Day 11 of Summer 2019 Bookaday Challenge: Eventown

Vlog Transcript Below

Slide 1: Hi! My name is Kate Narita. I’m the author of 100 Bugs! A Counting Book and a fourth grade teacher. Today is day eleven of my summer 2019 #bookaday challenge. I will be talking about Eventown by Corey Ann Haydu. 

Slide 2: I obtained this book when I was walking through Leominster Public Library. The book literally called out to me from the shelves.

Slide 3: So, I took it out and found myself staring at this absolutely, beautiful cover. I couldn’t wait to read it. When I closed the book, I wished I would have written it. For the first thirty-three years of my life, I, too, wished I lived in Eventown where everything was happy, perfect and relaxing. Then, I had a change of life and my world view completely did a 180. Now, I realize it’s the messiest moments that make the happiest moments feel so wonderful. This concept of a dystopia might be a new one for your fourth grade students. If that’s the case, you might want to introduce the idea with Rick Riordan’s The Lightning Thief.

Slide 4: The Lightning Thief is not a dystopia in and of itself; however, there is the casino scene where the main characters enter the arcade room, and they do not want to leave. Who wouldn’t want to play arcade games for the rest of their lives? Then they look around and realize that everyone has been there for a very long time. There is one person who thinks they’re in the 1970s. Later on in the series, we find out that some of the characters have been stuck there since the early 1900s.

Slide 5: Another excellent dystopia series for fourth graders is Laura Martin’s Edge of Extinction. Like Rick Riordan’s novels, there are many action scenes in these books. Like Eventown, the founders of the society think that what they’re doing is best for the citizens; however, there are young people who disagree.

Slide 6: Eventown is most like The Giver Quartet by Lois Lowry. Eventown doesn’t have the dire consequences that The Giver Quartet has; however, it’s the same concept that the founders of the society that that what they’re doing is best for its citizens when in actuality it’s not. Normally I include a picture book recommendation; however, I have never found a dystopian picture book. So, if you have one let me know.

Slide 7: Finally, I want to say that you definitely want to have Eventown in your writer’s workshop basket. I would tag page 127. There are the six questions that the Eventown founders ask their citizens to answer. These six questions are a great way to help your students focus on small moments that are important. The six questions are:

• What’s the time you were most scared?
• When were you most embarrassed
• What’s the time you had your biggest heartbreak?
• When were you the most angry?
• When was your loneliest moment?
• When was your most joyful moment?

So if you have writers who are stuck, these are good ideas for them to think about.