A special thank you for the Greer Partnership for Tomorrow...  Due to the funding received from this partnership, we were able to purchase The Revealers and incorporate the Stand Up! Stop Bullying! program at DR Hill.
Chad Crews visited our school February 27th.  He performed a show titled "Authors of Mystery and Horror."  Chad used magic to captivate our student audience and to encourage everyone to read stories by famous classical authors, such as Poe, Stoker,  and Doyle.  He did a great job!  Our students were very entertained.  Here's an excerpt of his performance:
by Hannah Reed and Darian Huntley

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The book Twilight by Stephenie Meyer is about a beautiful young girl named Isabella Swan, Bella for short,  who moves from the big town Pheonix to live with her father in the rural rained out town Forks, Washington.  There she meets Edward Cullen, the amazingly gorgeous, long living vampire. At first he seems unreal and annoyed by Bella, avoiding her constantly. But when we can't control his emotions toward her any longer they follow down the dangerous path of true love. As time goes on, going through dangerous obstacles to be together,  Bella experiences near death situations countless times. This book isn't just a sloppy love story; it's suspensful, dark, and mind gripping. It will keep you reading and guessing through every sentence you come across.

"Sometimes I wonder if I was seeing the same thing through my eyes that the rest of the world was seeing through theirs. Maybe there was a glitch in my brain."

- Bella Swan.

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from - http://www.the-revealers.com/resources/questions.html

At school, what is the most comfortable room (or class) for you to be in? Why?

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  Questions from http://www.the-revealers.com/resources/questions.html Do students in your classes treat each other with enough respect? How can you tell?

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Tom thought it would be a regular school day.  He would meet Jeff after school to goof off and continue making plans to hang out the following weekend with Jeff's uncle.  Jeff and Tom were going to take a ride in his dream car - a Cobra. In the meantime, Tom could continue fantasizing about the hottest girl at his middle school, Courtney. Tom's world gets turned upside down when a new student arrives - Jessica.  Jessica was involved in a fire - none of the students know the particular details.  She has been horribly disfigured.  Most of Tom's classmates can't stand to even look at her.  Suddenly Tom finds himself torn between his friends - and a loner girl he finds a connection with. This book doesn't have much action in the plot - but it serves an important purpose.  Students will realize the importance of accepting others.
Here's the 2nd semester media center student worker's voicethread on books in the library:

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Tally is eager to prove herself -  to show her loyalty to the people of Smoke and to prove her love to David.  She also is deperate to save Shay's mind.  Tally is willing to make the ultimate sacrifice - turn herself in to have the operation to become a Pretty - despite the great risks.  Do you feel she has made the right decision?  Why or why not?

 


In part III, the Specials destroy Smoke and capture most of its occupants.  When Tally is finally able to find Shay, she is surprised by how much she has changed from the friend she once knew.  How has Shay changed now that she's a Pretty?

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In part III, the Specials destroy Smoke and capture most of its occupants.  When Tally is finally able to find Shay, she is surprised by how much she has changed from the friend she once knew.  How has Shay changed now that she's a Pretty?

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Neal Shusterman creates a fascinating setting in this novel - the story takes place in a world known as "Everlost."  This is an appropriate name because the world exists for children (aged 14 and under) who have died - yet their body and souls remain.  They are, in a sense, ghosts -but not the haunting kind you typically read about in most fiction. 

Nick and Allie are involved in a horrific car crash.  Rather than surviving the accident or finding themselves in another "higher" place, they wake up to this mysterious world.  Caught between the living and the deceased, Allie and Nick find themselves searching for answers and eventually fighting for their sanity and freedom.  The author manages (once again) to create a fantastic story that extends beyond your imagination and makes it realistic for the reader.  The characters in the story are complex.  The reader will question which people in Everlost are actually evil - seemingly sweet Mary who takes in all the children and provides them with a home or the "evil" McGill who traps Everlost children and leaves them dangling (literally!) for all eternity in his pirate ship?  Will Nick and Allie find themselves a place in this world?  Will they ever reach their final destination?  Read Everlost to find out!

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In The Revealers, Russell, Catalina, and Elliot feel that they cannot go to their teachers or parents about being mistreated at school.

Why do they decide to handle the situation themselves?  What do you think a teacher or administrator should do when he/she receives a report from a student about being bullied?

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What are some reasons why a student may bully another person?

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Russell, Catalina, and Elliot are considered outsiders at their school.

If you attended school with these three characters, would they be considered your friends?  Why or why not?