MASCOT — Review

Thought for the Day:

“You are lucky to be one of those people who wish to build sand castles with words, who is willing to create a place where your imagination can wander. 


~ Anne Lamott ~

Gifts for My Writer Friends:

Every book needs good pacing and tension throughout. HERE is a good article from Writer’s Digest by Jennifer Van Der Kleut that is about writing thrillers, but it has good tips for other genres as well.

We all need reminders to use good writing habits. HERE Janice Hardy has a good Narrative Nugget about using strong verbs with good examples.

Ellen Buikema, writing for Writers in the Storm, has an excellent article HERE on How to Use Dialogue Tags and Keep the Flow. She has lots of good examples.

Happy Mother’s Day to all the mothers out there. I will be having a quiet evening with my daughter’s family for a family dinner — exactly what I most want. It seems like I just got home, but I will be gone again next week. I lost my brother-in-law recently. It was not unexpected. He was nearly 90 and had some pretty serious health issues. But he was a super fun guy, and we will all miss him. My sister is having a memorial gathering in Minnesota next weekend. My daughters and grandson, Gehrig, are able to go along. It will be some good family time with a chance to see sisters, nieces, a nephew, cousins, and old friends. I’ll stay a few extra days to spend time with my sister. I grew up in Minnesota, so it’s always nice to go back for a few days, especially this time of year, before the heat and humidity set in and, with a little luck, before the mosquitoes start rampaging.

Last week, I offered a gently-read ARC of MIXED FEELINGS by Sara Amini and illustrated by Shadia Amin to one of you. The winner this time is AuthorLauraBlog AKA Laura Roettiger. Congratulations, Laura! I will get your book out to you soon. If you don’t know Laura, check out her site HERE. She has written some very cool picture books.

While I was on my baseball journey, I was able to get together with my friend Charles Waters near Atlanta, home of the Braves. (That you should know as you read about the book.) After lunch, we walked to the bookstore where Charles works, and I bought a copy of his latest book — a middle-grade novel in verse. MASCOT was written with a writing partner — Traci Sorell — a member of the Cherokee Nation. (Something else you should know as you read about the book.)

MASCOT, a novel in verse, takes place over a school year in the eighth-grade Honors English class of a middle school in suburban Washington, D.C. This is a diverse community, and the students reflect that. Callie, an Indigenous girl, is new to the school. She is offended by the school’s mascot — a caricature of a Native American warrior. Franklin is African-American, and he doesn’t see the problem with the mascot — at least at first. Priya is East Indian and is a journalist on the school newspaper, covering sports. Sean is white and thinks those who protest the mascot are symptomatic of problems in this country. Tessa is also white. She has been homeschooled all her life and is trying out a regular school before deciding whether to go to a traditional high school or return to homeschooling. Luis is an immigrant from El Salvador, lives for soccer, and doesn’t understand what the big deal is about the mascot.

The teacher, Ms. Williams, sees an opportunity for the students to do some serious work and learn critical thinking skills while they examine the issue of the mascot. What is the harm of having kids put on face paint or of doing the tomahawk chop? Aren’t they honoring the brave warriors? Ms. Williams makes the assignment more interesting when she chooses the partners who will have to work together to research a position and defend it orally. She does not make it easy for the kids, partnering students who initially have opposing views. But readers get to see how the students grow and shift their views as they learn about this important problem.

The writing is wonderful, the character development fascinating, and the story is very compelling. This would be great in the classroom to spur discussions and as the basis for all kinds of assignments. It certainly was eye-opening for me. It is definitely for older middle-grade students with a certain level of sophistication and deserves readership well beyond that group.

Please don’t forget to check for other Marvelous Middle-Grade Monday posts at Greg Pattridge’s blog HERE.