The Pull of Gravity Goes to School(s)!! #3

This is Sarah Andersen.
She's a high school English teacher at Clio High School in Michigan, and she's a wonderful ball of dedication, energy, and so much more.
FYI, she won Teacher of the Year in her district this year.
She runs a terrific book blog called Y.A. Love (with several great features including Books Guys Dig and Students Want to Know).

I "met" Sarah through Twitter - she's one of the many super-involved teachers who are working so hard to really forge a connection between her students and reading, enhancing that through direct connections with authors, wherever possible.
I've also had the pleasure of virtually "meeting" some of her past students who confirm how much she influenced their continued love of reading.

Sarah told me early on that she really wanted to bring more contemporary YA fiction into her school, but that the administration still swayed toward the classics. She thought my book might be an opportunity to mesh the two, and, on her own initiative, went to her principal and brought The Pull of Gravity into her school as part of the core 9th grade curriculum, where it is now taught as a companion to Of Mice and Men.

I am eternally honored and grateful for this. :)
She also prepared the terrific Teachers' Guide to TPOG, which you may find on my website here.

At any rate, I am happy to have a bunch o' Sarah's awesome students here this month for The Pull of Gravity Goes to School(s) #3.


So, without further ado, here are some of Sarah's students' from Clio High School ** answering stuff about reading The Pull of Gravity:

So, what made it a good read?

I could picture what was actually happening in the book. –Justin

It was good because the book was never boring, there was always something happening. --Allie

If you read it at home as an assignment, did you enjoy it? Why? Why not L?


***Brownie Point alert***

I read ahead in class because I liked it so much. –Todd 

Yay! There you go, Todd. Eat up.


Who was your favorite character? Why?

Jaycee because she was odd and mysterious. –Deanna

Nick because he was awkward. –Ciara

The Scoot was my favorite character because he was strong and happy, even with all the bad stuff going on. –Shaylyn

Jaycee, she’s hot. –Jared

Nick’s older brother because he acts like me. –Josh              

(Hah!)

Scoot’s mom because she sounded hot. –Todd

(oh, Todd, Todd, Todd... I just gave you Brownies... ;))

Jaycee because she knew exactly what to do and when. –Daymon

Nick and his older brother—their fight with the spoon was hilarious. –Justin

Scoot because he wasn’t afraid of anything, not even death. –Brandon


Who was your least favorite character? Why?

Nick’s mom because I felt like she should have been more involved in the story. –Deanna

Nick’s dad because he was a coward and reminded me of a lot of people I know. –Shaylyn

Nick because I didn’t like the way he acted and how he relied on Jaycee so much. –Madi

My least favorite character would be Nick because he’s a wuss. --Ashley 
(Aw, Ashley, he is NOT! >:( ;))

Nick’s dad because I believe that no parent should walk away from their family. –Justin

Nick’s dad because he left his family. –Brandon

Did any part of the story make you laugh?

Yes, when Nick described his hallucinations. –Madi
Most of the story made me laugh. –Todd

(you mean that in a good way, right, Todd?!?)






So. What, if anything, did you learn from The Pull of Gravity?

That true friendship is more than it seems to be. –Todd

Nothing goes as planned. –Daymon

Friends are important. –Ana

Kids can do adult things and be adventurous. –Tyler

Did you have a favorite part? Least favorite part?

My favorite part was when the bus *blah, blah, blah, author-inserted spoiler alert*  and they didn’t know it. My least favorite part was when they skip over *blah, blah, blah, author-inserted spoiler alert* . –Billy

My least favorite part was when they *blah, blah, blah, author-inserted spoiler alert* –Madi

(Hmmm. Maybe this question was a bad idea...)

My favorite part was when they got to the white trash house.  My least was when the Scoot died. –Ashley
My least favorite part was the end. –Allie

My favorite part was *blah, blah, blah, author-inserted spoiler alert* . –Na-Kiayha

When *blah, blah, blah, author-inserted spoiler alert! ;)* (favorite) and when the Scoot died (least). --Brandon
And, more brownies for Alicia:

The whole book was all together my favorite part J --Alicia

Thanks, all! A HUGE shout out to Mrs. Andersen, and all the kids at Clio High School. :)

- gae

** here are the links to the other posts in the series, if you'd like to read them:

http://ghpolisner.blogspot.com/2012/03/pull-of-gravity-goes-to-schools.html

http://ghpolisner.blogspot.com/2012/04/pull-of-gravity-goes-to-schools-2.html

http://ghpolisner.blogspot.com/2012/05/pull-of-gravity-goes-to-schools-4.html

http://ghpolisner.blogspot.com/2012/06/pull-of-gravity-goes-to-schools.html