It's amazing what young students can write when the assignment is personal.
That's what Carson Valley Middle School teacher and novelist Liz Leiknes has been teaching her seventh-graders over the last few weeks.
"They spent a whole day brainstorming what's important to them, what struggles they have," Leiknes said. "For them, this is pretty meaningful. It's the closet experience they'll get to publishing their work while in middle school."
On April 28, Leiknes and 15 of her seventh-grade English students braved the blustery cold to bring their children's book-sized manuscripts to Gardnerville Elementary School, where they shared them with sixth-graders from Meredith Swanson-Jessup's class.
Written, illustrated and bound by the young authors, the books were selected for reading by popular vote, Leiknes explained.
"Each class voted for the books they thought had the best illustrations and writing," she said.
The more than 90 seventh-graders who participated in the project started where every good writer starts - reading.
"We've read six different novels," Leiknes said. "We looked at every plot-line, figured out what the themes were and how the characters were developed."
She said students created their own story boards, explored themes, drew and redrew characters. Having coordinated similar projects in the past, Leiknes had her students focus on theme before character this time around, more specifically personal themes students have dealt with in their lives. One requirement, though, was to use a supernatural portal somewhere in the story, some kind of gateway to another world where the character learns something.
"This is a very difficult, high-level task, but students don't realize how difficult it is because it's also fun," Leiknes said. "As I've evolved as a writer, I've started with theme before character development. It makes the story stronger."
A major goal, she said, is for students to take ownership of their writing. To that end, a brief bio and self-portrait included in the manuscript don't hurt.
"I read my own bio for them," said Leiknes, whose novel, "The Sinful Life of Lucy Burns," was published by Bancroft Press last spring. "I can exploit the publishing process and teach them how it happens."
Yet, as most writers know, the most difficult part of the process can be editing, paring down the language.
"Revision can be brutal," Leiknes said.
Her students agreed.
"Figuring out how to put it all together was the hardest part," said 13-year-old Andrew Strickler.
His story, "Peter the Curious Mouse," features a main character who's tired of home, tired of his annoying brother, and so ventures through a portal into a "perfect world."
In that parallel universe, Andrew said, Peter accidentally breaks his arm. His "perfect" family subsequently rejects him for his obvious imperfection.
"I ran away when I was 8," Andrew said, when asked how the story relates to his own life. "I was tired of my brothers, and I went to my friend's house. It was only for like five hours, but I started to miss my brothers and my mom. I realized they're the only family who loves me."
So Andrew returned home, much like Peter the Curious Mouse returns home after being alienated in a perfect world.
Thirteen-year-old Shayla Gransbery shared her story, "Three's a crowd," about a three-headed dog in the middle of an identity crisis.
Lola, Charlie and Bob, the names of the three heads, don't feel accepted by society and run away. Slipping through a time portal, they end up in ancient times where they meet Cerberus, the three-headed hound from Greek mythology.
"Cerberus tells them they have to go back home and stand up for themselves," Shayla said, "that they're original and should be treated nicely."
Shayla picked the plot and setting because she loves Greek mythology, not to mention dogs. The hardest part, she said, was the amount of time needed to finish the book.
Leiknes' writing project wasn't only about personal growth. It also gave students a taste of a quickly changing industry. When asked who was interested in a career in writing, editing or publishing, or, as Leiknes put it, something "Englishy," five of the 15 budding authors raised their hands in excitement.
"In my eighth-grade honors class, I have 10 students working on full-length novels," Leiknes said with a grin.
