• Home
  • Style Guides
  • Blog
  • Author Index
  • About
  • Recipes
  • Subscribe
READING STYLE GUIDE

You've Got a Friend

6/26/2017

0 Comments

 

Real Friends by Shannon Hale and LeUyen Pham

Picture
Ah, the pain and drama experienced by young girls growing up! The Tween years mark a time of leaving the structure and familiarity of family life and routines. It's a time when a girl is trying to fit in and to simultaneously discover her identity.  Life for these young women can become a minefield loaded with unexpected angst. Girls often find themselves thrust into a world of cliques, bullying, and vicious exclusionary tactics.  Shannon Hale's memoir recounts her pain-filled struggle to find her place in the bizarre world of preadolescence.
As a young child living in a large family, Shannon is often considered the timid one. Her neighbor Adrienne remains her best friend. When she enters school, the friendship dynamic began to shift. In the classroom and on the playground, new alliances are formed, leaving Shannon feeling confused and often excluded. A nucleus of her schoolmates becomes known as "the group". Shannon's joy in imaginative play and self-expression is at odds with the decision-makers of "the group." 
​​Hales' anxiety over the situation begins to manifest itself with increasing stomach aches and repetitive coping mechanisms. She also grapples with a complicated sibling relationship. Shannon eventually decides to leave "the group." Later she finds new friends who accept and appreciate her.
LeUyen Pham's realistic style is reminiscent of Raina Telgemeier. It is revealing to observe the progresion of changes as Shannon grows from a child into a middle school student. Dark panels are particularly effective in invoking the gloomy periods in Hales' young life.
Anyone who has felt different, been excluded, or questioned their self-worth will identify with Shannon Hales' personal journey to find herself and discover her Real Friends.

Let's Be Friends

Raina, Shannon, Astrid, Abby, and Jun: I absolutely adore each and every main character in this selection of graphic novels featuring girls in middle grades. They are more than characters in books. They are real girls with real life issues. While my specific circumstances may have been a bit different, I can relate to the desire to find a place among like-minded peers: to be valued and included within a circle of friends.
Below is a book display featuring some of these middle school protagonists.
I used a paper doll template, available with a variety of hair and skin tones. It can be downloaded free from Kiki & Company. With a wee bit of paper scraps and markers I created an arrangement featuring some of these young heroines.
Get ready for an onslaught of book requests and obtain multiple copies of each title. This Middle Grade Girl Up display will send these graphic novels to flying off the shelves and into the hearts of young readers everywhere.
Picture

Friendship Bracelets

Taking a second look at friendship bracelets, a story element in Chiggers:
Picture
Picture
Two young friends spent several hours creating braided thread friendship bracelets. After braiding string got boring, it was time to move on to Sunburst wrappers. These adornments were a bit more time-consuming, but the girls decided that they were worth the effort. The bonus is, of course...candy! Try this tutorial to create one bracelet to share and one to keep.

Companion Books
or You Can Never Have Too Many Friends

There are many excellent books that portray the struggles of young girls moving away from childhood.  Several of these stories use the graphic novel format, allowing the reader to experience in both visual and text format the pains of discovering true friendship and finding oneself.  Here are a few books to get you started.
Picture
Picture
Real Friends
​by Shannon Hale and LeUyen Pham

Since childhood, Shannon and Adrienne have been best friends. But that is about to change when Shannon discovers "the group."
Picture
Picture
War at Ellsmere
​by Faith Erin Hicks
Jun has been awarded a scholarship at a prestigious girls' boarding school. She meets Cassie, who helps her cope with the life at Ellsmere.
Picture
Picture
​Roller Girl
by Victoria Jamieson

Astrid has done everything with her best friend Nicole until...  Astrid falls in love with roller derby and Nicole decides that she loves dance. Can their friendship survive their markedly different interests? 
Picture
Picture
Chiggers
​by Hope Larson​
Abby is back at summer camp. But it's not the same. Her friend Rose is a cabin assistant. The new girl Shasta is different from the others. Can Abby built a friendship with this unusual girl?


Picture
Picture
Smile
​by Raina Telgemeier

​Life changes for Raina when she trips and falls, severely injuring her two front teeth. She must endure a long and painful series of dental procedures as she navigates the bewildering world of middle school. Will she ever smile again?
Play the "Who said that?" game. Select quotations spoken by the main character in each book. Can you match the quotation with the girl who said it? Sometimes it can be quite tricky to select the correct attribution for the quote. Have copies of books handy to verify the answers.
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Author/Illustrator Index
    Get the latest updates delivered directly to you inbox:

    powered by TinyLetter

    Category

    All
    Activity Books
    Adventure
    Alphabet Books
    Animals
    Anthology
    Art
    Asian
    Audiobook
    Author-interview
    Author-profile
    Awards
    Bilingual
    Biography
    Black Lives
    Board Books
    Book Awards
    Book-club
    Book Stores
    Book Trailers
    Classroom Connections
    Comics
    Coming Of Age
    Cosplay
    Creativity
    Diversity
    Early Readers
    Fairy Tale
    Family
    Fantasy
    Food
    Friendship
    Girls
    Grahic Novel
    Halloween
    Historical Fiction
    Horror
    Humor
    Immigration
    Informational Books
    Latinx
    LGBTQ
    Library Activities
    Literacy
    Magical Realism
    Maker
    Math
    Memoir
    Middle Grade
    Music
    Mystery
    Mythology
    Nonfiction
    Own Voices
    Picture Book
    Poetry
    Prose-and-comic
    Read Aloud
    Reading
    Reading Writing Connection
    Realistic Fiction
    Romance
    Self Acceptance
    Series
    Social Issues
    Sports
    STEM
    Storytelling
    Texas Connection
    The Margin Project
    Wordless
    YA Lit

    Archives

    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015

    Barbara Moon

    I like talking about books and  interesting ideas. I like thinking about how books affect my life. Not particularly interested in giving out stars or in rating books. 

    Audio Publishers Association
    2013, - present  Audies judge 
    American Library Association Book Awards and Lists 
    ​2017 YALSA Award Nominating Committee
    2016 Excellence in Nonfiction 
    2014 Margaret Edwards Award
    2012 Odyssey Awards.  
    2009, 2010, 2011 Great Graphic Novels for Teens.

    Professional Reader
    Picture
    Frequently Auto-Approved

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.