Shining On, Lois Lowry

A lovely day, perfect for cracking open yet another book. Lois Lowry has edited a new collection of short stories for Delacorte called SHINING ON. Loads of Brit authors in this one: Anne Fine, Meg Rosoff, Jacqueline Wilson, Melvin Burgess to name a few. The stories deal with finding the courage to continue on through adversity, through loss, through every imaginable sling and arrow of outrageous fortune. Anne Fine's "Getting the Message" features a character trying desperately to let his family know he is gay. In "Humming through my fingers" by Marjorie Blackman, a young woman, blinded as a result of complications from diabetes, provides an important lesson to a young man. The stories deal with death and dying, reinventing yourself, finding your place in the family and in the world at large. All of these issues are paramount to our teens. I hope teachers, especially English teachers find ways to take these fresh stories into the literature classroom. Set aside "To Build A Fire" this year. Know that students will more than likely encounter another Poe or Twain short story in another grade. Offer them one of these stories and several from collections by the inimitable Don Gallo. There are dozens (if not more) collections out there just waiting for a peek into your classroom.