Novel Resource for Abduction by Peg Kehret free essay sample

Novel Resource for Abduction! by: Peg Kehret |Title: abduction |Abduction! | |Author: |Peg Kehret | |Publisher: |Dutton Children’s Books | |Copyright Date: |2004 | About the Author: |Peg Kehret was born Margaret Ann Schulze in Wisconsin, moved to Minnesota when she was eight, and attended the University of Minnesota and California State | |(Interesting facts, etc) |Colleges for one year each. When she was a child, she had a bout with polio, which paralyzed her from the neck down for nine months. She married Carl | | |Kehret, adopted two children and moved to Washington State where she still lives. She published her first book in 1979 and her first children’s book in 1985| | |and has since written dozens more. She received her first Children’s Book Honor in 1986 and has received many more since. She and her husband traveled all | | |over the United States in a motor home so she could speak at schools, libraries and conferences. She is active in animal welfare causes, enjoys reading, | | |watching baseball and gymnastics, and playing with her pets and four grandchildren. |Web Address: |http://www. pegkehret. com/ | |E-Mail: |[emailprotected] net | | | | |Mailing Address: |Peg Kehret, P. O. Box 303, Wilkeson, WA 98396 | |Picture: |[pic]http://www. pegkehret. com/index. html | |Connection to the Book: |Peg Kehret recently told Contemporary Authors that she enjoys writing books that are entertaining and share her values at the same time. A recurring theme | | |she uses is that violence is never a solution and the characters in her books will use their brains to get out of trouble instead of a weapon. This is | | |evident in Abduction! when Bonnie and Matt must get away from their abductor by using a baseball. She is an animal lover and will use animals in her | | |stories. Again, the family dog, Pookie, is taken as a lure to abduct Matt. She is also a baseball fan and in the story, Bonnie finds Matt at a Mariner’s | | |baseball game. |Other books by this author: |Children’s Books | | |Winning Monologs for Young Actors: 65 Honest-to-Life Characterizations to Delight Young Actors and Audiences of All Ages | | |Deadly Stranger, Dodd | | |Encore! More Winning Monologs for Young Actors: 63 More Honest-to-Life Monologs for Teenage Boys and Girls | | |The Winner | | |Nightmare Mountain | | |Sisters, Long Ago | | |Cages | | |Acting Natural: Monologs, Dialogs, and Playlets for Teens | | |Terror at the Zoo | | |Horror at the Haunted House | | |Night of Fear | | |The Richest Kids in Town | | |Danger at the Fair | | |Dont Go Near Mrs. Tallie | | |Desert Danger | | |Cat Burglar on the Prowl | | |Bone Breath and the Vandals | | |Backstage Fright | | |Earthquake Terror | | |Screaming Eagles | | |Race to Disaster | | |Small Steps: The Year I Got Polio | | |The Ghost Followed Us Home | | |Searching for Candlestick Park | | |The Volcano Disaster | | |The Blizzard Disaster | | |Im Not Who You Think I Am | | |Shelter Dogs: Amazing Stories of Adopted Strays | | |The Flood Disaster | | |The Secret Journey | | My Brother Made Me Do It | | |Dont Tell Anyone | | |The Hideout | | |Saving Lilly | | |Five Pages a Day: A Writers Journey | | |The Stranger Next Door | | |Escaping the Giant Wave | | |Spy Cat | | |The Ghosts Grave | | |Plays | | |Cemeteries Are a Grave Matter | | |Let Him Sleep till Its Time for His Funeral | | |Spirit! | |Dracula, Darling | | |Charming Billy | | |Bicycles Built for Two (musical) | | |Adult Books | | |Wedding Vows: How to Express Your Love in Your Own Words | | |Refinishing and Restor ing Your Piano | |Annotation: | Six-year-old Matt has been abducted by a father he has never met. He has always imagined meeting his father but now he’s not so sure. Very few clues | | |have been left behind and now his mother and sister, along with law enforcement, are doing everything they can to find him. Why was he abducted? Will he | | |ever be found? | | |Peg Kehret has a way of creating suspense in her stories. She easily conveys the inner feelings and thoughts of the characters in her book in order for the | | |reader to relate to their mood and frame of mind. Each character is unique in their personality, age and concerns. She has the ability to create a story | | |about a social issue such as child abduction and present techniques that children should use to avoid such a situation. | |Book talk: |Six-year-old Matt has been abducted by a father he has never met. He has always imagined meeting his father but now he’s not so sure. Very few clues have | | |been left behind and now his mother and sister, along with law enforcement, are doing everything they can to find him. Why was he abducted? Will he ever be| | |found? | | | |Characters: |Name Age: |Relationship to other characters: |Personality traits: | | |Matt – 6 years-old |Abducted child |Knows that he shouldn’t go with strangers but is fooled into going,| | | | |misses his mother and sister | | |Bonnie – middle school age |Half sister of Matt |Cares for her brother, really thinks about how and who took him, | | | | |does whatever she can to try to find him | | |Anita Sholter – adult |Mother of Matt and Bonnie |Frantic to find Matt, still has the sense to take care of Bonnie | | |Denny Thurman |Father of Matt Liar, gambler, thinks only of himself | | |Pookie – old |Matt’s dog |Old, slow, almost blind, loves attention | | |Nancy – middle school age |Bonnie’s friend |Supports Bonnie in this hard time, tries to keep her spirits up | | |Grandma and Grandpa |Grandparents of Matt and Bonnie |Worried and upset but ready and willing to help | | |Fred and Ruth Faulkner – 70’s |Old couple who found Pookie |Dog lovers, take care of Pookie until they find out who he belongs | | | | |to | | |Detective Morrison |Detective looking for Matt |Business-like and efficient but concerned about the family dealing | | | | |with the kidnapping | |Conflict: |Matt has been abducted. Everyone is looking for him but all clues lead to a dead end until Bonnie sees a boy who looks like Matt at the Mariner’s b aseball | | |game. She decides to check him out but gets caught by Denny and is taken too. Now she and Matt must try to escape together. | Conflict Resolution: |As Denny points a gun at Bonnie, she yells out â€Å"zinger† to Matt. â€Å"Zinger† is a special word the two children use when Matt is practicing his fastest and | | |hardest pitch. Matt throws the baseball and hits Denny, which gives them time to escape while Denny is captured. | |Genre: |Contemporary Realistic Fiction | |You’ll love these: |Same genre / interest level: |Colibri by Ann Cameron | | | |Hope’s Crossing by Joan E. Goodman | | | |Lion Boy trilogy by Zizou Corder | | | |Quid Pro Quo by Vicki Grant | | |By same author: |Spy Cat | | | |Earthquake Terror | | | |Escaping the Giant Wave | | | |My Brother Made Me Do It | | | |Terror at the Zoo | | | |Searching for Candlestick Park | |Interest level / reading level:|From www. perma-bound. com: |Interest level – grades 5 – 9, Reading level – grade 4. 7 | | |From Bound to Stay Bound Catalog: |Age Range – 10 – 14 | Read-aloud pages/passage: |Chapter and page #: |Description of action: | | |Page 44, last 3 paragraphs and 1st |Matt is arguing with Denny about leaving Pookie in a park. Denny shows Matt the gun he has hidden under his shirt and Matt moves| | |paragraph on page 45 |as far away from him as he can. | | |Page 116, last 3 paragraphs |Bonnie summarizes what is happening three days after Matt was kidnapped. Her grandparents have arrived and it’s not like their | | | |usual visit. Each day is a blur as they go out to various places to hang missing posters. | |Setting: |Present day, in Seattle, Washington | |Summary: |Six-year-old Matt has been abducted by a father he has never met. He has always imagined meeting his father but now he’s not so sure since his father is | | |only using Matt in order to get money to gamble. Very few clues have been left behind and now his mother and sister, along with law enforcement, are doing | | |everything they can to find him. Luckily, Matt’s sister, Bonnie, sees him at a Mariner’s baseball game but is caught by Denny, Matt’s father. Now both Matt| | |and Bonnie are his captives and must escape. While riding on a ferry, Bonnie yells out to Matt, â€Å"zinger,† which tells Matt to throw his hardest pitch. Matt| | |is right on target and hits Denny, which allows the two to escape while Denny is apprehended. | |Point of View: |First person by various people during the book – Denny Thurman, Bonnie, Matt, Fred and Ruth Faulkner | |Themes: |Kidnapping, Crime Scene Investigation, Family Relationships | Across the Curriculum Connections: | |Subject: |Suggested Activities: |Resources: | |Kidnapping |These handouts describe ways for parents to |National Center for Missing and Exploited Children | | |protect their children as well as ways |http://www. missingkids. com/en_US/publications/NC122. pdf | | |students can act to protect themselves. |http://www. missingkids. om/en_US/public ations/NC94. pdf | | |Teachers can discuss these handouts with |http://www. missingkids. com/en_US/publications/NC01. pdf | | |students, send them home to parents, and then| | | |possibly do some role-playing with different | | | |scenarios. | |Crime Scene |Activities include fingerprinting, shoe |Susan Seagraves, teacher at Dannelly School QUEST Enrichment Center | |Investigation |prints, lip prints and handwriting analysis. |http://us. geocities. com/sseagraves/forensicscienceactivites. htm | |Activities: |Group Size |Description: | | |Whole Class |Ask a law enforcement representative to conduct a lesson on ways children can keep themselves safe and protected. Also, a chance to| | | |meet and learn about a canine unit would work well. | Discussion Questions: |Question |Type of Question (comprehension, analysis, | | | |predicting, cause/effect) | |Pre-Reading: |Why do you think the author chose the title, Abduction? What do you think this story is about? |Predicting | |Post-readi ng: |Would you have acted the same way Bonnie did? Why or why not? |Analysis | |First 1/3 of book: |What are all of the steps Denny had to go through in order to convince Matt to get into his car? Comprehension | |Second 1/3 of book: |What did Denny tell Matt to keep him from trying to escape? |Comprehension | |Last 1/3 of book: |How many clues did Bonnie and Matt leave behind? Would things have turned out differently if someone picked|Cause / Effect | | |up on the clues? In the end, whom did Bonnie and Matt have to rely on? | | |Language (spelling/vocabulary): | |Definition (found at www. dictionary. om) | | |Term | | | |paranoid |Exhibiting or characterized by extreme and irrational fear or distrust of others. | | |microfiche |A card or sheet of microfilm capable of accommodating and preserving a considerable number of pages, as of | | | |printed text, in reduced form. | |abduct |To carry off by force; kidnap. | | |premonition |A feeling of evil to come. | | |canine |An animal of the family Canidae, especially a dog. | | |custody |Guardianship over; in divorce cases it is the right to house and care for and discipline a child. | | |visitation |The right of a parent to visit a child as specified in a divorce or separation order. | |noncustodial |Not having custody of ones children after a divorce or separation. | | |debts |Something owed, such as money, goods, or services. | | |arsonist |A criminal who illegally sets fire to property. | | |ransom |Money demanded for the return of a captured person. | | |evicted |To put out (a tenant, for example) by legal process; expel. | Indiana Standards met by novel content: | | |English/Language Arts: |6. 1. 4, 6. 2. 6, 6. 2. 7, 6. 3. 2, 6. 3. 6, 6. 3. 8, 7. 1. 3, 7. 2. 4, 7. 2. 6, 7. 3. 2, 7. 3. 3, 8. 1. 3, 8. 3. 2 | |Science: |6. 2. 3, 6. 2. 5, 7. 2. 6, 8. 2. 8 | |Health: |6. 1. 1, 6. 3. 3, 6. 5. 1, 6. 5. 6, 7. 1. 1, 7. 3. 3, 7. 5. 1, 7. 5. 6, 8. 1. 1, 8. 3. 3, 8. 5. 1, 8. 5. 6 |