The Realm of Possibility by David Levithan is a short book, but unconventional. Each chapter discuses the lives of 4 people and there are 5 chapters. The reader has to really pay attention to when the author moves on from each character each chapter. I did enjoy the story, because it summarizes each character and discusses the role of each person in the story. Each person represents issues that adolescents face each day. I believe the genre of this story is realistic fiction. The book is interesting, because sometimes the font changes, sometimes the type is only on half the page, and sometimes there are only a few lines about the character. This is considered a free verse. It makes it interesting to read, but in several sections there were no capital letters after punctuation. As an educator, that quickly became a pet peeve of mine. The whole point of The Realm of Possibility is to realize anything is possible. The writing and the story are both unconventional. Both my teenage son and I read this story, and we had different reactions and thoughts. It's one of those stories that you have to read in order to see how you feel about it. Some of the topics covered are drug use, cancer, gay teenagers, stereotypes, multiculturalism, and sex just to name a few. The readability of the book is 7th grade, but with the tough social issues tackled in the book, I would use with with eleventh and twelveth graders.
I found a great book review that students could respond to on youtube.I also found another really great trailer that can be used as an introduction to grab students' attention here. I like using interesting trailers, because my students were excited about reading novels and chapter books when I had a trailer. Students like to be read to as well, so here is a link to a reading from the book. Students could create a poem based on their life experiences. The teacher could pair up students, then have students create poems about each other. Each student could take a person in the story and write more about that person from the character's own point of view.
As a teenager, my son could relate to many of the characters in the story. He said this quote really stood out to him, because many times he has felt like this.
“I never felt the urge to jump off a bridge, but there are times I have wanted to jump out of my life, out of my skin.” -David Levithan The Realm Of Possibility
Below is an example of one of his poems in the story, with my pet peeve, no capital letters after punctuation.
This book was not one I picked to read. I found it interesting that you and your son had different reactions to the story. I may have to read this book just for fun.
ReplyDelete