Dear Teachers,
Today I have put together whatâs known as a Reading Ladder. This Reading Ladder has information on books that relates to a certain theme of my choosing. This Reading Ladder in particular was created by me. The theme of my Ladder is âGriefâ. Now youâre probably thinking why grief? Well, grief is a common issue that kids and young adults endure on sometimes a day to day bases. Webster said that grief is defined as âdeep sadness caused especially by someoneâs deathâ. That definition right there was enough to figure out what most of my books where about.
The main book that I related my other books to was called âA Monster Callsâ by: Patrick Ness. This book was about a boy who couldnât quite grasp the fact that he was losing his mother to cancer. He also faced other issue like being lonely and getting picked on at school. So the Monster comes to him at 12:07 every night to help him vent and release some of those issues. At the conclusion of the story his mother ends up dying and he comes to an understanding with it and the other current situations such as, his friends and his grandmother.
Thatâs what all nine of my books are based on. How to deal with grief, sadness, angry and/or loneliness. Grief is a big part of young people lives. Sometimes as adults we ignore whatâs right in front of us and, by the time itâs noticed itâs too late. When I mean to late, I mean our young people things that shouldnât be done like shooting, fighting, doing drugs. I think my ladder has a certain function to it that children will love to see, read and go along with as they grow up. It doesnât only teach young people about grief and such but, it gives them meaning to how itâs done and can be handled. I didnât want to make my image seem or portray as a dark plot. With that comes a very significant moral of the story. Grief is a hard pill to shallow for anyone not just kids and young adults.
Grief shows us the more compassionate side that we have as human begins. Cause â nine times out of ten, its death in the family or a close friend that causes us such grief and resentment to people. Even when putting this ladder together it reminded me of the tragic events that I endured coming up as a young lad. These books speak and teach a story and their packed with mind trembling things that could help a child get through. On the religious side and this is my opinion but, I would say seek God for comfort because he makes no mistake. I hope you enjoy this ladder.
Eric Williams
East Carolina University
