Assignment 3

1. Assignment 3
Evaluation Criteria
Laura Villanueva

2. Bridge to Terabithia
Patterson, K. (1972). Bridge to Terabithia. NY: Crown.
— Characters:
In this novel we see how readers can identify with the characters. Leslie one of the
main characters isn’t afraid of anything while Jess and his sister along with other children
are afraid of the school bully. The author did a great job on making this novel believable to
children in that age group. The way the characters act and speak is how children really act
in real life. Sad to say but bullies do indeed exist and in the time frame that this book was
written it was minor things like taking Twinkies away or sitting in a certain place on the bus.
Although today bullies have moved on to worse things, a child can still relate to the
characters in the book.
— Plot:
When reading “Bridge to Terabithia” a reader becomes engaged in the novel from
the beginning. How Jess wakes up every morning to practice running so he can be the fastest
fifth grader. When reading it you want to know who wins the race, so you keep reading to find
out that Leslie beats everyone including Jess who practiced all summer for this race. The
plotline here is that Jess was only counting on beating the fifth grade boys not knowing that
Leslie, his new neighbor, would join the race. Yet there is an unexpected tragedy toward the
end of the novel when Jess doesn’t invite Leslie on his outing and he returns to the biggest
plotline of the novel, her death.

3. Out of My Mind
Draper, S. (2010). Out of My Mind. NY: Atheneum.
— Setting:
In “Out of My Mind” the setting takes place in a school. Draper made the setting of this
novel realistic to the reader. Many elementary schools have a self contained learning classroom for
children with disabilities. These children are part of an inclusion program just like Melody is in the
novel “Out of My Mind.” The setting Draper used is a huge part of her novel’s theme and plotline. It
is in this school where Melody shows her true potential. In her learning classroom she is bored out
of her mind, but when she is included in a regular fifth grade classroom and given the opportunity
to be part of a team she shows everyone what she is truly capable of.
— Theme:
A theme can be seen differently by different readers. In this novel one theme that stands
out to you after reading it is that we should never judge a person by how they look. Melody is
physically disabled but not mentally. When reading this novel and learning about Melody you realize
that she is a very smart girl that could not express her thoughts until she had the opportunity to
own a Medi-Talker. Although it is sad that in real life not everyone can afford one of this machines.
The fifth graders underestimated her capability. They saw her in a wheelchair and couldn’t see
beyond that, so when she qualified to be on the team they were in shock.

4. Rules
Lord, C. (2008). Rules. NY: Scholastics.
— Setting:
When Lord wrote the novel she included different setting throughout her book, yet the setting at
the clinic where she meets Jason is extremely important to novel. In this setting Catherine is a different
person. She is comfortable and not hiding her little brother. It is perfectly ok for David to be himself without
Catherine being embarrassed of him. It is in this setting that Catherine meets Jason, a young boy whom she
is fond of but is afraid of how people will react so she only talks to him at the clinic. Another setting that is
just as important is her neighborhood. This is where she meets her new neighbor Kristi. In this setting she
wants to be a normal kid but can’t because of her little brother tends to embarrass her all the time.
— Theme:
In the novel “Rules” Lord reveals the theme in the end of her book when she
writes about Catherine inviting Jason to the dance and finally not caring what Kristi or
anybody else thinks. In the beginning of the novel Lord describes Catherine as trying too
hard to hide her brother because of what people think of him. Throughout the novel you see
how Catherine isn’t happy but she thinks it’s because of her autistic brother but at the end
she realizes that she’s the one with the problem. In reading the novel you see how Lord
naturally evolved the theme through Catherine’s character changing from the beginning to
end of her book.

5. A Crooked Kind of Perfect
Urban, Linda. (20027). A Crooked Kind of Perfect. Orlando:
Harcourt.
— Style:
You can see Urban’s unique style throughout her novel. Her chapter titles are words or
phrases that relate to that particular chapter and that grab the readers attention to want to
continue reading. The novel is written in the main character’s point of view, Zoe. What she is going
through and how she sees her life at the time. In a way you can say that Urban wrote this novel in
her point of view. She wanted to be famous just like Zoe. She wanted a piano but instead got an
organ. “A Crooked Kind of Perfect” shows a little of Urban’s personality.
— Characters:
Urban’s main character is Zoe. Zoe is like any other child her age. The reader can relate
to Zoe in the way of how she has dreams just like we all do and we don’t always get what we want.
Zoe’s character changes throughout the book. In the beginning Zoe is just complaining about how it
should have been, but it couldn’t be because she didn’t get a piano. Urban uses dialogue in this
novel to show how kids talk to each other in real life. At the same time the conversations between
Zoe and her parents also reflect every day dialogue between kids and their parents.

6. Dear Mr. Henshaw
Cleary, B. (1983). Dear Mr. Henshaw. NY: Morrow.
— Style:
Beverly Cleary’s uses a unique style in writing Dear Mr. Hanshaw. She wrote this
book in the style of a letter and a diary. Half the book is written in letters from Leigh to his
favorite author Mr. Henshaw. The rest is made up of diary entries from Leigh. It is different
from any other novel because of this. Every new entry is separated by a new date. Some
letters are really short while others are longer. There are no chapters like in a regular novel. It
is written in the point of view of Leigh who expresses his feelings through his letters and
journal entries.
— Plot:
In the novel “Dear Mr. Henshaw” the main character Leigh like any other child that
has divorced parents is having a hard time dealing with the fact that his father doesn’t come
around that often. Throughout the novel Cleary reveals through flashbacks Leigh’s memories
with his dad. We can see the plot of the novel through Leigh’s writings in his diary as well as
his letters to Mr. Henshaw. Cleary shows the reader in a logical way that Leigh comes to
understanding that his father does love him, but he just can’t be around that often because
of his job and that his parents divorce was for the best.

7. Timmy Failure
Pastis, S. (2013). Timmy Failure. Sommerville, Mass:
Candlewick.
— Style:
Pastis wrote his this novel in a unique style unlike the other five novels in this
assignment. He uses drawings and bold words to catch the readers attention as well as to
paint a picture in the readers mind. Some of his chapters are extremely short especially
since he has included sketches within the chapter. If the sketches weren’t there they would
probably only be a page long. Another unique style that Pastis includes is Xeroxes copies of
letters written to and from him to his business partner, the polar bear. It is different how he
included these pages within his book to make them look like Xerox copies.
— Characters:
In this book Pastis’ main character is Timmy Failure, a young boy who really
doesn’t care about school as much as his made up detective agency. Because of this some
readers can relate to him because they too think other things are more important than
school. Some readers even feel that school is boring just like Timmy does. He thinks
teachers can make it more interesting. Timmy’s character is paired up with Rollo, which is
one of the smart kids. A reader might be able to relate to that if he or she has also been
paired up with either a smart or low kid in school. Another reason a reader can relate to
Timmy is that like him they might dislike certain people like Timmy dislikes Corrina.