Isley-The+Particular+Sadness+of+Lemon+Cake+review

__APA Citation __ Bender, A. (2012, June 14). //The particular sadness of lemon cake.// Retrieved from Kentucky Libraries Unbound: http://kyunbound.lib.overdrive.com/ ISBN: 9780385533225 __Award__ Alex Award-2011 __Summary __ This Alex Award-winning book spins the story of Rose Edelstein, who discovers the night before her 9th birthday that she has a peculiar ability. Rose can feel the emotions of the person who prepared the food she is eating. The first food to reveal this ability to Rose is the lemon cake her mother made for her birthday, which conveyed how dissatisfied her mother is with their life. Rose’s ability becomes a curse because she finds her talent disturbing and unnerving. As the plot develops chronicling Rose’s childhood and young adulthood, Rose’s sixth sense affects her life in such a way that she is the first one in their family to become aware of the mysterious tragedy that befalls them. __Critique __ This book was very strange. I’m not sure I’ve ever read a book like this before. The figurative language was great. Some of the plot elements required more in the way of suspension of disbelief than I seemed to be capable of. __Curriculum Connection __ Kentucky Core Academic Standards - High School – Reading Standards for Literature (RL.3) Analyze how complex characters (e.g., those with multiple or conflicting motivations) develop over the course of a text, interact with other characters, and advance the plot or develop the theme. __Genre __
 * //__The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake __//**

Speculative Fiction-Surreal

__Classroom Activity __ Interactive Think-Alouds – I think that Interactive Think-Alouds would be an effective classroom activity for //The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake//. I would alter the step-by-step procedure described in //Developing Content Area Literacy// somewhat to tailor the activity to analysis of the character development in this book. Before reading the lesson passage, the teacher would set a goal of students analyzing how the complex characters of the book developed, interacted with other characters, and advanced the plot. The teacher would first model how to do the Interactive Think-Aloud method, then allow students to read the passage with a partner and participate in the Interactive Think-Aloud activity, charting their thoughts about character development in the passage. After the partners have had a chance to do the Interactive Think-Aloud, the teacher would call the class back together as a whole group to discuss their thoughts about character development in the passage they read.