Lit Activity

Young Adult Lit Activity

Walter, Virginia. Making Up Megaboy. Illustrated by Katrina Roeckelein. New York: DK Ink, 1998.

About the book: Making Up Megaboy is a short collection of various people’s perspectives (media interview style) on the situation of 13-year-old Robbie Jones murdering convenience store owner Jae Lin Koh. Illustrations from the comic book that Robbie and his friend Ruben were writing are included along with artsy graphics. Megaboy is the superhero of the comic they were creating. Prejudice is one of the social issues touched upon in the book.

About the author: Virginia Walter is the author of one of my favorite picture books, “Hi, Pizza Man.” Walter received her M.L.S. from the University of California, Berkeley and has worked as a children’s librarian, young adult librarian, branch manager, regional manager, and children’s services coordinator. At the University of Southern California she served as an assistant professor and as an associate professor with the Graduate School of Library and Information Sciences. She has also wrote many books for adults, such as:

Output Measures for Public Library Service to Children: A Manual of Standardized Procedures. Chicago: American Library Association, 1992.

War and Peace Literature for Children and Young Adults: A Resource Guide to Significant Issues. Phoenix: Oryx Press, 1993.

Children and Libraries: Getting It Right. Chicago: American Library Association, 2000.

Virginia Walter also wrote and co-authored many other titles.

About the illustrator: Katrina Roeckelein is a graphic artist and photographer. She teaches art classes at various universities in the Washington D.C. area.

Before reading activity: Discuss the meaning of prejudice. Have the young adults write for 5 minutes about a time when they experienced prejudice. It can be a situation they witnessed, were part of, or heard about. Afterward, have people volunteer their experience and gently discuss. If no one volunteers, have a situation pre-thought out from own personal experiences to talk about. Start the book. Have different people read the different parts aloud.

After reading activity: Discuss how they felt about the book. Ask questions such as “Was the Jones family close to each other?” “How did Robbie’s parents feel about Ruben?” “What do you think about Tara?” “Could this murder have been prevented?” Have the students look at the “Opposing Viewpoints” database, which is accessed through the library’s website: http://www.lvccld.org/. Have them explore the race relations issue, reading at least one of the articles. Have the students pick partners. They will be creating a short illustrated story about prejudice. They can use the situation they wrote about earlier.

The rest of the week can be focused on other social issues from the website, with lessons, activities, and other readings springing from this.