(Re)Imagine That! Timeless Stories Retold
RSSJoyce Adams Burner, School Library Journal--Curriculum Connections
Related TeachingBooks.net resources »»» When it comes to classic literature, familiarity breeds boredom more often than contempt. Tales too often told can lose their impact, and will be met with "been there, done that" by students reluctant to give them a chance. In these new young adult novels, well-known stories plucked from fiction and history are presented from fresh perspectives, fitted out with new twists, and updated in ways that honor the traditional while engaging the contemporary. Bountiful Brontës Quiet Jane's good sense and artistic nature wins over fiive-year-old Maddy, and intrigues Nico. When puzzling occurrences on the barricaded third floor of his Connecticut mansion, Thornfield Park, grow dangerously violent, Nico turns to Jane for help, as he deflects her questions about the mysterious woman causing trouble. Flirtation soon turns to love, and fairy-tale happiness ensues until a shocking announcement disrupts Jane and Nico's wedding. Lindner's novel is freshly readable yet faithful to the plot of the original, even as it delves into the tabloid world of celebrities. Jane and Nico are fully formed characters, she innocent and practical in the face of sudden fame, and he desirous of a stable life yet accustomed to indulgence. Use this book to pique readers' interest in Jane Eyre, and then invite them to come up with a email subject line or tweet from one of the characters in the book. (You'll find a few examples to share with them at this website.) Or ask your students to re-imagine other classic stories in contemporary settings, such as Clueless, the 1995 movie starring Alicia Silverstone, based on Emma by Jane Austen. Haunting History Angry at being forced into hiding, Peter resents Anne as an outspoken know-it-all. "Sometimes I wish Anne would disappear in a puff of smoke. And then I feel bad for wishing that, because we are disappearing. All the time." He struggles with his Jewish identity, questions belief in God, fears he will never make love to a woman, and grates at the lack of privacy. As Anne matures into a young woman, Peter warms up to her as a friend, then finds himself falling in love-a turn of events raising parental alarms. Students of American history will be intrigued by this darkly savage story, and psychology and sociology classes will find much to ponder regarding group dynamics, social class structure, and the changing roles of women. Invite students to compare the Salem witch trials to current phenomena such as homophobia, religious fundamentalism, and reactionary political movements, and literary works, such as Arthur Miller's The Crucible. Creative writers may be inspired to take a recent event, and retell it in verse or from an unexpected viewpoint. Mythology Remixed Receiving a puzzling prophecy from a sphinx-like oracle-"Return to the place that is not, on the day that is not, bearing the thing that is not. On that day the king will return."-Telemachos sets off in search of his father, accompanied by his best friend Brax the centaur, and his love interest, Polydora. Battling tritons and mermaids at sea and treacherous warriors on land, the three make their way to Sparta before sailing home amid earthquakes and visions of goddesses. Barrett's Telemachos struggles with issues of adolescence and coming of age, digging deep for the courage to face the challenges of his journey. Teens will devour the gritty action, savoring the epic characters and mythic creatures. Discuss the character traits of a true king-strength, bravery, generosity, and compassion-and compare them to qualities valued in leaders today. Consider the way the Greek poets and bards embellished and changed facts with the complicity of their listeners to make a better story, leading into a discussion of contemporary journalistic ethics. And of course, have students read the Odyssey next! Related TeachingBooks.net resources »»» This article originally appeared in School Library Journal's enewsletter Curriculum Connections. Subscribe here.
" 'He's not the master-I am!' A small boy hurtled out of the corner by the fire...He was perhaps six, but his face looked older, touched with hunger...A dirtier child could not be imagined... 'I'm the master!' yelped the imp, his dark eyes daring me to disagree...'I'm a heathen git!'" In Clare B. Dunkle's gothic tale, The House of Dead Maids (Holt, 2010; Gr 7 Up) Tabby Aykroyd, 11, is brought from an English orphanage and whisked away to Seldom House, a dismal mansion in the Yorkshire moors, where she is to be nursemaid to a savage boy she calls only Himself.
A company of sinister servants and ghostly dead maids shares the eerie manor with Tabby and Himself, horror mounting amid portents of pagan rituals. Dunkle concocts a satisfyingly chilling backstory for the mysterious character of Heathcliff in this unnerving prequel to Emily Brontë's Wuthering Heights. Discuss its haunting depiction of the ultimate source of good fortune, and explore its portrayal of the lives of English servants, then have students choose another classic literary character whose mysterious past is waiting to be written.April Lindner's debut novel Jane (Little, Brown, 2010; Gr. 8 Up) resets Charlotte Brontë's Jane Eyre in contemporary pop culture, featuring resourceful heroine Jane Moore, whose parents die in a wreck during her first year of college. Left penniless, Jane hires on as nanny to the young daughter of rock icon Nico Rathburn, who is newly sober and poised for a major comeback after years of drugs, booze, and failed relationships.
The power of historical narrative lies in its ability to portray familiar events through personal eyes. The Diary of Anne Frank, treasured by generations of readers, affords an intimate look at one girl's coming of age against the horrific backdrop the Holocaust. Sharon Dogar's fictional Annexed (Houghton Harcourt, 2010; Gr. 9 Up) tells the story through the eyes of Peter Van Pels, 15, whose family shared the confinement of the Annex with the Franks.
Eloquently written in Peter's voice, Annexed is rich in themes that will provoke readers' responses. Surprising ethical questions arise from choosing concealment in cramped quarters, and Dogar's portrayal of World War II as experienced by those in hiding is poignantly perceptive. Peter and Anne tackle the big questions of evil and suffering, death and hate, hope and love, as they wrestle with adolescence and personal longings. Have students consider how Anne presents herself in her diary and how her coresidents in the Annex perceive her."Hot, stuffed in skirts/and screaming "Witch!';/some of us girls point fingers/from positions of sunlight,/others of us hide/under a parasol of leaves./Sirens all, we choir a cacophony/of caws together./None in the Village dare step/on the shadows we forge,/lest their name/be next proclaimed." Stephanie Hemphill portrays the 1692 Salem witch trials from the accusers' viewpoints in Wicked Girls (HarperCollins, 2010; Gr 9 Up).
Blank verse soliloquies in alternating voices trace the chain of events that ended with 19 innocent people hanged. Ann Putnam Jr., 12, elevates herself as the leader of a group of girls accusing those they dislike of being witches. Her cousin Margaret Walcott and her family's orphaned servant Mercy Lewis, both 17, join her in whipping up hysteria. Carefully researched, Wicked Girls is an exquisitely written, devastatingly drawn exploration of Puritan society, shot through with themes of peer pressure, jealousy, power struggles, cliques, gossip, and superstition.In King of Ithaka (Holt, 2010; Gr 7 up), Tracy Barrett tackles Homer's Odyssey, crafting a rip-roaring adventure as told by Telemachos. His father Odysseus departed for the Trojan War when Telemachos, now 16, was an infant; his mother Penelopeia has kept the peace in Ithaka during Odysseus' absence, but now the people demand a king as they ridicule spoiled Telemachos.
The more things change, the more they stay the same? Not in the case of these classic stories from literature and history, retold with fresh viewpoints and newly imagined details.
