Ways That I am Like Karen Hesse (a very short list):

1 We both wake up early and look forward to writing.
2.We both eat our lunch standing up.
3.We both are excited about finding and using primary sources when we’re researching.
4.We both like historical fiction.



These are my conclusions after listening to an interview with her that accompanies her book, Witness. Although several of Hesse’s award–winning books are written in verse, Hesse wrote this short book specifically to be used in the classroom as Readers' Theater.

Suitable for upper elementary and middle school readers, this book tells a little-known segment of American life in the 1920’s. The plot is familiar: Jewish immigrants and a “colored” family are the targets of the KKK’s racial prejudice, hate, and violence. But the setting (rural Vermont) and the characters (eleven people whose lives are affected by the KKK) are unique.

Through sparse language but distinctive voices, the reader hears the unfolding story from each character’s perspective. As a result of this first-person point-of-view, the reader gets inside of Leanora Sutter, a young black girl who is scared and angry when she is teased at school: “At the Klan meeting last night/ the dragons talked about lighting you and your Daddy up to get them some warmth on a cold day” (p.10). The reader journeys inside Sara Chickering, a farmer who takes Leanora in out of the cold but “never had a colored person in my kitchen before.” (p. 12) And the reader feels the pain behind little Esther Hirsch’s observations: “In new York/I did see someone whose poor head/did have a bullet inside it/and he did/have blood everywhere in the street/where he did sleep so still.” (p. 17).

Eleven perspectives on a specific time and place in American history. As a new-to-fiction writer, I’m struggling to clearly communicate one perspective on a different time and place. Clearly, my self-comparison with Karen Hesse produces a very short list.

I highly recommend this book to be used as Readers' Theater as well as in Social Studies classrooms. I listened to it on a CD and although several months have passed, I can still hear the actors’ voices in my head as I reread passages. As I noted in my previous blog about Aleuthian Sparrow; I find Hesse’s word choice and use of imagery outstanding. Treasure this book with your students and for your own reading pleasure.

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Aleutian Sparrow

Karen Hesse, known for the award-winning free verse book, Out of the Dust, used the same poetic style to write this poignant description of the effects of World War II on the Aleutian Islands. As a fan of historical fiction, I probably wouldn't have considered using poetry to tell the story of the displaced Aleut people. But Hesse, using the voice of the young girl Vera, paints a complete picture of displacement, suffering, and homelessness with sparse language and beautiful imagery.

Her poems speak for themselves:

"Leveling the World of the Aleut"

We hear the white people at the Institute talk. They say

whenever the fog clears over Attu and Kiska,

American fighter planes race out to the very end of the

Aleutians, releasing their bombs on the Japanese

intruders.

I tremble beside Eva, imagining American bombs dropping

like deadly seeds on our emerald earth.

"Oh, Eva," I say, "the bombs are taking root in our place."

 

"The Value of an Aleut"

Pari and I want to go out and gather the dead grass,

To light a cooking fire outside the tent.

This is the Aleut way. On the chain there are no trees,

Driftwood is scarce:

We make fires from bundles of dry grass.

 

The man from Indian Affairs

Stitches his net around us:

Aleuts go nowhere without permission, he says.

Aleuts go nowhere.

 

And we submit.

We stay in a bundle at the Institute.

But our dreams are ravens

Flying west over Shoemaker Bay.

 

Aleutian Sparrow would be a great supplement for upper elementary and middle school students who are studying the Pacific Theater of Operations in World War II or the Aleutian Islands. This would be an opportunity for Social Studies teachers, who want to integrate literacy practices into their classrooms, to point out Hesse's use of figurative language. The disconcerting image of bombs planting seeds in the first poem, and the metaphors of bundles and nets in the second, are examples of topics that could promote discussion and prompt poetry writing in the history classroom. Recommended for ages 10-14, this book is also available through Listening Library. Although I enjoyed listening to it, students who are studying Hesse's poetic devices should read the hard copy. (Simon & Schuster Children's Books, 2003)

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