Neeley+Review+2

by Sally Nicholls Print
 * // Ways to Live Forever //**


 * Genre: ** Realistic Fiction

Nicholls, S. (2008). //Ways to live forever//. New York, NY: Scholatic. ISBN:0545069491
 * APA Citation: **


 * Award: ** Kentucky Bluegrass Award (2010) 6th-8th Grade


 * Summary: ** Eleven-year-old, Sam McQueen is wise beyond his years. Forced to fight a losing battle with leukemia, Sam is determined to make the most of the short time he has left. During homeschool lessons with his special teacher, Sam decided to write a book. The book details his life and struggle with cancer while including a list of things he wants to do before he dies.

The emotion evoked by Sam’s story is truly heart wrenching. Although an eleven-year-old boy seems an unlikely narrator for such insightful understandings of the affects leukemia has on an entire family, the overall plot is truly captivating. As I read the story, I thought back to my own middle school experience when in 8th grade I lost a friend to cystic fibrosis. I remember feeling how Sam and his family feel in the story regarding the death of a child – confused. The story deals with many questions that young adults often have concerning death, but are usually too afraid to ask.
 * Critique: **

RL.7.7. Compare and contrast a written story, drama, or poem to its audio, filmed, staged, or multimedia version, analyzing the effects of techniques unique to each medium (e.g., lighting, sound, color, or camera focus and angles in a film).
 * Curriculum Connection: **

Strategy #15 Jots and Doodles In this book Sam paints several vivid images with words like the way he describes the way Earth appears as he looks down from the plane. Students can draw the visual images created in their minds as they read the text, or make a list of words that add to their visual imaginary. After reading, students can share their pictures or read the words they have listed.
 * Classroom Activity Developing Content Area Literacy: **

Antonacci, P.A., & O’Callaghan, C. M. (2011). //Developing content area literacy.// Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
 * Reference: **