Thousand Words are Not Enough

We can make assumptions about the lives of today's teenagers based on our own adolescence, but truth be told, we don't have a clue. Technology and its level of instant gratification have changed the landscape of growing up, for better or for worse. In Jennifer Brown's Thousand Words, she explores the wide reaching effects of just how it easy for teens to send the most private and secret parts of themselves out into the world for all to consume.

Ashleigh is worried about her boyfriend going to college. There are girls there. Girls who are much more willing to do things with him than his juvenile, virgin girlfriend back home. Ashleigh is your typical good girl- a jock, a smart kid, and daughter of the superintendent of the school. She never does anything really wrong, but at a party, she lets loose a little. After getting a little buzzed, she spills to her friends all her fears about Kaleb going off to college, and they have a great solution. She should send him a sexy photo to keep him interested. After a little protest, Ashleigh pops up to her friends bedroom and takes the full frontal photo. She sends it off to Kaleb and forgets all about it. Until morning.

All seems well for a while. The photo did its trick and Kaleb seems to be more interested in spending time with Ashleigh than with his buddies. Then he leaves for college and everything changes. When they break up, he promises her he has already deleted the photo from her phone, but after a prank her friends played on him, he does the only thing he can think of to truly retaliate. He sends the photo to everyone he knows. Now Ashleigh is embroiled in a situation that not only affects her entire life, but the lives of every single person around her. 

It is so hard to talk to teens about this very real problem, because as you know, teens are pretty convinced they know everything. You did too, when you were a teen, so don't judge! But also remember it makes a heavy-handed "public service announcement" kind of message to be almost completely useless. Remember those after school specials? How did they work on you? Well, the same goes for the teens of today. Sure lots of things have changed for adolescents today, but some things will never change! 

So how do you write a book about a very real problem in the hopes that kids will read it, digest it, and maybe even talk about it with other kids? You make your characters very real, that's how. And I really believe Brown's characters were a good representation of guys and girls going through these very situations. I am sure there are tons of girls out there suffering the same insecurities and concerns as Ashleigh, watching their boyfriends go off to college and leave them behind. And they may even choose to do the same kinds of things Ashleigh did, from the photo to the jealousy when he is gone, to all the arguments. If you have a any teenage girl out there, your child, your student, etc., get them to read this story. If nothing else, maybe it will at least open the dialogue to just how scary it can be to expose yourself like that for the world, even if you meant it to only go to one person, a person you trust.  Because in the real world, you have to follow one simple rule I always tell my students... Do you want your grandmother or grandfather to see it? If not, then DON'T do it! 

No, My Name is....

What kind of meaning is in a name? Does your name define you or do you make the name? In Also Known as Rowan Pohi by Ralph Fletcher, Bobby Steele would do anything for a new name. And to be honest, he would do anything for a new life while he was at it.

Bobby Steele shares his name with his father, the same man who went to jail for two months for burning his wife's arm with an iron during an argument. Now Bobby's mother has abandoned them, his father barely speaks to him, and his little brother thinks he is an Indian. Life sucks for Bobby Steele... until he and his friends decide to apply to the local upscale private school, Whitestone Academy, with a fake name. The fill out the application as a joke, and even make up a fake recommendation to send off for the recently fabricated student, Rowan Pohi (IHOP spelled backwards), but none of them thought Rowan would be accepted. When he is, Bobby's friends are ready to abandon the joke, but Bobby can't stop thinking about Rowan.

On a whim, Bobby attends Whitestone's new student orientation. There he meets a few people and manages to fend off the admissions office who wants his transcript from Rowan's old school. He even applies for a scholarship, since the financial aid office wants to know where Rowan's tuition check is. As Bobby/Rowan starts school, he struggles a bit with the new caliber of students he attends with- kids with trust funds and summer homes. But quickly he makes a few friends... and a few enemies. Unfortunately, his enemies know his secret, that his name is really Bobby Steele. Can he pull off living as Rowan, or will they rat him out and ruin the first real chance he has ever had for something good in his life?

I often have a hard time finding good middle reader books that aren't too childish. I want them to be well written, a lower reading level, but not condescending to the readers, who may be much older than their reading level would let on. This isn't an easy request to come by. This book fits the bill quite well, though. It has an interesting premise and isn't overly complicated, but it is something kids of a wide variety of ages could relate to. The scenes where Bobby recalls what happened between his parents are pretty intense, but delicately handled.

I really liked Bobby's character. He was likable, but still troubled by his mother's abandonment and blamed his father for her leaving. His father is clearly wracked with guilt, and almost doesn't know how to relate to the son he traumatized. The little brother, though, is the one who seems the most lost. He latched on to the idea that he was Native American as something to obsess about and compensate for his loss. My heart broke for this little boy. Bobby's experiences in the school are interesting, especially because he doesn't pretend to be rich or hide his scholarship- he just hides that he is Bobby Steele, Jr. Son of the man whose face was on the front page of the paper for burning his wife with an iron. This story is short (200 pgs) and simple at first glance, but there is a lot of meat to it. Don't let its size and reading level fool you- this is a book with some depth that will grab readers of any age. I would suggest it for grades 5-12 depending on the strength of your reader.