks in this excerpt. Billie is not talking to another story character. These words are not spoken aloud.

In this first person story, readers are inside the narrator’s mind. We know what she knows. We see what she sees. Billie will be our tour guide for the duration of her story.

Stormy Night
by Salina Yoon (Author/Illustrator)

Booktalk: When thunder shakes his house and rain pounds the windows, Bear is frightened. But comforting his Mama, Papa, and Floppy helps make the storm seem not so scary. Before Bear knows it, the storm has passed, because even storms need their sleep . . . and so do bears.

Snippet: The wind was whirring, the trees were crackling, and the rain was pounding against the windows.

Six Traits Mini Lesson

Trait: Sentence Fluency Picture books for the preschool age don’t have very many words. As Bear looks out the window on this stormy night, this is the only sentence on this double-paged spread. Bear looks out his bedroom window on the verso (left) page of the spread. On the recto (right) page of the spread, the story text is seen on the outside of the house next to Bear’s window.

Notice the use of threes? The storm is shown in the art and in the words in three different ways.

The wind was whirring,

Young readers can see the wind blowing the trees outside Bear’s window. That’s the first ACTION. Every action leads to a REACTION, one that is shown in the second example:

the trees were crackling

The third example makes the storm complete:

and the rain was pounding against the windows.

TIP: The use of threes in storytelling is a oft-used Western tradition.

Three is considered the perfect number to use in fairy tales, advertising, and public speaking. (Most stories have also three acts!) A pair is not enough and four is a bit too much, but give three examples and the story feels complete.