1. John Greene, The Fault in Our Stars (2012)
Hazel Grace, a 16-year-old girl with cancer that has spread to her lungs
Augustus, a 17-year-old ex-basketball player and amputee (his right leg has been replaced with a prosthetic)
Letters About Literature: Books can give your "wings"

2. Letters About Literature: Books can give your "wings"
brain and heart
Books can give you “wings” to understand the world around you and they can help you cope with difficult situations. What book have you read recently that gave you “wings” – of courage, of understanding, of hope …….?
Some books challenge your brain. Others touch your heart. Some books do both! What book have you read lately that made you think about things you never thought about before? Are there any characters from books that made you laugh out loud, or shake your head, …..?
Letters About Literature: Books can give your "wings"

3. Letters About Literature: Books can give your "wings"
Viewing: The Clash
Hazel and Augustus
Peter Van Houten
Find out why the meeting is a complete disaster. Which clashes or misunderstandings can you identify?
The meeting is a complete disaster. Watch the scene and find out why. Which clashes can you identify?
Peter van Houten is a mean-spirited drunk. Different views about literature:
Hazel wants to find out about the characters’ fate, how they fare after the ending of the novel. Van Houten says they are nothing, not alive, not people. He insults Hazel (childish, failed experiment in mutation). Speculate about his motives? (… his own daughter died….later on he apologizes at Augustus’ funeral…...). Who is to blame? Why does/can’t he fulfill Hazel’s needs?
Chances (wings, challenge your ideas, touch your heart….) and limitations of literature (incentives to help you come to grips with your fate, not solutions)
Letters About Literature: Books can give your "wings"

4. Literature and a person’s response to it
Are books more than entertainment? Are they windows to understanding our society, other cultures and ourselves? Worksheet: A Personal Letter from Lois Lowry
Letters About Literature: Books can give your "wings"

5. Letters About Literature Library of Congress Contest
Letters About Literature: Books can give your "wings"

6. Letters About Literature: Books can give your "wings"
Students enter LAL Contest by writing a letter to an author – living or dead – explaining how the author’s work somehow changed their view of the world or of themselves.
Students write honestly and in their own voice, as if they were having a conversation with the author.
3 levels (state / national)
Letters About Literature: Books can give your "wings"

7. How to enter Read Select a book Reflect Think before you write
Persuade Write a personal letter to the author
Write Type your entry
Send Mail your letter
Strong feelings
How and why are you different now?
Personal, persuasive reflection
Letters About Literature: Books can give your "wings"