Child Development
Title: A Walk to Remember
Author: Nicholas Sparks
Publisher: Random House
ISBN: 0-375-72800-7
Review: Set in a small southern town in the summer of 1958, A Walk to Remember is a timeless story of high school teens and the joy of young love. Landon Carter, the rich guy-school jock, is taken back when he discovers his own enter feelings toward Jamie, a shy somewhat out-of-fashion student. In every high school there is a “Landon” and there is a “Jamie”. It is just not often they get together and the depth of the human heart is discovered through the relationship. This is a story to remember. Be prepared to have the tissue ready!
Because the book is brief, you may want to read it aloud to the class. It is divided into chapters enabling the reader to stop until the next oral reading session. The students will be left hanging with great anticipation for the story to be continued.
Suggested Questions/Discussion Points:
1. List the beliefs/values most likely held by Landon Carter prior to the school play? First weeks following the play? At the end of the school year?
2. List the beliefs/values held by Jamie Sullivan? Did she change her basic beliefs/values during A Walk to Remember?
3. Compare/contrast the relationships each (Landon and Jamie) had with their fathers.
- Explore the life long impact of this “young love” relationship upon Landon.
- Reflect on how friends and family members had a change of heart in A Walk to Remember. Why did this occur? Could it have been lasting changes? Must there be a catastrophic event do effect change?
- Conduct a survey on how the students think the story ended. Did Jamie live? Did she die at a young age? How do they want it to end? Why didn’t the author continue the story?
- Do a background search on the book and author. What motivated him to write this story?
Follow Up: In 2002, Warner Brothers produced a film version of A Walk to Remember (rated PG). If your school permits, the film could be shown after the book has been read. The students should compare/contrast the book and the movie.
Title: I Am David
Author: Anne Holm
Publisher: Harcourt, Inc.
ISBN: 0-15-205161-9
Review: David at twelve years of age escaped from a Bulgarian labor camp. From his earliest memories he has been a prisoner of the camp; therefore, functioning alone in the world outside of confinement was a daily, almost moment-by-moment, trial. Issues of trust loom large and complicate every aspect of living—food, shelter, and clothing.
Upon his escape, David was provided a compass, a piece of bread, and vague directions to seek refuge in Denmark by a guard who aided his leaving. David’s strong will and wisdom, which had been nurtured by an adult prisoner, were discovered by him throughout the journey, and provided him with the tenacity to move forward.
Suggested Questions/Discussion Points:
1. How does the time period in which David lived make this a believable story?
2. Would the story have been set in today’s world?
3. Was it environmental factors or genetics that effected David’s facial expression and eyes?
- Reflect upon David’s impressions of the first home in which he was invited to enter.
- Is play a learned or a natural (innate) behavior?
- Conduct a survey on how the students think the story ended. Did David and his mother immediately pick up life? Did they each have adjustment difficulties? Why didn’t the author continue the story? Have the students continue the story either by telling or writing an ending.
- Do a background search on the book, author, and the time period.
- Research post World War II Labor Camps in Eastern Europe.
Follow Up: In 2004, Lions Gate Films produced I Am David (rated PG). If your school permits, the film could be shown after the book has been read. Allow the students to compare and contrast the book and movie. Why were certain aspects completely changed in the movie from the author’s depiction? Which ending do the students prefer, the book or the film? Did the film cast mirror your mental image of the characters in the book?
Educational websites are available for the book and film. Go to http://www.walden.com/walden/read/david/index.php and/or www.iamdavidmovie.com/.
Title: Reviving Ophelia: Saving the Selves of Adolescent Girls
Author: Mary Pipher
Publisher: Ballantine Books, 1994
ISBN: 0345392825
Watch Mary Pipher, the author, on youtube.comv=ovrtjv28p58. In this video clip she discusses the reason for writing the book.
Review: Using case studies, the author touches on challenges girls face during the adolescent years. Mary Pipher shares her thinking with parents, educators, health and mental-health professionals, policymakers, and anyone whose lives involve teenage girls. “Many of us are doing things our mothers never dreamed of doing. But girls today are much more oppressed. They are coming of age in a more dangerous, sexualized and media-saturated culture. They face incredible pressures to be beautiful and sophisticated, which in junior high means using chemicals and being sexual. As they navigate a more dangerous world, girls are less protected.” This quote, taken from Reviving Ophelia, is an expression of describing how adolescent girls are living in a whole new world that is ever-changing. One’s wholeness may become shattered by adolescence, and self-esteem, peer pressure, health issues, body growth and hormonal changes are the elements that make up the formula of this era.
Suggested Questions/Discussion Points:
1. What factors do adolescent girls face in today’s society?
2. What can families and professionals do to foster resiliency in adolescent girls?
Focus on case studies below. Read the studies from the book either orally or assign portions as silent reading. Have students write thoughts and discuss thoughts in class.
SELF-ESTEEM – June
Self-esteem, the evaluative side of one’s self-concept, differentiates within the adolescent years. June’s story is one that is uncommon under the circumstances. Her mother’s death left her with a father who was ashamed of her size and appearance, and a step-mother who was too stingy to allow her to wash her hair but once a week. June was basically alone in her adolescent years: she walked to school, ate lunch, and worked on school projects by herself. She was rejected at home and at school. These situations would more often than not lead to low self-esteem. When asked how she managed to survive, it was the remembrance of her mother’s love and how she would have wanted her to behave. This story gives hope that people overcome issues of low self-esteem.
PEER PRESSURE – Polly
As a young child Polly was full of life, exuberant, tomboyish and adventurous. This is totally acceptable for a young girl to act this way at this age; however, when adolescence hits the frillier part of being a girl comes into play and peer pressure can take its toll. Polly was the Tom Sawyer of her peers, which was fine. Then, she started junior high and became confused and shaky because her previous behavior was no longer acceptable in the eyes of her “friends.” Instead of maintaining her true identity, she quieted down, and reentered as Becky Thatcher. Polly bowed to the pressure of her peers and suppressed her true self-being. Peer pressure is one of the most common issues adolescence.
HEALTH ISSUES & BODY GROWTH – Heidi
Nutritional requirements increase as the body grows, and this increase comes when the diets are the poorest for many young people. Adolescents are likely to consume empty calories. Heidi is one teenage girl who has issues with her body image and suffers from bulimia nervosa. Heidi seems to be a perfectionist when it comes to her gymnastic abilities. Her face glistens when she talks about the subject. However, her coach has weekly weigh-ins where team members count each other’s ribs, and if they are hard to count then the girl is in trouble. This action would lead one to try anything to perfect their body image, but now that Heidi is a bulimic, she will suffer from body growth issues as well.
HORMONAL CHANGES – Monica
All adolescent females encounter hormonal changes, which may cause confusion about self and acceptance of the physical changes of the body. Failure to know how to cope with all the alterations generally results in depression, which is what Monica is dealt. Monica’s mild case of depression has many manifestations. Some young women become sluggish, and apathetic, others angry and hate-filled. Monica has a high IQ, and describes herself as a “pimply whale.” Monica’s depression is categorized under peer-relation: failure to interact with her peers. She handled her depression through counseling and physical activity, which helped her have a healthier body and a more positive self-image.
Title: The Giver
Author: Lois Lowry
Publisher: Bantan Book
ISBN: 0-553-57133-8
Review: The world is near perfect, and if and when a mishap occurs, adjustments are swiftly and quickly made to right the imbalance. This is the world into which Jonas is birthed and reared. By age 12, children begin intensive training for careers that have been pre-selected for them by a committee who take all care to place each into the best suited life work for them. Jonas was selected to receive training to become The Giver. The Giver’s role is most revered because he alone holds all memories of what life was like prior to the existence of the “perfect” world. His memories include all things bad and all things good. Jonas and the elderly The Giver, who is training him by passing on the memories, take action that was even unforeseen by the elderly statesperson.
Suggested Questions/Discussion Points:
- What advantages/disadvantages would there be to having wise people making decisions for you?
- Explain why there was contentment among the children upon receiving their work assignments?
- Imagine a world without feelings pain, sorrow.
- Even though people enjoyed each other (children playing together, the adults being together in family units) true love did not seem to exist. Would you like such a world.
- Conduct a survey on how the students think the story ended.
- Did Jonas and The Giver make the right choice?
- Do a background search on the book and author.
Follow Up:
Before reading or assigning this text, please know there are a few disturbing scenes (1) Jonas witnesses his father euthanizing a baby by injecting it with a needle in the head, (2) there are mild sexual references, and (3) the world of sameness may be upsetting to some children.
Title: A Boy Called “It”
Author: Dave Pelzer
Publisher: Health Communications, Inc., Deerfield Beach, FL
ISBN: 1-55874-366-9
Review:
This book is an autobiographical account of Dave Pelzer’s early childhood. It is an unforgettable story of one of the most severe cases of child abuse and neglect in the history of California. Dave Pelzer was brutally beaten and starved at the hands of his mother while his father, brothers, and family members stood by and did nothing. In the early years of Dave’s life his family was seemingly normal as he recounts pleasurable memories of good times and fun vacations describing his family as the “Brady Bunch.” Then suddenly his life is turned upside down as his emotionally unstable and alcoholic mother began to deny him access to food, played games of torture and abuse with him, and banished him to the basement to live with little contact with his father or brothers. At a very young age Dave developed the will to live and the struggle of the pain he endured and his fight to live is a beautiful illustration of resiliency in the face of adversity. The outside world knew little of his abuse and torture when little by little his teachers, school nurse, and the school officials began to suspect the abuse this young boy was enduring. Finally, when Dave was in the fifth grade he was handed over to police authorities and “set free” from his abusive mother and home life.
Suggested Questions/Discussion Points:
- In the first chapter Dave describes his parents as “perfect” and daily life as “sprinkled with magic.” What activities did he and his family participate in? How does his descriptions of his early life relate to what you have studied about development in early childhood?
- What do you think happened to Dave’s mother? Why did she turn on him and not the other children in the family?
- What kind of relationship did Dave have with his father? His brothers? Why do you think his father and brothers just stood by and watched the abuse, but did nothing?
- What were some of the signs and symptoms of abuse that Dave showed that the school system should have picked up on earlier?
- Describe the different kinds of emotional abuse that Dave suffered? Physical abuse? What kind of long term effects would these types of abuse have on a child’s life?
- What do you think enabled Dave to become so determined to survive and not “give into” his mother?
- What are your thoughts about Dave’s comments in the epilogue of this book?
Title: When Zachary Beaver Came to Town
Author: Kimberly Willis Holt
Publisher: Laurel Leaf
ISBN: 0440238412
Review: Prior to the summer of 1971, Toby Wilson’s life appeared rather ordinary. He and his best friend Cal liked to roam the small town of Antler, Texas where they live, escaping the summer heat at Wiley Womack’s snow cone stand and dreaming about girls like Scarlette Stalling. But everything changes when Toby’s mother leaves home for good; Wayne McKnight, Cal’s older brother, is killed in Vietnam; and Zachary Beaver, the fattest boy in the world, enters town. At first. Toby and Cal are disgusted when they meet all 643 pounds of Zachary Beaver, but when Zachary is left alone by his guardian, Paulie Rankin, the boys befriend him and learn important lessons about the power of friendship.
Suggested Questions/Discussion Points:
- Examine Toby’s friendships and discuss how they affect him. Define friendship; explain what it means to have friends and what character traits you value in your friends. What traits do you possess that make you a friend to others?
- Toby’s dad tells him, “You are a lucky person if you go through life and have one person need you.” (p. 195) Do you agree with this statement? Why or why not? Give examples from the book and your own life to support your belief about the validity of this statement.
- People all over Texas pay $2 to see Zachary, then make fun of him and ask him rude questions about how much he eats. Have you ever made fun of somebody or called him or her names? How did that make you feel? Has anybody ever made fun of you? How did it make you feel? Why do people make fun of others? What benefit do they derive from this? What is the Golden Rule, and how could it be applied to this situation?
- Toby and Cal both suffer loss, but they handle it differently. What factors contribute to the way they deal with their grief? Do they go thorough the five stages of grief---denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance? Have you or has someone you know lost someone special? Was the experience similar and did you or the person you know share the same emotions? How do you think you would handle what happened to Toby and Cal?
- How do Cal and Toby’s encounter with Zachary help them decide what kind of friends and what kind of people they want to become?
- Through Zachary’s move to Antler, the author shows several ways people learn to live with and to like strangers. What are some of those ways? Have you ever had an encounter with a stranger that changed your life? How have you dealt with new kids at school, at church, or in your neighborhood? Have you ever been the new kid? How were you treated? How did you feel about how you were treated?
- Even though they are best friends, Toby and Cal keep secrets from each other. Why do the boys keep secrets from each other? Is it ever all right to tell a secret? Does keeping secrets hurt other people?
- When Toby and Cal first meet Zachary, they think he is rude, selfish, and not worth getting to know. What changes their perspective? Why are they willing to take risks to help Zachary? Does Zachary appreciate what Cal and Toby do for him? Have you ever changed your opinion about a person after getting to know him or her?
Book review and questions adapted from www.teenreads.com
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