Joan Bauer does it again! If you’re ever looking for a great YA text that students can read as writers and learn about characterization then check out any of Joan Bauer’s books! She does it again in her newest title Close to Famous with main character Foster Akilah McFee.
Readers will fall in love with the realistic life of Foster including the ups and downs she faces living with a mother who is mistreated by her Elvis impersonator boyfriend, a father that died in the war, and the inability to read. Her dream of becoming a host on the Food Network seems a bit of reach until she sweeps the tiny town of Culpepper off its feet with her amazing cupcake creations!
As a 7th grade language arts teacher, I am always trying to point of the various methods of characterization to my students and get them to realize that authors provide these clues for readers to infer a character’s traits and qualities. The basic methods of characterization include: a character’s physical appearance; a character’s thoughts, speech, and actions; how other characters react to the main character; and comments provided by the narrator.
What do you learn about Foster in this passage from Close to Famous?
There’s just the right mix of taglines and body language to get the point across without going overboard. That’s another important observation for readers to notice when reading like a writer! Until next time...happy reading through the eyes of a writer!
Bauer, Joan. Close to Famous. New York: Viking, 2011. Print.
