Mrs. Dolinka's Read-Alouds

Today I'll read some excerpts from Jacqueline Woodson's Brown Girl Dreaming, which is a fascinating memoir because it's actually written in verse. That means it's structured more like poetry, which is rare for a memoir. Brown Girl Dreaming is a beautiful, poetic book, and if you like these excerpts, I encourage you to read the whole book. Since it's important to look at the structure of this memoir-in-verse, I recommend that you follow along here as I read to you today.

"Muffin" is a unique memoir because it's told from the third-person perspective about a classmate of the author. The author uses her classmate's story to illustrate how life in England was affected by World War II. If you are writing about a bigger time period (like COVID-19, for example) and are struggling to "write small" because there is just so much to talk about, this is a great memoir to listen to. 

"Why I Never Ran Away From Home," by Katherine Paterson, is a really sweet memoir about growing up in the shadow of your older siblings. If you have siblings, love The Wizard of Oz, or have ever felt a little out of place, you will love this short story. 

Today's memoir is called "The Great Rat Hunt," by Laurence Yep. It's a beautiful and funny story about growing up, feeling inadequate at sports, race, and a boy's relationship with his father. As you listen, pay attention to how the memoir is organized. As opposed to other memoirs we've read that begin with reflection/analysis and then tell the story, this memoir has those reflections sprinkled throughout the narrative. It's a really powerful technique that helps you empathize with the author--almost like you ARE the author--because you hear his story and feel his feelings throughout. 

I thought it would be fun to read some memoirs to you so that you have more examples to inspire you as you write your own. This first memoir is called "All-Ball" by Mary Pope Osborne. As you listen, consider the powerful symbolism of All-Ball. What does All-Ball represent to Mary? 

I always love learning about the author and their writing process. I find this "back of the book stuff" to be particularly interesting! Give it a listen. 

Today we will finish The Thing About Jellyfish. We'll read all of Part Seven: "What If?," "The Only Thing That Ever Made Sense," "Any Other Kid," "What Remains," and "Heroes and Villains." After you listen, let me know what you thought about the ending and whether you liked the book overall! 

Today, we'll read all of Part 6: "Immortality," "To Australia," "Sit," and "She Made It." Listen to find out what happens on Suzy's trip! 

Today, we'll finally finish Part 5, the longest part of the book! The chapters I'll read are called, "Goodbye, Ming Palace," "Tuesday, 3 PM," "Wednesday," "Goodbye, Home," "Phone Call," and "Endings." It's a bit long, but I wanted to finish up this section today. Feel free to split up your listening over the weekend, if you'd like! 

This is the fourth section of Part 5, which includes the following chapters: "Deadline," "Instant Calm," "How to Plan Your Escape," "Spare Change," "Goodbye, Thor," and "How to Say Goodbye." Listen to find out all about Suzy's plan, and to witness a cute interaction between Suzy and Justin. 

Today, I'll read the third section of Part 5: "The Worst Kind of Silence," "Two Day's Silence," "And Then More Silence," "What I Don't Want to Talk About," "Things Are Closer Than They Appear," and "Bridget Brown." I can't wait to hear your predictions after you listen! What is Suzy going to do?!

We'll continue reading Part 5 of The Thing About Jellyfish today! The chapters I'm reading are called: "Terribly Wrong," "Even More Wrong," "Venom," "Look at Me," and "Pollination." A lot of change is described in this section. As you read, start thinking about some of the changes you are experiencing in your own life. You don't need to respond to me (unless you want to!), but it's an interesting thing to reflect about. 

Part Five of The Thing About Jellyfish begins with the chapters, "Stronger Than Us," "Imagine a Creature," and "How to Send a Message." Listen to hear how Suzy's presentation goes and to find out more about Suzy's plan to send a message to Franny. It's pretty gross! After listening, let me know what you think about how Suzy is acting. Is she right? Wrong? Somewhere in between?

To wrap up Part Four, I'll read three chapters: "How to Lose a Friend," "Taking Over," and "How to Not Forget." After listening, let me know if you have any predictions for what will happen next. What do you think Suzy did to send Franny a message? 

In this section, I'll read four chapters: "Face-to-Face," "Millions of Things to Learn," "How to Know Things Have Changed," and "Zombie Ants." After you listen, let me know what you think of the book so far! 

Enjoy listening to the first four chapters of Part 4: "Blooms," "How to Drift Apart," "A Click, Then Silence," and "How to Get Things Wrong." It's a long section, so there's no question for thought at the end. 

To finish up Part Three, I'm reading four chapters today: "How to Make a Promise," "Experts #2 and #3," "How to Not Say Something Important," and "Crazy Brave." Notice that all of the "How to" chapters are the ones in which Suzy shares her memories in the present tense, as if she's speaking directly to Franny as the memories are occurring. As you listen to those chapters, pay attention to the writing style. I encourage you to try out that writing style on your own today! Try writing about one of your memories, writing in the present tense and second-person point of view, as if you're speaking directly to someone who was there. Have fun with it! Share your writing with me if you'd like so I can give you some feedback. 

In this section, I read three more chapters: "Dumb Old Words," "Expert #1," and "Mote of Dust." Enjoy! On Monday, I'll finish reading Part Three. 

Part Two is just one chapter, "Best Educated Guess," so I started reading Part 3 as well. I read three chapters: "Early Life," "How to Have a Friend," and "Dr. Legs." It's really interesting to pay attention to tense in this book, and how the tense shifts in different parts of the story. Notice how some parts are told in past tense and others are told in present tense. Why the shift? What effect do you think it has on you as a reader? 

In this episode, I'll read three chapters: "Invisible," "How to Make a Friend," and "150 Million Stings." There are some really interesting author's moves in this section. One is that the author alternates between telling Suzy's story in the first person perspective and flashing back to Suzy's memory moments, in which she speaks directly to her friend in the second person ("The first time I see you..."). Another interesting author's move is the way she uses numbers in a really powerful way. Listen to this section and then share a bit about what you think of these author's moves. What effect do they have on the story, or on you as a reader? 

Chapter 2 of The People of Sparks is called, "Out from Below." It describes the chaos that occurred when the people of Ember were trying to leave the city. After you listen, respond to the Question for Thought by clicking on the Message button and recording a voice memo. The question is: how is the description of the way the people left Ember similar or different from what you had originally visualized when you thought about the people leaving? 

Here is a sneak preview of The Thing About Jellyfish, by Ali Benjamin. It's realistic fiction and a beautiful book with some mature themes, like coping with grief. Be sure to cast your vote for our next read-aloud novel once you finish listening to this sneak preview! 

For our next book “sneak preview,” I’ll read the first few chapters of a book called Wishtree (the chapters are really short!). Wishtree is written by Katherine Applegate, who also wrote The One and Only Ivan. It’s a beautiful story told from a really unique perspective.

Chapter 17 is titled, "Away." Will Lina and Doon make it to the Pipeworks and take the boat into the river? Listen to find out! Make sure you listen to the end of the episode to hear what today's Questions for Thought are. 

Let's see if your predictions came true! Will Lina and Doon find the way out of Ember? Today, we'll listen to Chapter 14, "The Way Out." Listen all the way to the end of today's episode for a creative "Question for Thought" assignment on describing everyday objects. 

The title of this chapter is “A Dreadful Discovery.” Listen to find out what that discovery is! Today’s Questions for Thought are: What are your reactions to the discoveries that Lina and Doon have made? Can you make any connections between what we are seeing in Ember and what we’re seeing in the world recently? Record your response as a “Message” on Anchor! I’ll feature some of your responses in tomorrow’s read-aloud podcast.

In this episode, I'll finish reading chapter 11 of City of Ember.  Question to Think About: Do you agree with Lina or Lizzie? Why?