I am writing with the hope that the following will not jinx the success Kim has found with our new book. The book, If I Stay, seems to be a keeper so far, and I’m thrilled! Kim has not only read what I asked her to for our next session together, she has read more! Kim’s friend has also joined in and is meeting with us to discuss the book. Our last session together proved to be more engaging with juicier discussions. Kim’s friend is offering some nice viewpoints that help guide our discussions.
One red flag that I remember from my first meeting with Kim back in September was that she didn’t have an understanding for first-person and third-person point of view. In the past weeks, I’ve brought up discussions surrounding viewpoint and how to understand what perspective a story is being told from. I was very happy to find our discussion this week, which was surrounding point of view and perspective, was much more advanced. Kim offered why she believed the book, If I Stay is told in first person and we talked over why the author may have chosen this perspective.
Overall, our last meeting was very hopeful based on the fact that Kim read the book on her own time and came to our session ready to share her ideas and comment on those of others. I’m thrilled and I hope this book remains a keeper! For our next session I’d like to check in with Kim to see if there are any misconceptions or clarifying questions so far. In order for Kim to continue reading for pleasure, she needs to feel confident that she is understanding and reading for meaning. By checking in with her, I want to reiterate that asking questions as one reads is a great way to interact and participate in a book. I will encourage Kim to write questions and share ideas in the margins of her book, as I have been doing! We’ll see what this week brings! It seemed that Kim had a clear understanding of the book up to this point. I hope this continues for her and most of all I hope she continues to enjoy this pick! Until next time…
wmorgan44blog 
It sounds as if you are on the right track. Your comment, “She needs to feel confident that she is understanding” is a provocative one. It seems to me that this sense of confidence is in the mind of the beholder. In re-reading books that I read while much younger, I realize that I didn’t understand or even know that I didn’t understand some of the text, but I understood enough of the book to make it a satisfying experience. That reward is enough to keep the reader going.
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