Module 5 - Kit's Wilderness

Module 5 - Kit's Wilderness

Summary

This is the story of Kit Watson, whose family moves back to Stoneygate to care for Kit's widowed grandfather.  Stoneygate is a coal mine town, and Kit's grandfather used to work in the mine pits.  He tells Kit stories from the old days, including ones of the ghosts they used to think they saw while in the mines.  During this time, Kit begins to spend time with a group of misfits who play a dark game called Death in one of the abandoned coal pits.   He grows closer to the leader of the group, the unhappy John Askew.  During this time, Kit's family is dealing with his grandfather's increasingly bad dementia.  After a teacher catches the kids playing Death, Askew is expelled from school and runs away from his alcoholic father's home.  After Askew has been missing for some time, he contacts Kit.  Askew sees a special connection between himself and Kit.  Kit goes to the abandoned coal pit where Askew has been hiding and helps him see that he needs to be home with his family.  The boys return to Stoneygate together.  Not too long after, grandfather dies.

My Impressions

This book is weird but I enjoyed it.  I liked the interesting look at the relations between the teens and between teens and their families, because I remember being a teen with weird friends my parents did not like.  I think this is a good book for teens who haven't figured out where they fit yet because at the end, John Askew finds his way back to his family and learns how to make a happy life.  I like the spooky ghostly element of it too.  It definitely was not a bland vanilla book. It is enjoyable enough that reluctant readers might learn to enjoy books a little more

Reviews

Kit's Wilderness is a Printz Award winner as the year's best literary book for young adults.  Reviewers liked it also, calling it a "magical, multilayered story of life, death and rebirth" and "a haunting, memorable novel for both teens and adults" (Odean, 2001).  School Library Journal staff thinks that "teens will be intrigued" with the story's darker aspects (Anonymous, 2007).

Use in a library

In the spirit of October and Halloween, this book would be fun to read and analyze in a series of other ghostly books.  It would be interesting to have young adult readers compare the language used by different authors, and to talk about what works and what doesn't.  I also think it would be interesting to use this book to start a conversation with a reading group about award winners.  One of the articles my class looked at for module 4 suggested holding a mock election and having readers pick winners.  The critics and I liked this book, but would actual youth readers?  One of the things I hated as a young reader was being told what to like.  I think this book would be a good place to start the conversation about liking what you are reading.  School Library Journal staff reviewers included the book in a unit of books using the knowledge of the older generation.  It could be interesting to use this book in that way.

References

Almond, D. (2009). Kit's wilderness.  New York, NY: Delacorte Books. 

Anonymous. (2007). Voices of our ancestors. School Library Journal.  Retrieved from http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/article/CA6445712.html.

Odean, K. (2001). Kit's Wilderness. Booklist: 80. Retrieved from Literature Resource Center.