For Educators

 

I wrote my young adult series with the purpose of not only entertaining teen readers but also educating them without sounding preachy or talking down to them.  There is no profanity or graphic sex—in fact several of my characters are proud members of the V (Virgin) club and promote abstinence among their peers.  The issues addressed in the series are teen domestic violence, Internet safety, virtual marriages, homelessness, teen pregnancies, the suicide of a friend and dropping out of high school among others. 

One way to use my Young Adult series is to discuss the psychology of the characters: why they do the things they do, what they might do differently, and how something that happens to the characters might resemble something that has happened to the students.

One of the best things to do with my young adult series is to take individual chapters of the books and have student's adapt the stories into plays. They should feel free to change the dialogue or invent new incidents if they want. They can make scenery, have one person be a narrator and others act as characters. A class could divide into five groups, each group preparing a chapter as a play for the rest of the class, or for children in a younger grade.

Working with drama brings out students hidden acting talents and their self-confidence. It also assures that they really understand the story, how the characters feel and that student’s learn to pronounce the dialogue. This will give slower readers a chance to catch up to stronger readers and perhaps out-perform them. Also it gives everyone a chance to unite body and mind, get out of their chairs and invent gestures and movements to go with the words of the story.

For writing assignments, have students make up stories told from the point of view of Divine, Alyssa, Chance or Trina.  A lot of parents also read my series.  Consider starting a mother-daughter book club and use the books to ease into those important discussions.