tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2940470221686681297.post3678011919514365961..comments2023-12-08T13:21:54.131-08:00Comments on Dangerous With a Pen: Twist Endings (old book spoiler alert - Stone Fox)Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16418440256681984621noreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2940470221686681297.post-46609041261114655772019-03-02T17:23:27.172-08:002019-03-02T17:23:27.172-08:00I remember reading that book in-I wanna say fifth ...I remember reading that book in-I wanna say fifth grade. My teacher said I was going to hate the ending, because my love of animals was (and still is) no secret, and, while I'm still sensitive, I was even worse back then. How old are you in fifth grade? 11? It's been 16 years and I've never forgotten it. 16. Years. My teacher was right. The ending ruined the whole book for me. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2940470221686681297.post-34320362053611581942018-06-30T16:33:48.775-07:002018-06-30T16:33:48.775-07:00 This book was a tough read bc of the ending. Howe... This book was a tough read bc of the ending. However, the themes of sacrifice, loss, altruism, love and nobility are the virtues we hope to instill in our children. Life is neither easy nor without hardship and loss. I think kids can handle this material. I did when I read it in 3rd grade. It stayed with me, even 30 yrs later, but it made me awakened me to some of the complexities that plague the human condition.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17947308987313061975noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2940470221686681297.post-79429152828957523312017-09-02T07:11:56.541-07:002017-09-02T07:11:56.541-07:00I have found an alternative to Stone Fox for the C...I have found an alternative to Stone Fox for the Columbia Writing Unit, and am trying it out this year. If anyone wants a teaching calendar for Building a Reading Life that uses The Family Under the Bridge instead of Stone Fox, write to me at mwallace@orinda.k12.ca.us. I'm happy to share...I'm unsubscribing to this blog as I'm too busy right now, so my school address is the way to reach me.Mrs. Wallacehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01870377713134746782noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2940470221686681297.post-63401786700494997962017-09-01T17:06:02.540-07:002017-09-01T17:06:02.540-07:00So I read this book in 3rd or 4th grade. A teacher...So I read this book in 3rd or 4th grade. A teacher recommended it to me because I loved animals (later she regretted it and admitted that she had forgotten about the ending), but I remember so clearly the feeling I got in the pit of my stomach when I read that line and I literally bursting into tears in the middle of class. Ironically my mom got me this book for Christmas that year (not knowing I had read it in school and not knowing the ending). I think I still have it tucked far back behind my old childhood books hidden from anyone. Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10499799928147083646noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2940470221686681297.post-55187150515955552182017-01-08T18:54:58.345-08:002017-01-08T18:54:58.345-08:00I really, really, really, REALLY hate this book. F...I really, really, really, REALLY hate this book. First, my son came home in a blue funk and remained in one for a week after having the book read to him at school. Then I read it and felt blue myself. To make matters worse I became a third grade teacher myself, and am now expected to read it aloud every year.<br /><br />Yes, it stinks that the boy's beloved dog dies right on the last page with no wrap up or resolution. We adults can sense that his ill, elderly grandfather will soon die too, and the poor kid will be all alone, trying to keep up an unmanageable property. <br /><br />But that's not the worst part about this book, everybody. The worst part is the one note character Stone Fox. Stone Fox is a terribly racist caricature of a Native American man. He is in the race to win money for his tribe, but he gives it all up to help a stranger save his land. Wait...what? Would a good tribesman, whose people have been screwed out of land for centuries really abandon hard won, well deserved, infrequently offered prize money that's meant to help his tribe in order to save a white boy's farm? Come ON! I am appalled that the Columbia Reading and Writing Program chose it as the first read aloud book in their otherwise excellent third grade reading program. I refuse to read it. If anyone knows of another book of about the same length that can replace it in the unit, I'd appreciate your recommendation. Thank you.Mrs. Wallacehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01870377713134746782noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2940470221686681297.post-31798640600881427802016-09-29T10:53:14.781-07:002016-09-29T10:53:14.781-07:00My then-first-grade daughter burst into tears at t...My then-first-grade daughter burst into tears at the dog's death. Totally inconsolable, they had to pull her out of class. She is now in fifth grade and can still get teary about it. <br /><br />I hate that this book is marketed towards children. With a fiery glow of the setting sun. Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13666601557860327670noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2940470221686681297.post-29524098957976786282010-02-16T20:42:04.142-08:002010-02-16T20:42:04.142-08:00I'm all for twists...the twistier, the better....I'm all for twists...the twistier, the better...EXCEPT with stories like Stone Fox. I had to teach this book to a fourth grade class--I'd taken over for a teacher who had quit part way through the year. The principal handed me this book and told me to teach it to the class. I went home and read it right away and I was shocked by the ending!!! I didn't want to teach it to the class and I felt the need to forewarn them at one point. <br /><br />I wouldn't want my son to read that book, though he's beyond that reading level now. I'm not entirely sure why it would be required reading...there are much better books out there and this one, well, it wasn't a book that ever made me want to read it again.Erin Kuhnshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01349211833500414932noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2940470221686681297.post-27544778898678447852010-02-15T05:24:42.229-08:002010-02-15T05:24:42.229-08:00I usually like twist endings--I guess because I li...I usually like twist endings--I guess because I like the surprise. The twist has to be good though not like the one you mention. It almost seemed like it was just thrown in there so people would talk. For me the twist has to make sense.Christine Danekhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00979611961825725350noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2940470221686681297.post-41832779294560258062010-02-14T23:03:30.142-08:002010-02-14T23:03:30.142-08:00I've not come across that book - and I have to...I've not come across that book - and I have to say that I'm glad I haven't.<br /><br />I love a good twist but this doesn't sound as if it was anywhere near being a good one!<br /><br />I wouldn't enjoy reading it at 39 let alone 30+ years ago. <br /><br />Reading should be fun for children and if they read 'lazy' twists, be they distasteful like this one or not, then they won't get as much enjoyment from the activity and that seems like a terrible waste to me.Kit Courteneyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07211606676705095432noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2940470221686681297.post-29496939171733405962010-02-14T16:21:13.556-08:002010-02-14T16:21:13.556-08:00I'm kind of like your daughter :) I don't ...I'm kind of like your daughter :) I don't like devastating endings - they never seem to let me go. I'm very careful about books I recommend to sensitive kids. We want our books to create an impact, but we also have to be careful of their little hearts.Jemi Fraserhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02214408467456320167noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2940470221686681297.post-91624752246089624932010-02-14T16:18:36.113-08:002010-02-14T16:18:36.113-08:00Plot twists and twist endings are difficult if you...Plot twists and twist endings are difficult if you haven't set the reader up for them, no matter how subtly, because the chances are the reader will feel cheated and/or betrayed at what they perceive as the writer's dishonesty.<br /><br />I actually didn't read the book until I did my year as an ILA teacher in elementary, and when I read it I felt the ending like a kick in the gut. It's hard enough to for an adult reader to process, I can't really imagine it for a third grader.sarahjayne smythehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02589820347348973092noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2940470221686681297.post-66302435610304637672010-02-14T14:52:37.701-08:002010-02-14T14:52:37.701-08:00Oh my gosh... I must have read that book in, what,...Oh my gosh... I must have read that book in, what, 1994? 1995? And when I read the title of the book in your post, I thought, <i>Did I read that book?</i> and sure enough, when I read Searchlight and the heart bursting, it all came back to me. I remember loving that dog to the point where I named a stuffed animal Searchlight. And that ending stayed with me.<br /><br />Twist for twist's sake? Heck yes. Or, twist for sake of making kids feel down in the dumps for a while. I don't know which. But man... couldn't Searchlight just feel sick and go take a little rest during the race? Why did her heart have to burst? Seriously.Shelley Slyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07981620646634240160noreply@blogger.com