(Here is the link to a recording of it, if interested: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9-TnyMaaMcA)
I often times don't like having someone read to me, but I remember we had to listen to this short story and it was the first time I heard a reading that didn't distract from the story. But the recording also made me appreciate hearing the storytelling play out, not being able to accidentally read ahead and get spoilers.
Childhood ruined by reading The Landlady by Roald Dahl [Discussing Literature]
It's one of my favorites because the story seems to end suddenly, but because of the way the author laces foreshadowing into the story you can actually figure out the ending. I had never seen this way of writing before. It was so cool but terrifying to think Roald Dahl wrote kids' books and horror stories, and I appreciated the storytelling style.
Understanding The Chaser by John Collier [Discussing Literature]
The story is about toxic infatuation and told using a heavy dosage of foreshadowing laced throughout the story exactly like The Landlady was with an ambiguous end. I didn't realize how much it left for interpretation. At first, I didn't understand that's what happened at all. Then, my brother read it and explained it to me. I even taught my class the rhetoric to my classmates, and that made me appreciate this story even more.
Forced to read my favorite-author-to-be, Fairest by Gail Carson Levine [Reading Literature Privately]
"I was an unsightly child. My skin was the weak blue-white of skimmed milk, which wouldn't have been so bad if my hair had been blond and my lips pale pink. But my lips were as red as a dragon's tongue and my hair as black as an old frying pan," (pg 3).
I fell in love with the amount of detail written into the story, and the fact that it was a retelling of Snow White that took a massive turn away from the original story. To this day, retellings mean the most to me if done well. Gail Carson Levine's story was so intricate and her amount of effort that went into this story made me love everything I read of her after the fact and made me want to start writing fiction on my own.
The only benefit of reading Maniac Magee by Jerry Spinelli [Creatively Composing]
One assignment was to write a short story as to what happens during this year that the main character is unheard from, and try to each explain what we think had happened. I was the only one who wrote a short story, the rest wrote about "this happening, then this, then this..." Mine was absolute garbage, but even the teacher was impressed. She put a ribbon on the paper and displayed it, and it gave me confidence to write.
From fairies to vampire, reading The Saga of Darren Shan by Darren Shan [Literary Coping]
"Real life's nasty. It's cruel. It doesn't care about heroes and happy endings and the way things should be. In real life, bad things happen. People die. Fights are lost. Evil often wins," (Introduction).
I shifted from reading fantasy to paranormal for the first time with this book, and Darren Shan became another new favorite author a year after reading Fairest. I wanted to read it because none of my friends had read it but one, and she said it was stupid. And it became my favorite and learned to love writing from it.
I often times don't like having someone read to me, but I remember we had to listen to this short story and it was the first time I heard a reading that didn't distract from the story. But the recording also made me appreciate hearing the storytelling play out, not being able to accidentally read ahead and get spoilers.
Childhood ruined by reading The Landlady by Roald Dahl [Discussing Literature]
It's one of my favorites because the story seems to end suddenly, but because of the way the author laces foreshadowing into the story you can actually figure out the ending. I had never seen this way of writing before. It was so cool but terrifying to think Roald Dahl wrote kids' books and horror stories, and I appreciated the storytelling style.
Understanding The Chaser by John Collier [Discussing Literature]
The story is about toxic infatuation and told using a heavy dosage of foreshadowing laced throughout the story exactly like The Landlady was with an ambiguous end. I didn't realize how much it left for interpretation. At first, I didn't understand that's what happened at all. Then, my brother read it and explained it to me. I even taught my class the rhetoric to my classmates, and that made me appreciate this story even more.
Forced to read my favorite-author-to-be, Fairest by Gail Carson Levine [Reading Literature Privately]
"I was an unsightly child. My skin was the weak blue-white of skimmed milk, which wouldn't have been so bad if my hair had been blond and my lips pale pink. But my lips were as red as a dragon's tongue and my hair as black as an old frying pan," (pg 3).
I fell in love with the amount of detail written into the story, and the fact that it was a retelling of Snow White that took a massive turn away from the original story. To this day, retellings mean the most to me if done well. Gail Carson Levine's story was so intricate and her amount of effort that went into this story made me love everything I read of her after the fact and made me want to start writing fiction on my own.
The only benefit of reading Maniac Magee by Jerry Spinelli [Creatively Composing]
One assignment was to write a short story as to what happens during this year that the main character is unheard from, and try to each explain what we think had happened. I was the only one who wrote a short story, the rest wrote about "this happening, then this, then this..." Mine was absolute garbage, but even the teacher was impressed. She put a ribbon on the paper and displayed it, and it gave me confidence to write.
From fairies to vampire, reading The Saga of Darren Shan by Darren Shan [Literary Coping]
"Real life's nasty. It's cruel. It doesn't care about heroes and happy endings and the way things should be. In real life, bad things happen. People die. Fights are lost. Evil often wins," (Introduction).
I shifted from reading fantasy to paranormal for the first time with this book, and Darren Shan became another new favorite author a year after reading Fairest. I wanted to read it because none of my friends had read it but one, and she said it was stupid. And it became my favorite and learned to love writing from it.
Gail Carson Levine is one of my favorite childhood authors! I can't count how many times I read Fairest and The Two Princesses of Bamarre growing up.
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