J.R. Silver Writes Her World by Melissa Dassori

Author:Melissa Dassori [Dassori, Melissa]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Published: 2022-07-19T00:00:00+00:00

Right before dismissal and after the other half of the class was back from their field trip, Ms. Kline announced it was time for their next Gothamite assignment. “Tonight you’re going to work on dialogue,” she said. “You don’t need to bother with extraneous details; just focus on what two characters are saying and how they say it. Your reader will get lost in your story if the conversation sounds like one that could happen in real life rather than something stilted on the page. Remember that no two people sound exactly alike, so you need to differentiate between your characters.”

“Not even Aria and Adelaide,” Margaret mumbled under her breath.

“Finally, in your composition I would like one of the people to take a risk.”

“Like a girl asking the coolest boy in the grade out on a date,” Curtis joked. “Will he say yes, or will he say no? Sounds risky.”

“That wouldn’t have been my example, but if you find that compelling, Curtis, please go right ahead. Each of you should be growing through these assignments, but everyone’s experience as a writer will not be the same.”

“Sounds sappy,” Carlos said to Tommy, who shrugged.

J.R.’s ears perked up. She hoped her teacher might say more on the topic of experiencing the assignments differently, but of course she didn’t.

“There’s one more thing,” Ms. Kline went on. “All of you must include at least one direct question in your story that elicits a direct answer. Keep it short and simple.”

How typical of her teacher to end on an odd note. J.R. started to think of questions she wanted to know the answer to. May I have a puppy? remained near the top of the list, although Ms. Kline never put out the right cover for that. The more serious question remained, of course, Are we still best friends? That was the one she wanted to ask Violet, and the question she really wanted answered.

And that was when J.R. saw the perfect cover. It showed a crowd of people gathered on the front steps of the Met on a bright summer day. Most of them were regular visitors, probably tourists. But mixed into the scene were Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera strolling arm in arm, Vincent van Gogh—recognizable by his beard and missing ear—ordering from a hot dog cart, and an ancient Egyptian mummy walking stiffly toward the door. “I love it!” Adelaide said as she picked up the drawing.

“No!” Aria and Adelaide looked at J.R. She made herself continue even though she had to force more words out of her mouth, and not very articulate ones at that. “Sorry, I mean, I really had my heart set on that one. Do you think we could trade?”

Can we trade? J.R. silently rephrased the rambling question into a simple sentence. How come she could never be direct when it really mattered?

“But you don’t have anything to trade for it.” Aria pointed to J.R.’s empty hands.

“I really love this one,” Adelaide said. “Sorry, but I want to keep it.

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