Slice of Life is sponsored every Tuesday by Stacey and Ruth from Two Writing Teachers. For the month of March we are challenging ourselves to write a Slice A Day
Saturday
was a great day. A relaxing day, even. I had the chance to catch up with a
friend while she highlighted my hair – covering as much grey as possible. J I
caught up on Twitter. Drove to Champaign and back for groceries. Listened to an
audio book. Made dinner. And it was in doing those last two items – at the same
time – that I paused. Smiled.
See, I
was listening to The Graveyard Book,
written and recorded by Neil Gaiman. I read the first twenty or so pages of
this book when it came out back in 2008. I got through the man named Jack
killing the parents, the sister, Bod heading for the graveyard. The mother, as
a ghost, pleading with the ghosts in the graveyard to take care of her son.
Jack, the murderer, stalking towards Bod and the ghosts. I got that far and
slammed the book shut. At the time Luke was six, Liam was three. I couldn’t
help but put them in the shoes of the children in the book. I just couldn’t
read it. Several students over the years have read it, telling me it was a great book. I still hesitated. And then John Schumacher and Colby Sharp had to go start the Newbery Challenge – or Nerdbery – and I always looked ahead at this book, dreading it. How wrong I was.
I LOVED The Graveyard Book. Loved Silas, the Owens, Bod – all of the kooky characters he meets. I was captivated by Gaiman’s reading of the book, absolutely perfect. (An aside, I kept picturing him as Silas. I hope when they cast the role of Silas in the film I’m not disappointed.) I am so grateful to #nerdbery and John and Colby for forcing me to read this.
As I
finished up making dinner – in tears – as my audio ended as well, I thought
about both my book and my dinner. I had only given this book a second chance
because two people I admire had challenged me to do so. I had changed my plans for dinner that night because
another person I admire had made the same dish. While I’ve never had Teri’s
cooking, I love the way she thinks. I saw her post, thought something like another good idea, Teri, wrote down the
ingredients and was off. This made me pause; I’m thirty-nine years old and
still influenced by the people around me. I still turn to them for advice, for
recommendations. Do my students do the same?
When
holding some reading conferences on Thursday I often asked, Who do you get book recommendations from?
Number one answer was me. And while I love that they listen to me, they still
need to turn to each other. I’ve been working on this all year. John and Colby
are my peers – Teri too. I want my students to see their peers as a source of
book recommendations. Something I’ve been thinking about ever since seeing
Donalyn Miller present material from her new book, Reading in the Wild.
I think
when I return to school on Tuesday I will share my experience from Saturday
with my students. The idea of giving a book a second chance, and looking to our
peers for recommendations – whether it is in regard to books or what you are
having for dinner. Our role models are all around us. I’m glad I listened to
mine.
