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You Gotta Read This: Going along on a quest for gold
By HOLLY ATKINS About this series
Today the Newspaper in Education classroom series begins Reading Matters, a weekly look at books and the people who read them. The first Monday of each month will feature the "YOU GOTTA READ THIS!" Book Club. Join the club by reading the selections and comparing your thoughts with their ideas. Reading Matters will also share monthly looks at "WHO'S READING WHAT?" and people who do what they do "FOR THE LOVE OF BOOKS." About Newspaper in EducationThe St. Petersburg Times devotes news space to NIE features, including this classroom series, throughout the year. The Times' NIE department works with local businesses and individuals to enrich the classroom experience by providing newspapers, supplemental guides and educational services to schools in the Tampa Bay area. To let us know what you think about this series, or to find out how you can become involved in NIE, please call (727) 893-8969 or toll-free 1-800-333-7505, ext. 8969. About the authorHolly Atkins, a national board certified teacher, loves to read and write. She is a teacher at Southside Fundamental Middle School in St. Petersburg and has been an instructor at the Poynter Institute's Writers' Camp. She was the author of last year's Newspaper in Education series, The Wonders of Florida. * * * Going along on a quest for gold
On a recent Saturday, seven young book club members (and one very lucky adult) gathered there to chat about another adventurer, Jason Hawthorne, the title character in Will Hobbs' exciting novel Jason's Gold. * * * Mrs. Atkins: Well, what'd you think? Hayley: I liked it. I liked the beginning, because I liked the "seeing the elephant" part. And then that went all the way to the end. Mrs. Atkins: Ahhh, you mean when the old-timer who was in the first gold rush in California said, "Yes sir, we was all going to see the elephant.' " Then at the end, when Jason meets up with the old-timer again, he tells him that even though he didn't strike it rich, "Doesn't matter, because I have seen the elephant!" What does that mean? Mark: "Seeing the elephant" meant seeing something big happen. I guess it meant (Jason) saw what the big rush was all about. Mrs. Atkins: Is that why Jason went all the way out there, to see what was going on? Andrew: He wanted money, I think. He didn't want to work in that cannery anymore! Mrs. Atkins: He didn't really reach whatever his goal was at first, did he? Mark: I think once he met up with his brothers he did. Jason realized at the end that's all he really wanted to do. Mrs. Atkins: Anyone have a favorite part in the book? Hayley: I liked when he met Jamie and they talked to each other. You could tell that he had a lot of feelings for her and she might have had some feelings for him. Mrs. Atkins: I read on Will Hobbs' Web site that Jamie's father is based on a real poet who wrote about the Yukon. What did you think about the way Hobbs has famous people coming in and out of the story? Mark: That was kind of cool how he added them into the story without making them, like, a big part of the story. Andrew: Hobbs has done it in a bunch of his books, I think. Far North had Wayne Gretzky, the hockey player, in it. Mrs. Atkins: Hayley, author Jack London's role was very significant in this story, wasn't it? Hayley: Yeah, I think Hobbs was inspired by Jack London's book Call of the Wild. Mrs. Atkins: I thought it was pretty neat how Jack London appears, and then disappears, then reappears at the end to make the story and the journey come full circle. Alexa: I thought it was kind of cool that Hobbs himself made up the main character, and then he meets all these historical figures on his way to the Yukon. Mrs. Atkins: Some of you said the beginning was too slow for you. Any other parts that you didn't like? Alexa: I had a part I wasn't too sure about: when he finds the cabin, and these people are in there, and he says "Hello," and they're frozen solid. I didn't like that part. Andrew: But if Hobbs hadn't put that part in there, I would have thought Jason would have gotten through the winter fine. But this pretty much brought out the fact that he might run out of food. Jason finds them when he's out hunting, and since they died from hunger, Jason knew there probably weren't any animals around for him to kill and eat. Xavier: Jason and Charlie didn't have the huge "outfits" that other people had. Some of those were enormous! They were piled up with dried fruits, meat -- hundreds of pounds' worth! Mrs. Atkins: One way of looking at Jason's Gold is as a classic tale of a heroic quest. Star Wars, The Odyssey, Harry Potter, these are examples of heroic quests. We know who our hero is, of course. But the heroes also have "helpers." Andrew: Charlie helps him, kind of. Emotionally. He gave Jason the will to keep on going. If it was only (Jason), he might have made it through the winter, but he wouldn't have had the will to keep on going to Dawson City if he hadn't had Charlie. Alexa: I think Charlie was a really good influence on Jason. Mrs. Atkins: To me, when Charlie came into it, the story changed. Mark: Yeah, now Jason had to think of two people and not just himself anymore. Hayley: He had to be really responsible. Mrs. Atkins: It kind of reminded me of Jason's brothers, too. He mentions how his brothers raised him and took care of him when their dad died. Daren: At first, Jason seemed really ungrateful toward his brothers by just leaving and saying how he could make it on his own for a year, when his brothers were just trying to help him. I guess Jason learned from Charlie how to be more grateful to the people who are trying to help you. Mrs. Atkins: That's great. I hadn't really thought about that. When Jason finally meets up with his brothers, he has a whole new appreciation for them. Daren: Uh-huh. It's not all about the money anymore once he finds them. All that was on Jason's mind before he left was to catch up with his brothers and get his $500 back. Andrew: I noticed that the last sentence in each chapter is usually a really good sentence. Like on page 134, the last sentence was just: "Winter," 'cause he was trying to beat winter to Dawson City. Xavier: Yeah, this gets you really excited about reading the next chapter. Andrew: And once you get to the last part of the book, "The Golden City," the end of each chapter, something great happens. At the end of one chapter, he finds Jack London, and another chapter he finds his brothers' sawmill. So it makes you want to keep reading to find out what else happens. Mrs. Atkins: It's not like you can say to yourself, "I'm just going to read to the end of this chapter." Hobbs really has that "page turner" thing down cold! Any other writing techniques the author uses that you found effective? Alexa: In the middle of the book, Hobbs goes back in time and has Jason remembering earlier times in his childhood with his brothers. Then he comes back to the present time, and Jason goes on. I think it made Jason have to move on to find his brothers, 'cause he didn't want to turn back now after he'd gotten so far. And like Daren said, he wanted to spend more time with them 'cause he realized how much he appreciated them now. Rica: Back to the hero's quest. I think all of the characters in the story are helpers to Jason even if they were, like, bad. Even the bad ones, they kind of made him learn a lesson. Then he used what he learned in the future. Xavier: His dog, King, was a really great helper, too. Mrs. Atkins: Did you learn anything from reading this book about the gold rush that you didn't know before? Rica: I didn't know how crazy the people were and what they actually did and sacrificed just to go get gold. They let people die. Mark: And most people didn't even get anything. Alexa: Some people sold everything they had to try to make the journey, but they were turned back at the border cause they didn't have enough food for the trip. These parts made me so sad, 'cause these people had nothing to go back home to. Mrs. Atkins: Someone once asked Will Hobbs if there was a single theme that runs through his books. Hobbs replied that he didn't realize that there was until a teacher pointed out that this theme that threads its way through his stories can be found in the words of a character in one of his books: "Take care of the land, take care of yourself, take care of each other." How would you relate those words to this book? Rica: If you take care of the land, take care of yourself and take care of each other, good things will happen to you. If you trash the land, yourself and your friends, then nothing really good will happen to you. Hayley: Taking care of the land, himself and others led Jason to reach his true goal: to be reunited with his brothers. Meet the You Gotta Read This Book Club Gang!
Hayley Germack, 13, is in eighth grade at Bay Point Middle School. She enjoys reading stories of war and mystery and is writing a book, Kidney Stones For Kids. Hayley is a monthly contributor to the Newspaper in Education's "Who's Reading What" series. Rica Haraguchi, 13, is in seventh grade at Southside Fundamental Middle School. She likes to read different types of books, and enjoys creating art and playing sports. Darren Miller, 13, is in seventh grade at Southside Fundamental Middle School in St. Petersburg. "The books I enjoy reading are mysteries/suspense, action/adventures and dramas. These kinds of books fit my personality." Alexa Volland, 11, is in fifth grade at Melrose Elementary. She enjoys books that have lots of subplots. She also has a love for the theater and for reading scripts. Xavier Williams, 11, is in sixth grade at John Hopkins Middle School in St. Petersburg. Last year, he was assistant managing editor of his school newspaper, the Manatee Messenger, at Melrose Elementary. "I enjoy reading all kinds of books and hanging out with my friends." Andrew Wright, 13, is in eighth grade at Seminole Middle School. Andrew is a former X-team member who enjoys reading. His favorite book is I Robot by Isaac Asimov. Andrew likes playing the guitar and fencing. Holly Atkins teaches seventh-grade language arts at Southside Fundamental Middle School in St. Petersburg. Want to learn more about her favorite young adult books? Check out Mrs. Atkins' class Web site at http://home.tampabay.rr.com/mrsatkins -- click on "Read Any Good Books Lately?"
 © 2006 • All Rights Reserved • St. Petersburg Times
490 First Avenue South • St. Petersburg, FL 33701 • 727-893-8111 
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A canopy of oaks sheltered us from the morning sun. Squirrels and blue jays skittered from branch to branch, their scolding voices determined to drown out the chatter below at Philippe Park -- named after a local explorer -- in Safety Harbor.
Mark Faimalie, 14, is in ninth grade in the medical magnet program at Palm Harbor University High School. Mark enjoys playing sports.
