SUBSCRIBE
SUBSCRIBE
SLJ Blog Network +
  • 100 Scope Notes
  • A Fuse #8 Production
  • Good Comics for Kids
  • Heavy Medal: A Mock Newbery Blog
  • Teen Librarian Toolbox
  • The Classroom Bookshelf
  • The Yarn
  • Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • About TLT
  • Reviews
    • Book Reviews
    • A to Z Book Lists
    • Book Review Policy
  • Teen Issues
  • Middle Grade Mondays
  • Programs
    • TPiB
    • Tech Talk
  • Professional
    • Teen Services 101
    • Things We Didn’t Learn in Library School
  • MakerSpace
  • Projects
    • #SVYALit
    • #FSYALit
    • #MHYALit
    • #Poverty in YA Lit

October 22, 2013 by Karen Jensen, MLS

What Bringing to Life a Literary Character Can Do for You – a guest post by Mary Gray, author of The Dollhouse Asylum

October 22, 2013 by Karen Jensen, MLS   Leave a Comment

As a teen, I moved every year. Can you imagine? Spending freshman, sophomore, junior, and senior years in four separate schools? That’s not to mention all the moving I did before that, including multiple schools in one year, often being lost in the curriculum, and immensely alone. But I studied hard, and was always determined to do my best in class.

Without question, it seemed I was supposed to read To Kill a Mockingbird. It was literally the book of choice at three separate schools in three separate years. So I got to know the story quite well, and, I’m sad to say, eventually grew sick of it.

SCROLL TO KEEP READING THIS POST

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

One wise English teacher my Freshman year asked us to do a presentation on some aspect of the book. Always drawn to sad, brooding topics, I chose Boo Radley, because what’s not sad and brooding about him? He is so picked on, so very alone, and I suppose a part of me knew what that was like (I never put that together before). At the time, the song “You Might as Well be Walking on the Sun” by Smash Mouth was big (I bought their CD!) and for some random reason, I decided to change the lyrics to fit with Boo’s predicament.

I don’t have all the lyrics anymore, but every time I think of or hear that song, I remember this line, instead of “You might as well be walking on the sun,” I’d changed it to, “You need to be walking in his shoes.”

It’s corny, don’t I know it. And my stomach twists to think of how I performed this little musical number in front of my entire English classroom. (Mortifying!) I didn’t receive any compliments–halfway through it, I knew my performance was bad–but the message has stayed with me, and I’ll always have a soft spot for Boo.

This is why I love reading. We look at characters completely unlike (or sometimes just like ourselves) and think, “How does this character feel?” Analytical study gives us the power to grow compassion, become better than our often selfish selves.

SCROLL TO KEEP READING THIS POST

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

So, moral of the story? I’m not necessarily saying make a fool of yourselves, but taking on projects that aren’t in our comfort zones will stick with us, and God knows the world needs more people who can think of others before ourselves.

*Note: I’m not saying I’m always capable of doing this, but that’s why we keep trying, and remembering our good choices in the past and deciding to make positive strides in the future can only help.


Official bio: Mary Gray has a fascination with all things creepy. That’s why
 all her favorite stories usually involve panic attacks and hyperventilating. In real life, she prefers to type away on her computer, ogle over her favorite TV shows, and savor fiction. When she’s not immersed in other worlds, she and her husband get their exercise by chasing after their three children. The Dollhouse Asylum is her first novel.

You can meet author Mary Gray, Victoria Scott, Jeramey Kraatz, Krissi Dallas and Heather L. Reid at the Betty Warmack Branch Library (where I happen to work oddly enough) on Monday, October 28th at 7:00 PM.

Here’s another post that mentions To Kill a Mockingbird

Filed under: Boo Radley, Mary Gray, The Dollhouse Asylum, To Kill a Mockingbird

SHARE:

Read or Leave Comments

About Karen Jensen, MLS

Karen Jensen has been a Teen Services Librarian for almost 30 years. She created TLT in 2011 and is the co-editor of The Whole Library Handbook: Teen Services with Heather Booth (ALA Editions, 2014).

ADVERTISEMENT

Related Posts

October 2013

Book Review: The Dollhouse Asylum by Mary Gray

by Karen Jensen, MLS

May 2013

Texas Debut Authors: Mary Gray, author of The Dollhouse Asylum

by Karen Jensen, MLS

June 2013

#bestYAdad

by Karen Jensen, MLS

May 2013

Texas Debut Authors Panel Recap

by Karen Jensen, MLS

April 2012

Atticus was Right: Guest post by Amianne Bailey (Autism and Libraries)

by Karen Jensen, MLS

ADVERTISEMENT

SLJ Blog Network

100 Scope Notes

Sydney Taylor Blog Tour: THE TOWER OF LIFE by Chana Stiefel and Susan Gal

by Travis Jonker

A Fuse #8 Production

Fuse 8 n’ Kate: Who’s In Rabbit’s House by Verna Aardema, ill. Leo and Diane Dillon

by Betsy Bird

Good Comics for Kids

Kiss Number 8 | Review

by Johanna

Heavy Medal

What’s Coming in 2023, A Feedback Poll, and Goodbye for Now…

by Steven Engelfried

Teen Librarian Toolbox

I Spy Something Awkward, a guest post by James Ponti

by Amanda MacGregor

The Classroom Bookshelf

The Classroom Bookshelf is Moving

by Erika Thulin Dawes

The Yarn

A Book 25 Years in the Making: Marla Frazee Visits The Yarn

by Travis Jonker

ADVERTISEMENT

Related Articles on SLJ

Is Your Library Experiencing Censorship?

9 LGBTQIA+ Manga for Teens

As the Educational Response to the Pandemic Continues, Community Schools May Be Part of the Solution

Who Knows the Book Best? Joseph Bruchac and Middle Grade Contestants Compete over 'Rez Dogs'

Five Ways to Model SEL Competencies This School Year

Commenting for all posts is disabled after 30 days.

ADVERTISEMENT

Archives

Follow This Blog

Enter your email address below to receive notifications of new blog posts by email.

This coverage is free for all visitors. Your support makes this possible.

This coverage is free for all visitors. Your support makes this possible.

Primary Sidebar

  • News & Features
  • Reviews+
  • Technology
  • School Libraries
  • Public Libraries
  • Age Level
  • Ideas
  • Blogs
  • Classroom
  • Diversity
  • People
  • Job Zone

Reviews+

  • Book Lists
  • Best Books
  • Media
  • Reference
  • Series Made Simple
  • Tech
  • Review for SLJ
  • Review Submissions

SLJ Blog Network

  • 100 Scope Notes
  • A Fuse #8 Production
  • Good Comics for Kids
  • Heavy Medal
  • Neverending Search
  • Teen Librarian Toolbox
  • The Classroom Bookshelf
  • The Yarn

Resources

  • 2022 Youth Media Awards
  • The Newbery at 100: SLJ Celebrates the 100th Anniversary of the Award
  • Special Report | School Libraries 2021
  • Summer Reading 2021
  • Series Made Simple Spring 2021
  • SLJ Diverse Books Survey
  • Summer Programming Survey
  • Research
  • White Papers / Case Studies
  • School Librarian of the Year
  • Mathical Book Prize Collection Development Awards
  • Librarian/Teacher Collaboration Award

Events & PD

  • In-Person Events
  • Online Courses
  • Virtual Events
  • Webcasts
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Advertise
  • Subscribe
  • Media Inquiries
  • Newsletter Sign Up
  • Content Submissions
  • Data Privacy
  • Terms of Use
  • Terms of Sale
  • FAQs
  • Diversity Policy
  • Careers at MSI


COPYRIGHT © 2023


COPYRIGHT © 2023