Point-Driven Readers

by Emelio
Next Monday, the 7th grade class gets a real treat: award-winning Seattle-based author Tae Keller is visiting to talk about her most recent book, Jennifer Chan Is Not Alone. We’ve been reading this book as a class for a few weeks now, and we just finished on Wednesday! The book is a riveting portrayal of middle-school bullying and toxic friendship. The story follows a mixed-race girl, tangled in confusion about who she is and whether she’s a good person, who is complicit in the bullying and who is trying to make amends while figuring out what her place is in the universe (literally, kind of). In class, we’ve been talking about how mature readers are point-driven readers – they constantly monitor what they read for meaning. To that end, we’ve been talking about the patterns that an author stitches into the tapestry of their writing, and how when we monitor those patterns we can better articulate ideas about theme and character development. 

I think it’s safe to say that the whole class was affected by the way the novel ended, and especially Tae Keller’s author’s note at the end of the book. So how lucky are we that we can extend our conversation about this book with the woman who wrote it?! 

Also, we’re psyched to show off our handmade TAE KELLER EARRINGS and very much impress our special visitor :) Inset: Naomi models the Jennifer Chan earrings!