Module 4-Realistic Fiction

Because of Winn-Dixie

By Kate DiCamillo

2000, Scholastic, Inc.

Summary:

India Opal Buloni is the daughter of a preacher who has just moved into the new community of Naomi, Florida.  Opal finds a stray dog and names him Winn-Dixie after the grocery store and he becomes a part of the family. It is because of Winn-Dixie that she begins to make new friends. Everywhere she goes, Winn-Dixie goes. Winn-Dixie helps her to overcome her problems and in doing so discovers everyone has a need or a sorrow, including Winn-Dixie.      

Impressions:
Very well written novel.  The story is a rich blend of laughter and tears as it flows, developing the characters and plot and seamlessly weaves them all together.  You form an emotional attachment to the characters as your heart aches for each of them and the particular sorrow they carry. The story ends on a positive note with the lesson that things happen to people, some because of the choices they make, but that we are all members of a family, the family of human beings. Grades 5-8.

Reviews:
“An exquisitely crafted first novel. Each chapter possesses an arc of its own and reads almost like a short story in its completeness; yet the chapters add up to more than the sum of their parts.”
-Publishers Weekly (from the back of the book.)

“A lyrical, moving, enchanting novel…brush strokes of magical realism elevate this story beyond a simple one of friendship to a well-crafted tale of community and fellowship, of sweetness, sorrow, and hope. A gem.”
-Kirkus Reviews (from the back of the book).

Suggestions:
Winn-Dixie is a quick read and would lend itself to a read aloud situation with older children. This would be a great discussion starter on life situations and prejudices or the judgments we make about others before we know them. Definitely lends itself as an introduction to the realistic fiction genre.

 

  Stargirl

By Jerry Spinelli

2000, Scholastic Inc.


Summary:
Susan Caraway, Stargirl, marches to her own drummer. She appears on the scene of Mica Area High School wearing a long dress, a large canvas bag with a sunflower painted on it, and a ukulele on her shoulder. She proceeds to run the gamut of emotions from being made fun of to being accepted and idolized as being different to being shunned. Leo, her best friend, also does not understand her and also tries to change her into conforming to the world around her. But through it all, Stargirl knows who she is and is content with that knowledge and Leo at the end realizes her uniqueness and the gift that she brings to those around her.

Impressions:
Stargirl is written from the first person viewpoint of Leo, who likes Stargirl but doesn’t understand her. The reader can identify with him in that he is torn between the friendship with Stargirl, and the desire to not stand out. The author, Jerry Spinelli, does a great job developing the characters and leading you through the story but keeping some of the actions of Stargirl unknown until the end. Even though the book leads you through various emotions it leaves you with the positive feeling that you wish to be like Stargirl not necessarily being so different, but just enjoying the life around you. This book will continue to appeal to teens as they define who they are in this world. Recommended for Grades 6-12.

Reviews:
For Leo, caught between his peers and his connection to Stargirl, the essential question boils down to one offered to him by a sage adult friend: ""Whose affection do you value more, hers or the others'?"" As always respectful of his audience, Spinelli poses searching questions about loyalty to one's friends and oneself and leaves readers to form their own answers. Ages 12-up. (Aug.)
Reviewed in Volume 246 Issue 45 11/08/2000                                         http://www.publishersweekly.com/978-0-679-88637-2

Amazon.com Review

Jerry Spinelli, author of Newbery Medalist Maniac Magee, Newbery Honor Book Wringer, and many other excellent books for teens, elegantly and accurately captures the collective, not-always-pretty emotions of a high school microcosm in which individuality is pitted against conformity. Spinelli's Stargirl is a supernatural teen character--absolutely egoless, altruistic, in touch with life's primitive rhythms, meditative, untouched by popular culture, and supremely self-confident. It is the sensitive Leo whom readers will relate to as he grapples with who she is, who he is, who they are together as Stargirl and Starboy, and indeed, what it means to be a human being on a planet that is rich with wonders. (Ages 10 to 14) --Karin Snelson
 http://www.amazon.com/Stargirl-Jerry-Spinelli/dp/037582233X

Suggestions:
This book would be great to introduce with a booktalk. Since it is a realistic fiction, the readers will already feel a connection to the story being in a contemporary setting with problems they can relate to. It would catch their interest and leave them wondering what will happen.
Great discussion starter on strength of character and how one feels about Stargirl’s actions such as cheering for the other team, etc.