Susan Diane Strickland

SLIS 5960.001 – Jennings

Maymester 2002

Multicultural Literature Activities

Young Adult Level

Information about the book

Hesse, Karen. Witness. New York: Scholastic, 2001.

Awards

· School Library Journal Best Books of the Year, 2001

· American Library Association Notable Books for Children, 2002

· Book Sense Book of the Year, 2002

· Christopher Book Awards, 2002

Reviews

· Book Report, 02/01/02

· Booklist (starred), 09/01/01

· Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, 11/01/01

· Kirkus (starred), 08/01/01

· Publishers Weekly (starred), 08/20/01

· School Library Journal (starred), 09/01/01

Summary

A series of free verse poems express the views of eleven people in a small Vermont town, including a young black girl and a young Jewish girl, during the early 1920s when the Ku Klux Klan is trying to infiltrate the town.

Information about the author

Biographical Statement from the Educational Paperback Association

Karen Hesse was born and raised in Baltimore, Maryland. She graduated from the University of Maryland. Many of her jobs have been related to books and reading; she has been a proofreader, a typesetter, and has worked in a library. From the publication of her first book in 1991, Hesse's career has been distinguished by the extraordinary number of national honors she has received. Wish on a Unicorn was selected as a Children's Book of Distinction by the Hungry Mind Review. Letters from Rifka won a Christopher Medal and was named an American Library Association Best Book for Young Adults, an ALA Notable Children's Book, and a School Library Journal Best Book of the Year. Out of the Dust, an historical novel written in free verse, won the 1998 Newbery Medal and the Scott O'Dell Award, was named an ALA Best Book for Young Adults and an ALA Notable Children's Book, and won year-end honors from Publishers Weekly, School Library Journal, and Booklist.

Karen Hesse lives with her husband and two daughters in Brattleboro, Vermont. She has served on the boards of a school district and a public library, been affiliated with the hospice movement, and led the Southern Vermont chapter of the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators.

Before Reading Activity

Direct the young adults to flip through the book and make observations about the way the book was written. The young adults will likely notice that the pages are written in free verse with no capitalization.

After Reading Activity

Discussion Questions

1. This story is told in free-verse. Did this style appeal to you? Why or why not?

2. What did you think of the characterizations of the people in this story? Did they seem realistic? Positive? Stereotyped?

3. Do you think this story could have happened where you live?

4. What is your knowledge of the Ku Klux Klan in the area where you live?

5. What did you think about Merlin's change of attitude as the book progresses? What events seem to change his attitude?

Free Verse Poetry

Learn about free verse poetry

http://teenwriting.about.com/library/weekly/aa050701a.htm

http://www.poetry-portal.com/styles2.html

http://coa.acnatsci.org/conchnet/poems1.html

How to write a free verse poem

http://njnj.essortment.com/howtowritepoe_rqoi.htm

http://www.iusd.org/teacher_resources/poetryunit/poetry/Support/Free%20Verse%20Poem.htm