The Crossroads

     Bloody Mary.  Alligators in sewers.  A hook-handed murderer who preys on lovestruck teenagers in their cars.  All are examples are urban legends, stories that have been circulated for so long that details metamorphosized into a fantastic tale.  The teller is never even quite sure if the story is true or not since the facts have changed from their original form.  Kids love urban legends and spooky stories; Chris Grabenstein's, The Crossroads, weaves both of those elements into a thrilling novel.
     The Crossroads would be a terrific book to use in the classroom for a variety of reasons.  One of my objectives is to teach students how to write a "hook" or "grabber"- that opening sentence which will capture the audience's attention and not let it go.  Typically, I like using opening lines of novels to provide students with concrete examples.  Grabenstein begins his novel with this line, "Have you ever seen a face hidden in the bark of a tree and known the man trapped inside wanted to hurt you?" (Grabenstein, pg. 1).  That sentence establishes multiple moods of tension, suspense, and mystery.  After reading that sentence, I was hooked into the story's plot and had a hard time putting the book down.  I read the book while folding laundry, stirring dinner on the stove,  and in between watching my daughters at their swim practice.  Additionally, the alternating narration could also be used to instruct point of view.  Seeing the story unfold through the eyes of Zack, Gerda Spratling, Judy, and Billy O'Clair, affords readers the opportunity to understand characters better and to realize their motivations for their actions.  Billy O'Claire's character provides a terrific lesson in internal monologue.  As he struggles with the demon that is sharing his body, the text changes in appearance to reflect his inner thoughts.  "Clint Eberhart, the evil spirit, wasn't with him!  Wasn't inside him!  Billy had to think.  Who else does Eberhart want dead?  He already gave Mee Maw a heart attack.  Now he wants to hunt down this Jennings family.  But what about the rest of the O'Claire clan?  What about me?  And Aidan!  Oh, no.  What about Aidan?  What if he wants to kill my son?" (Grabenstein, pg. 176).  When writing memoirs, I try to encourage students to use internal monologue so that their written work shows evidence of reflection and sophistication.  Seeing internal monologue in print helps them with understanding how to write it and why it is used.
     Finally, I think the book would be useful in teaching reading comprehension skills.  Because our school has a set reading curriculum in place, I envision using this book as a read aloud to teach students inference, prediction, and sequencing.   Students could keep a reading journal to keep track of unfolding clues, predict why the tree is so sacred to Gerda Spratling, and infer from the bus passenger list the true identity of the Rowdy Army Men ghosts.  

     Ghost stories and mysteries are popular because their plots are built around the unknown and kids are usually curious to discover the answers.  The Crossroads would be a great fit for my 6th grade class and is a novel I plan to use next year.