Harper Collins, 1992
Summary: Four interrelated short stories provide a poignant snapshot of young Asa's life as he hears the news of his parents' divorce and mother's remarriage. He must learn to live with his mother's emotional instability, a difficult stepfather, a series of moves and a curiously perceptive intellect.
Level: RL: 5 IL: 5-9
Themes:
intellect vs emotion;
effect of divorce on children
peer relationships
Activities:
For a student embroiled in an emotionally abusive family or step-family this book might bring many levels of reaction to the surface. Be sure to provide students with the option of a private response .
1. As a pre-reading activity, brainstorm connotations or references to hearts.
Speculate in your journal what the title What Hearts could possibly mean by listing them with brief possible reasons. After you have read the book, rethink the meaning of the title and how it fits with the themes of the book. Do the same with each story title
2. Answer in your reading journal: What characteristics make a piece a "short story?" A novel? Why is What Hearts called a collection of short stories rather than a novel. (Use a book similar to Handbook to Literature.)
3. Upper grades. The gaps of many years between the stories may lie heavy on the reader's mind. Address in your writing journal whether or not you think that incidents of similar intensity happen in those in-between years. Exemplify your hypothesis with a short piece written in Brooks' style that keeps consistency of Asa's character. Some elements to consider which may lead to a better understanding of Brooks' style:
- sentence length
- stream of consciousness
- choice of words (e.g. "Some swallows cut through the air above the driveway like tiny scythes. Asa's mother sighed." p. 22)
- visual images (e.g. the impossibly red radishes matched with the peeling arcade bulbs or Joel with all his body parts bulging out towards friendship.)
Exchange your short story with a classmate who has also written a piece. Both students should answer the following questions:
PEER ASSESSMENT
1. What parts are reminiscent of Brooks' writing style?
2. What suggestions would you make to the student to bring other sections into closer
alignment with the style?
3. What thoughts/actions did the "new" Asa have that are consistent with Brooks' character?
4. Would you call this piece a short story or a chapter from a novel? Why?
5. Other comments:
Place your writing and the peer assessment sheet in your working portfolio. This may be a piece that you'll select for your final portfolio.
4. In a small group, discuss Asa's character. In your preparations for the discussion, make note of specific incidents and page numbers to back up your arguments. Attempt to answer some of the questions from the blurb, both from conclusions that Asa draws and for your own point of view.
- "Can you be cunning but not dishonest?
- Can you be exceptionally smart but not cold?
- Can you get hurt without getting angry?
- Can you trust yourself when you feel love?"
- Is Asa believable as a first grader? A fourth grader? A seventh grader?
5. Research the stages that children usually go through if their parents divorce. Does Asa seem to fit in anywhere? In what ways does Asa cope? What are some other healthy ways of coping? (Interview your school's guidance counselor.) What is the importance of emotions?
6. Read both poems, "Little Boy Blue" and "The Highwayman." Would you agree with Asa's choice for the PTA program? Why or Why not? Is memorizing poetry a valuable activity? Why/Why not?
Resources:
Field, Eugene. "Little Boy Blue." Favorite Poems Old and New. Selected for boys and girls by Helen Ferris. Illus. by Leonard Weisgard. Doubleday, 1957.
Field, Eugene. "Little Boy Blue." Home Book of Verse for Young Folk. Selected and arranged by Burton Egbert Stevenson. Decorations by Willy Pogany. Holt, 1915.
Holman. Handbook to Literature. Macmillan. 1992.
Noyes, Alfred. The Highwayman. Illus by Charles Keeping. Oxford University Press, 1981.
Noyes, Alfred. "The Highwayman" in Poems. Macmillan, 1913.
Divorce
Bradley, Buff. Where Do I Belong? : A Kids' Guide to Stepfamilies. Illus by Maryann Cocca. Harper and Row, 1982.
Fayerweather Street School Unit. The Kids' Book of Divorce. Edited by Eric D. Rofes. Random House, 1982.
Gardner, Richard. The Boys and Girls Book About Divorce. Bantam, 1970.
Krementz, Jill. How It Feels When Parents Divorce. Knopf, 1984.
Prokop, Michael S. Divorce Happens to the Nicest Kids. Illus by Dennis J. McCullough. Warren, Ohio: Alegra House Publishers, 1986.
Prepared by Gail Garthwait, Asa Adams School, Orono
